Why I'm Happy This Challenge Evolved

A wise man once said: “Ideas evolve with time. Nothing’s set in stone.”

Pretty damn good wisdom, huh?

Well, guess who that wise man is…

ME.

I said it. Just now. Literally just thought of it.

Is it insightful? A little.

Is it revolutionary? Definitely not.

Can I do better? Hell yeah.

But there’s truth in this phrase…

Which is why I’m sharing it with you today. I’m now on day 58 of this 66 Days of Math and Programming Challenge. And boy have things changed…

I started the experiment with the goal of sharing something I learned the previous day. Something math or programming related, obviously. And in the beginning, every blog post shared technical knowledge related to Python, math, data analysis, SQL, etc…

The experiment was all about the tech skills.

But halfway through, things change.

I stopped sharing what I learned and started sharing stories from my day. I kept the stories data-related (for the most part) and still left chunks of value in every post.

These newer posts were more fun for me to write.

Writing about technical knowledge daily reminded me that I didn’t want to be a teacher. I didn’t want Dorky Data to become an educational platform. Hell no. I ain’t cut out for that. I realized I wanted to write:

• What I want
• When I want
• Where I want

So, the educational content wasn’t for me.

And that’s fine.

We all have our own styles and preferences.

Mine happened to be blog posts like this. Talking about me and my journey in the data world. It’s a bit cynical, but I love it – and hopefully others do too.

Let’s go back to the epic wisdom I dropped in the beginning: “Ideas evolve with time. Nothing’s set in stone.”

This experiment has helped me find my voice. Not completely. But it nudged me on the right track.

And that’s the beauty of it.

Remember when I said we have our own styles and preferences? Well they change over time. Just because we like something today doesn’t mean we’ll love it tomorrow. And in the Dorky World of Data, change is like Thanos – inevitable.

You’ll never know what tomorrow hits you with.

So you can’t become too attached to tools and ideas.

You’ve gotta stay open-minded so that you have room to grow in the future.

How’s that for some wisdom?