No shortcuts in life
While growing up, we hear people around us saying ‘Hard work is the only key to success’, ‘Keep it up’, ‘Never give up’ and many more motivating phrases like that. However, do we always wish to work this hard? Many times, we feel what if, and here comes the clincher, there was a shortcut. A small shortcut that could just simplify out things for me. Just one little shortcut and then I’ll follow along the proper process step-by-step. And this is not just limited to career! Even while coding or solving a basic mathematical problem, we end up searching for the easier step.
When I stepped into the world of programming for the first time, I got introduced to different code editors such as Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text, Atom etc. I was so impressed with their unique features and autocorrecting powers that I directly wanted to code on them. But, at that time, my teacher only allowed me to use the most basic text editor - Notepad :(
Now, after entire two years of coding and getting the hang of several programming languages, I feel quite grateful to my teacher for practically forcing me to use Notepad. It helped me master the fundamentals as in Notepad, you have to type every single word and remember every syntactical detail. There is no autocorrect feature so if you get the code wrong, you will not only have to search the error but also debug it.
When I moved on to VS Code in the 2nd year, things became much easier for me but I knew the logic behind each and every line of code. And trust me, when that stage comes, the confidence gets boosted to another level and it feels nothing more than an accomplishment! I am currently in my final year and while thoroughly familiar with multiple code editors, still I haven’t used a single plugin or any extension that makes my coding easier or quicker.
A more common example that I can give you guys is Grammarly. Grammarly is an application made especially for people who are not fluent in English and tend to make grammatical errors while writing something. But nowadays, I notice most of the people, even those who are excellent in English, use the app because it just makes things easier. Little do they realize that by doing such things, they are training their minds to be dependent on the app to even write a simple one-line sentence.
Take another example of a calculator. In my childhood, I was not allowed to use the calculator and at times, I would get really upset about it when I used to find my friends using it all the time. ‘How easy is life for them!’, I used to think. Now, I’m so thankful when I can do simple calculations mentally and find so many of my friends reaching out for a calculator for even basic calculations.
So, dear readers, always remember that there is no shortcut to success! Knowledge is like a mountain. You can either climb it gradually and diligently or take the helicopter to reach the peak. Now just think for yourself, what path a budding mountaineer should choose? So never pray for life to become easier but for you to become stronger and of course, without too many shortcuts in life!
I hope you find this relatable as well as informative. Do let me know your thoughts on this and I’ll see you in my next blog. Till then…
Learn, Share, Grow!
Bye! 😊