Alfredo Deza shares what it’s like to be an Olympian, how he found his way to software and how others can get started there too. We also explore the power behind the word “yet.”
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Conversation Highlights
- Wanting to be known for who you are and not what you have done
- Downplaying his past as an Olympian
- Over time coming to embrace his past in sports and how it formed who is as a way to inspire others
- Persistent and consistent over time
- There are no shortcuts or quick tips to excellence (the story of Alfredo’s lawn)
- How Alfredo found his way to career in software, starting with Linux, scripting, Python and beyond (with no formal training or a college degree)
- Mentors in his life that would not let him quit
- Sending in a proposal to speak at a Python conference before he fully understood the language
- Story telling as an effective way of teaching in technical books
- The power of Yet (Alfredo’s post on LinkedIn that caught my eye)
- Adding “yet” to that thing you are pursuing and questioning whether you’ll get it
- It will work out eventually
- There will be no “yet” if you stop showing up
- Sometimes it is okay to quit
- Motivation is an illusion
- Seth Godin doesn’t believe in writer’s block
- Alfredo’s advice on how to get started in technology
- Consider your context and stage of life
- Gain the knowledge
- One thing often leads to another
- There are tons of free resources (including three books Alfredo wrote–see below)
- Go to the code repositories that benefit from using the particular resources
- Get experience as a contributor to the project and prove yourself
- The Fedora Project
- Go to conferences on subjects that interest you–use your own money and vacation time if you have to
- Find and connect with Alfredo on LinkedIn
Programming Resources
Microsoft Learn is a great place to get started
Self-published Free books by Alfredo Deza
O’Reilly Books by Alfredo Deza
Credits
All songs licensed under Creative Commons
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