DISCLAIMER: I'm sorry if the grammar, spelling, and flow could be off. I'm not feeling well, but I want to put this out for all of you. 🙏🏼

Ugh...not feeling good, but I’m here.

Hello, my fellow imposters. Today is going to be a little different. If you follow me on Twitter, you know my little man hasn’t felt that well. When he’s not feeling well with temp, he cuddles, then once the Tylenol kicks in, he wants nothing to do with me and hops on his Nintendo Switch. Well, the little rascal passed what he's been going through to his old man. 🤦🏻‍♂️

I made a promise to myself

Integrity: the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

Once I started this blog, I promised myself that I’d put a post out every week, and I plan on keeping that promise. A good friend of mine talks about “speaking with integrity.” If we say we’re going to do something, we do it. Now I can see how that’s easier said than done, and it’s essential to do that with others; however, sometimes, why do we feel like it’s ok not to have that level of integrity with ourselves?

Our goals

We call have goals or desires in life, and some take more time than others. A majority of you here are learning how to code to get your first job or getting more proficient in your craft to level up your career in tech. Hopefully, you have a clear definition of your goal, have made actionable steps to achieving that goal, and have a way to measure the status of that goal based on the time you want to achieve it.

Goals are a game of inches that lead to major MILES-tones.

Sometimes people have an all-in or not mentality. You’re all in on hitting this goal; however, the one day you don't is when you start to slip. The book Atomic Habits teaches you to make small changes to transform your habits and deliver outstanding results. Goals are a game of inches that lead to major MILES-tones. It's ok if you slip up because life happens, but that doesn't mean you stop progressing towards the goal. You keep on trucking and stay consistent!

Excuses are compound interest that adds up over time, preventing you from your goal.

Excuse:

• attempt to lessen the blame attaching to (a fault or offense); seek to defend or justify.
• release (someone) from a duty or requirement.

If you’re doing the work for your goals, it’s not a matter of if. It’s a matter of when you’re going to achieve them. The when is determined by how aggressive you’ll be to attain those goals and what excuses you let prevent you from achieving the said goal. When I was learning to code, I made sure I coded at least two hours every day no matter what, and that’s what I did. Even if one day I did 4-5hrs, I didn’t rationalize it thinking ok, I did two days' worth of code, no. That counted as me going above and beyond my goal to help me achieve my “when” faster.

Staying true to myself

So, writing today is keeping a promise that I made to myself. This is not me doing the 4hrs over my goal; I’m doing the bare minimum expectation I set for myself to write a post. I told myself that I’d put a post out for my blog every week, and I'm doing it. Since I'm sick, I could have easily made a pass for myself this week.

However, tonight when I look at myself in the mirror at the end of the day, I’ll be able to do it with a clear conscience, knowing I did what I promised myself I would do. I'm keeping that level of integrity to myself and overcoming adversity.

Now take a look at your past week. When did you excuse yourself from the actionable steps you needed to attain your goal? How will you make sure that the same doesn't happen next week so you can honor the commitment you made to yourself? Write your commitment to yourself in the comments below so we can all support one another.

-RAllanVila