Live your passion…now

I am a cautious person. I like to weigh pros and cons before making a choice. I always prevailed adaptability over personal beliefs. But if I learned one thing in the last few years, it’s that being good is all about passion.

There are plenty of average software developers considering development as a job. There is nothing wrong about that. But if you really want to learn and progress, you should focus on people who live their passion.

Don’t be afraid to take the risk of following your dream. If you really do what you believe in, you will be 200% more efficient! I know this might sound naive, but it’s not: you only have one life, don’t realize too late it’s not the one you want.

You have the potential to improve

Courage is about trusting yourself. Don’t hide your weakness. Share what you know. Focus on what you have to learn: there is a world of knowledge waiting for you, and you should be excited about it!

I’m a truly bad example on this, but it’s never too late to change: open-source projects are a very cool way to become better. It’s about taking initiatives, accepting unpleasant remarks, learning and improving!

Read, read, read and participate!

There is a looong list of fascinating people out there who inspire me every day. But for this post, I will focus on one: Jeff Atwood, the guy who created the Stack Exchange framework (and the well-known website that use it: stackoverflow.com). His blog and his books really impacted me on how to become better on what I do. (for French speakers, some articles from this blog will have the same spirit of motivation).

Encouraged by some friends, I decided to start a blog, because it’s a good exercise for a developer: writing instead of reading, producing instead of consuming. It forces involvement in your passion, and I really hope to learn about this experience.

If you don’t believe me…believe him!

On a lighter note, I let Schwarzenegger sum up my speech: