Hey everyone. Just an update on the Salesforce Certification. I am planning on releasing articles about it after getting the certification, so that I don't have to worry about scheduling two post in one week. Hope this makes sense!
Over the weekend, I have this thought about what I have notice in the last 6 years of being a developer and the post I made weeks back:
The main thing I notice is that a lot of people are saying:
It's hard to finish a project because of I am tired every time I work on it...
or
It's demotivating to keep working on this...
Something similar above in a sense, and talking about how it is hard to get into this market in tech.
To be fair, it IS hard. As a matter of fact, anything really in life is difficult in some spectrum. It's only a matter of if you are willing to do it.
Easy said than done right? (Even for me!)
Sometimes, we have a hard time being consistent because we don't see the reward right away or that we don't see the worth of doing something. For example, if we want to get good at LeetCode, it would make sense to so some problems consistently to get good at it.
However, the more you do it, the common thought you may have along the way is "What's the point? I am training for nothing at the moment".
I have this thought every time when I am practicing for interviews. Although back then I didn't have any interviews line up, I thought about being proactive and start practicing Interviews to improve my speech overtime. That way, when the time comes, I would be ready.
However, during the process, I have thoughts about not doing it because there is no reward to it since I don't get it immediately after practicing.
Speaking of, it reminds me of this specific scene from Tales of the Jedi:
The idea is that Anakin trains Ahsoka though Clone Troopers instead of what everyone else trains on, which is droids. The main purpose of the scene is to not only escalate the difficulty drastically, but to also prepare for the worse and expand on what we can do to improve and stand out from the crowd.
If you were studying CS or similar during your college years, you will hear this formula every time:
Undergrad: we study CS --> Junior year: we study LeetCode and Interviews and get an internship ---> Senior year: We get a Full time Offer.
Let me tell you something.
Why?
Not only everyone is following this though, but that creates competition and there is no diversity in that since recruiters have to deal with a candidate that has similar skills that they reviewed 100 times. Just because one person got into Google, does not mean you can too. Sure, there are people who can do that, but that's rare if you think about it and it's something I hope I can tell myself back then.
Going back to the scene. Ahsoka talks about how this is difficult because how Clones are better than the droids. Anakin taught her about being able to protect herself in a scenario no one saw it.
Guess what? She survived Order 66 because of this unique training.
What's the Point?
Think of it this way, we are following what everyone is doing. Maybe instead of following the formula verbatim, we make it unique to ourselves.
Will that be difficult? Of course it is.
I want you to listen to this scene in Loki about Burden Versus Glory:
The one that stood to me was "most purpose...is more burden than glory...you never want to be the guy to avoid it because you can't live with the burden".
What does this mean as a developer?
Sometimes the things that we want, we have to sacrifice a lot of things in life in order to achieve what we want. Maybe you are very social and go to parties a lot. Instead of that, maybe cut down a LOT of that time into investing in practicing programming skills and building your portfolio.
Sure, you may not see the result immediately, but you have to push yourself and have a good mindset to succeed.
What should I do?
Every week, @jess releases a thread on dev.to "What is your win this week" series. I encourage everyone to comment on the accomplishment that you made (EVEN IF IT IS VERY SMALL like going outside for example).
Why?
The reason is it allows us to reinforce positive thinking instead of thinking negatively. Otherwise, we would not be going anywhere. Again, it will not be immediate, but overtime you will see the result in a gradual way. Thus, being able to be more motivated on the things you want to accomplish.
Like Mobius said: "You gotta keep the big picture in mind...the hard thing to do, was the thing that needs to be done."
Of course, in this scene it is extreme because the TVA prune timelines in order to enforce a singular timeline. Remember, we are not following the quote verbatim, we are getting ideas from it that will help us.
For this case, if we want to be good at LeetCode, we want to keep consistent on practicing. Meaning, sometimes you will have to sacrifice something in life in order to keep that consistency going.
You may be wondering: What if it leads to nothing after all?
Then look back, at LEAST you have shown through your profile that you are studying hard at Leetcode and that you know the fundamentals. It's better than asking yourself that question when you have NOTHING on Leetcode.
