At various points this year, I felt at the bottom of the barrel, and then there were times when I felt at the top of the mountain. I started to reflect on what these moments really meant to me and how I approach daily life. What was impacting me? Or us?

I began to realize that everything in life could be related to the concept of a rollercoaster going up and down. If we were constantly at the top, we would never appreciate those moments. Although I initially made this connection based on personal feelings, I found myself relating it to how I treat my goals.

My goal at the end of 2022 was to land a Frontend Engineer job. It’s now 2024, and that goal is still alive, but I’d be lying if I said there weren’t moments of turmoil, self-doubt, overconfidence, and complete loss. The YouTube rabbit hole gave me some perspective - I just need to create better apps and problem-solve to get ‘good’ at those things. This includes grinding data structures and algorithms.

Awesome. Let’s grind Leetcode and really study these concepts to be my best self. I can do this. I can achieve my goal.

Followed by… well, maybe it isn’t that easy. I still need to land interviews to showcase these skills. Maybe my projects aren’t deep enough to demonstrate true learning. Maybe I should give up.

This conversation with myself took place in the same week.

I don’t think either perspective is truly right or wrong, and maybe that’s a good thing. It’s about being present in the moment, taking the good and the bad, and accepting it for just that. Build from it, and work to be better than yesterday.

Are you better than the version of yourself from yesterday? Great.

That’s the only comparison you and I should be making in this world.