On the topic of developing a specialized skillset:

Last year I wrote a blog post on “The Process of Mastering a Skill”, based on my own experience and advice from my favorite books on the topic.
https://azeria-labs.com/the-process-of-mastering-a-skill/

It covers topics like motivation, focus, deliberate practice, deep work habits, productivity apps, and the three stage process from the book Mastery by Robert Greene.

The process breaks down into three stages:

1. Apprenticeship

2. The creative/active phase

3. Mastery

Here are some things to keep in mind as you are going through the apprenticeship stage (elaborated in the blog post):

- Value learning over money

- Don’t focus on status

- Keep expanding your horizons

- Embrace the feeling of inferiority

- Trust the process

- Avoid the easy path

- Embrace failure as a critical part of learning

- Advance through trial and error

And.. Don’t pay much attention to what others think.

If you focus too much on what others think of you, it will make you feel insecure and distract you from learning. Remember: in this stage you are still learning and that’s okay; it doesn’t matter that you’re not an expert yet.

If you instead set clear goals and have a sense that you are advancing, you will focus more on the quality of your work. This will also help you distinguish between constructive versus malicious criticism.

On embracint inferiority: If you feel like you already know something or have mastered it, you stop learning.

Always assume that you are a beginner and that there’s more to learn. A sense of superiority can make you fragile to criticism and too insecure to seek help or improve.

On failure: Failures make us tougher and show us how something doesn’t work. When a program malfunctions, it shows you that you need to improve it. Treat your own failures the same way: as learning opportunities giving you a new experience to learn from.