A new attitude for a new career
I came across this saying and the story behind it, while reading more about CS. When I read the story about its origin it really clicked with me.
If you arent familiar with the story and saying, I can give a brief summary, but its better to read the full story from its source here.
While reading it, the mantra and the beliefs behind it really clicked with me. I feel as though today people are alays looking for an easier solution, or someone to just do it for them. May people just want to be given the answers. This has never been who I am.
I am inquisitive and when something doesnt work right I try and figure out why. I did this with my athletics. I would repeatedly try a new dive. Each time i would fail I would get out of the pool and watch the tape on why the dive failed and get back up and try again. Hours would lead to days and sometimes if the dive was difficult enough, weeks. But i would refuse to give up. Smack after Smack I would get up and “try harder”. Giving up was never really an option to me. Eventually I would get the dive just right, and boy would that feeling be amazing.
When I started my career, I took my experiences from my athletics and applied them to my role. When I was given a project or even a customer issue. Not accomplishing that task would not be an option. I would look for workarounds, and pull in favors from other departments. However while I was an athlete I had a coach and so many resources to help me learn. I found that in my role, I couldnt rely on anyone but myself to find a way around the roadblocks that hindered my progress. It was through this that I finally learned to learn.
Hell I even apply this mentatility to my hobbies. 3d printing being the most recent example, but Ill have to go deeper into that another time.
The “Try Harder” has been a mentality I have taken in my life. It isnt the easiest to follow, but to me it grants some of the greatest feelings of accomplishment. There is just something about looking a challenge that has kicked your ass over and over right in the face and trying it again. And when you finally succeed……God damn it feels amazing. Whether it is a print that comes out perfectly, a new dive that goes in succesfully, or a satisfied customer, that feeling just doesnt go away.
I know that in cyber this mentality is not only important, but vital to live by. Cyber is often about taking challenges that at face value seem impossible, but they arent. The only way to truly conquer them is to work at it from every angle and truly give it all you have and then more. I see this mentality every day as i tackle labs and boxes. I am going to keep living by these words and make it my goal to “try harder” on any challenge that is kicking my ass.