Challenge Update

It's time to pivot. So this turned into more of a "100 Projects" challenge instead of a "100 Days of Code" challenge. The reason is that early on, I struggled really hard with releasing code/projects that were "incomplete". I oftentimes felt embarrassed with progress that didn't meet my expectations. These constant feelings of disappointment took away a lot of the joy I got from simply learning. I spent the majority of these early days extremely stressed out trying to keep up with the daily schedule while constantly feeling frustrated that my work output was not meeting my expectations. After a while of mentally wrestling with myself, I decided that it was time to pivot.

Determining my "Why?" One of the biggest things I've learned about myself through this challenge was that in order for me to build long-term habits, I have to be motivated and willing to continue practicing said habits on a consistent basis. Determining my "why" was very important in figuring out why incorporating #100DaysofCode was so difficult into my daily life. Different people have different motivators, but for me, I've learned that my primary motivation came from the genuine excitement and pride for the projects I was building and putting out into the world. This must come from a strong internal desire to do good work, not from a looming self- or publicly- imposed expectation. The reason #100DaysOfCode wasn't working out for me was that I wasn't happy with releasing incomplete work that I wasn't proud of only because I felt forced to by some unnecessary deadline. Thus, I decided to pivot this challenge into a "100 Projects" blog (as opposed to deleting #100DaysofCode altogether), so that I can continue creating fun projects on my own time. Personally, being able to look back at past projects and see the improvement in my skills throughout the years has been extremely cool and super motivating!

Taking a step back. Turns out that I still have a lot to learn regarding my personal work habits. It is important to know when to pivot when things aren't working out, and that is okay! Everyone goes through their own journey in figuring out what works and doesn't work for them (whether it be in life priorities, interpersonal relationships, living habits, work-life balance, hobbies, etc). I still love exploring new topics and learning new skills, and this challenge turned out to be the exact catalyst I needed to start the habit of pursuing many of the projects I wanted to do. This challenge will most likely continue to evolve over time. My interests span a wide variety of different topics and are constantly changing, so feel free to continue following my updates!

tl;dr The challenge has evolved into a "100 Projects" challenge. No more daily updates, but I'll continue doing projects in my own time, and updating here as they are completed. Less updates, but more fun and more progress!