Progress is better than none. Nothing in tech is easy and there is no comfort when we try to achieve what we want. Maybe you want to be in Google or that you want to be a Professor. Remember, there is more Burden than Glory. It's only a matter of having to choose your Burden to reach your Glory.
Speaking of Marvel, the Avengers: Doomsday Trailer came out of this time of writing this post lol
Top comments (36)
Well written, Francis. When you look at someone who has succeeded (for example, someone who works at Google), you only see the peak they reached. You do not see all the journey and hardships they went through to get there.
BTW, I also love the "What is your win this week" series 💛 It's so wholesome and helps to keep focus on small goals and successes instead of frustration that you're not where you want to be yet.
Thanks Klaudia! It's always a good idea to acknowledge small wins since it will compound into bigger wins :D
(Also, I saw your message about discord. I will prob create a poll sometime in the future about that).
Thanks :D
Francis, "more burden than glory" is a another way of saying something I've been living without a word for lately . a stretch of applying to things that gave nothing back and choosing to keep applying anyway. The Loki quote just nails it.
Indeed. Thanks Daniel!
Why?
Why do I never see what your win is in my feed and don't I receive notifications?!!!!
Notification is kind of broken idk. I had to be proactive on DEV just to see it manually lol
Even if it's just a small win this week, it can become a big win in the long run. 🎯 So I think we should focus on the small wins right in front of us.
Agreed. Thanks Hyper!
This is exactly the kind of perspective shift a lot of us need to hear, Francis. The "Choose your Burden" framing hits hard because it acknowledges the struggle without romanticizing it—it feels honest and grounded. I really appreciate how you tied in the Ahsoka and Clone Troopers scene; it perfectly illustrates that doing the harder, unconventional path is often what builds genuine resilience when the unexpected happens.
Building on your thoughts, I have two constructive angles I would like to add:
First, while sacrificing short-term comfort (like skipping social events) is sometimes necessary, I would gently suggest shifting the conversation toward sustainable burden rather than just "grinding harder." The tech journey is a marathon, not a 100-meter sprint. It is not about burning out in six months; it is about finding a consistent rhythm—say, 45 minutes of focused practice daily—that you can actually maintain for years. That steady pace often beats occasional all-nighters in the long run.
Second, your point about being "unique" resonated with me. Instead of just training harder than everyone else, I believe we should also train differently. Pair your LeetCode practice with something most candidates neglect—like writing detailed blogs about your problem-solving process (which you already do brilliantly) or deep-diving into a specific niche, such as your Salesforce certification track. That combination of technical fundamentals plus a visible, specialized portfolio is what makes a recruiter stop and take a second look at your profile.
My current chosen burden is consistently writing down my project decisions and lessons learned, even when nobody asks for it. It feels tedious with zero immediate reward, but I know it will save my future self (and my team) countless hours of confusion later.
Also, you are absolutely right—that Avengers trailer definitely adds some extra fuel to keep pushing forward! Thanks for sharing this thoughtful piece.
This really resonated with me. Every worthwhile goal comes with its own challenges, so the question isn't whether life will be difficult—it's which difficulty is worth embracing.
Choosing the burden that leads to growth is usually harder in the short term, but it's often the one that pays off in the long run. Thanks for sharing this perspective.
Thanks Hidayat! It's important to be unconformable in the process in order to grow.
Focus you must 🙃
Indeed. Focus, did you? xd
As focused as a marksman
I'm excited to see that Star Wars is used as context here in this community. I have found my people! Great write up, and it hearkens back to the fact that when we see people online having a great time, you are only ever seeing their highlight reel; they curated that for you to see.
I appreciate it Zachary! Thanks for reading :D
Just looking at the cover image scared me! Lol
lol. Can't find a better image from Mob Psycho 100 xd
I really wasn't ready for this Mob Psycho energy 😭 that's why I got scared xD
When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a person, it first afflicts their mind, exhausts their body, and wears them out.
Example? Please?
Learning to write clean tests. For months, your test suite feels like a waste of time — no bugs caught, no value visible. But when a refactor breaks something and the test catches it in 2 seconds instead of 2 hours of debugging, you realize the whole time you were being trained by Clone Troopers, not droids.
Ahh makes sense!
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