Should you still be doing it? Not such a simple answer really because the one constant in my daily life has become quite apparent – no matter what you do you are either going to succeed because you accept failure, or if you don’t accept failure and you keep things at the same level for a long period where you don’t lose. You will not improve whether you are a programmer or a writer. Think about it this way, if you are a chess player and you play to draw and not to win you can claim a “victory” against a stronger player if you draw but you didn’t win, in more than one way.

Programming is tough and you can never truly say that you have written perfect software unless you have failed and struggled. Struggling means getting dirty and exposing yourself to the hardest and toughest ways of doing things and accepting that you will have to try and try. I often fail at accepting the fact that to succeed at the tough things you have to develop a patience and desperation on the same sort of level. You need patience to know that you may have to try again and again and the desperation to tackle each attempt with as much intensity as you can give.

Talent alone is not enough.