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"I do not measure myself against the programming greats, but against those projects on my Github profile from years ago." This is so much the key. At college I
by ellyagg 17y ago
"I do not measure myself against the programming greats, but against those projects on my Github profile from years ago."
This is so much the key. At college I read a sports psychology textbook which described the empirical profile of a "winner". One of the traits was that winners compete against themselves, not others. A marathoner's goal should be to beat their best time in their next competitive marathon. An example of a basketball player's goal might be to improve their free throw percentage over the next 5 games.
If you focus on improving yourself, beating other people takes care of itself (if you're capable and that sort of thing matters to you). But, either way, you do the best you can and that's all anyone can ask of themselves.
- jnunemaker 17y ago"One of the traits was that winners compete against themselves, not others." Awesome!
- pbhjpbhj 17y ago>If you focus on improving yourself, beating other people takes care of itself (if you're capable and that sort of thing matters to you). As you note, unclearly, this only works if you're at the top of your game. If I do a marathon in 12 hours then beating my personal best isn't going to get me anywhere close to a gold medal. Also I've always found that competing with my betters tends to bring up my game. I feel I have to say, to counter any false assumptions: To win at sport for me has always meant to feel I've performed well and enjoyed the game - and that's not because I'm totally rubbish. Winning is something I enjoy, but winning badly is worse than losing well.