It’s taken me a long time to decide to start a personal website.
I’ve been involved in programming websites in one way or another for the last decade - but like the mechanic whose own car is always broken, finding incentive to get this website up has proven futile.
I’m a firm believer that there’s no such thing as “not enough time”: it all boils down to your priorities.
If it is important to you, you will find a way.
If not, you’ll find an excuse
I guess it just hasn’t been important enough for me until now.
But why has it become important now?
Truth is, i’m not entirely sure. I’m tempted to speculate though so here goes:
I’m older …
Looking back to when I was younger I can very clearly recall the feeling of believing that I knew so much and that the people around me were not as self-aware, or as keen an observer as I was.
Grandiose narcissm? Maybe. The more I read the more it seems to fit.
We show that grandiose narcissists’ overconfidence, impulsivity, and a willingness to ignore expert advice results in a higher likelihood of making a bad decision
Is this character trait permanent, or a symptom of a persons current circumstances? I can’t answer that question. I can only say that age has brought with it a clearer perspective.
I certainly don’t hold myself in such high esteem anymore. The ideas and opinions of others have become far more important to me and I think that this has made me ready to start sharing my thoughts.
I’m more able to accept the criticims and opinions of others without getting defensive or blankly ignoring them.
I want to build a reputation …
I’ve come to understand the value of cultivating a good reputation.
I feel that sharing my raw thoughts through this blog will make the process of building trust with strangers easier - a stranger would be able to visit this website and digest a whole bunch of my raw thinkings and make up their mind about me.
I want to contribute something …
I’ve learnt so much on the internet.
Without the endless amount of people posting resources that others can use to learn, there would be so much I would not have been able to do.
I’ve had time to digest so much of this knowledge that others have shared, put some of it into practice, and form my own opinions.
There might be value in regurgitating this information in a different way - perhaps repeating the information as I understand it will help it click for others.
I want to cement my own knowledge …
Want to assess how much of a topic you actually understand?
Try to teach it to someone else.
I hope that spending time writing posts like this will offer an opportunity for me to find the gaps in my understanding on various topics and make me better.
I want to create intentional, focused time for reflection …
I hope that the time I spend creating content on this website will become a time to reflect on the topic I’m writing about in greater depth than I otherwise would have.
thanks for reading! share it if you like it.