Hey there ,

This is your first data science letter delivered straight to your pocket.

First, I’d love to express my gratitude for having you here. The ultimate goal of growing this email list is to provide you with personal bits and pieces of my data science journey and help you pave your way into a career in data while focusing on productivity, education, focus, and the overall organization.

Here are three things I let go of that allowed me to stay focused and organize my journey, but also keep an all-time high performance while building projects.

I stopped Bundle-Buying Courses

Courses are great, they lay the foundation for your learning and their purpose is to deep-dive into a topic and then tackle your curiosity to learn more. Excess consumption of online courses can lead to a tutorial loop, also known as tutorial hell, where you keep absorbing finely digested knowledge without nourishing your problem-solving capabilities.

How I fixed this:

I focused on fundamentals and just absorbed the basis. I couldn’t immediately stop watching tutorials, but what I did was try to implement something before uncovering the solution and moving to the next videos. Sometimes, I consulted Reddit and other forums, but essentially did my best to solve the problem myself.

If you compare yourself to others, you’re doomed to fail

One of the hardest habits to let go of was constant comparing myself to others and why I couldn’t be like them. I grew up surrounded by people who always preached that it’s up to us and not our circumstances. While both statements are true, we don’t start in the same spot as others. Others may have one thing easier, and then have it much harder with one thing we excel at.

How I fixed this:

While therapy had a great impact on how I addressed this problem, I cultivated a mindset of comparing myself to the version of myself that I was yesterday. I accepted that there are good and bad days. I also accepted that I’m my biggest critic, and in fact the one who holds me down. It’s a continuous struggle, but it gets better with practice.

I stopped believing there’s a one-size-fits-all way into a data role

Have you ever come across those courses that tell you that you can become a professional data scientist, web developer, project manager, content creator, or whatever in just 30 days, 6 weeks, or 3 months? I do it all the time. And when I grew enough following to start receiving sponsorship offers they started offering me money to advertise that. I straight out refused!

How I fixed it:

Just like it takes a whole semester of careful focus on the class, homework, and extracurricular activities to “prepare for an exam overnight” it also takes months and months, if not years to become an expert in your field. The sooner you realize that overnight success occurs after nights and nights of no sleep and tears, the sooner you’ll be liberated from the chains of unrealistic expectations.

That’s it for this week. Reach out to me and share 3 things you’d like to let go of that you think are hindering your learning journey. I’ll do my best to help you find the solution.

P.S. If your biggest struggle is getting started with data science or data analytics - check my comprehensive Data Scientist Roadmap tailored specifically for beginners who are lost and don't know how to get started. This lengthy guide is hosted online and updates every few weeks with best industry trends:

Grab it here!

Until next week,

Danica