Many of us have heard the term 10x developer.

A 10x developer is someone who is (thought to be) as productive as ten others. He/She would, therefore, be able to produce ten times the outcome of their colleagues.

Some people believe being a 10x developer is a myth and others do not. Anyway, we are in a social media age where developers are encouraged to put themselves out there (which is a good thing and should be encouraged). Still, as newbies or junior devs, we might fall into the trap of comparing ourselves with the so many amazing techies out there. Then we start to think,

• Will I ever reach the level of expertise of this developer?
• We are the same age, and he/she has built so many amazing stuff.
• Wow, look at his / her Github repository.
• Look at those contributions what am I doing with my life.

That being said, high standards can also push us to reach our peak level of performance. For example, athletes often train long and hard to attain excellence in their sports. But, we should never let the thoughts above linger in our minds. What we don’t seem to realize is that working toward our goals and being willing to put ourselves out there are accomplishments within themselves, regardless of how many times we fail.

We should focus on progress rather than perfection, set short term achievable goals and be consistent in learning. Don’t try to become a so-called 10x developer in record time. Look up to better programmers for inspiration but grow at your speed.

“Progress not perfection... you can’t be perfect everything... but you can gain progress on a daily basis.” ~ Court McGee