I don’t necessarily have a “gang” of friends that push and support me, but I do have a few people that come to mind that encourage me to strive to be the best that I can be. Besides, the value of a few great friends is significantly higher than the value of several not-so-great friends in my opinion.
The value of a few great friends is significantly higher than the value of several not-so-great friends.
The first person that comes to mind is my best friend Quincy. Since the day I met him, he has constantly pushed me to continue learning and improve my skills so that I can continue to be successful. He is one of the primary reasons that I have the job I have now. He led me to understand exactly what I wanted to do in terms of my career by helping me shape my thoughts around development as a whole. He insisted that we go to Startup Weekend together, which was the pinnacle of my career decision making process.
Another good friend that supports me in my endeavors is the lead developer on my team, Shawn. Shawn has been a mentor in all kinds of ways, including my path of learning software development practices and ideas. Every question that I’ve had about code, Shawn has always helped me figure out the answer on my own. He continues to push me to keep doing great things and to take initiative on matters that I am passionate about. He has inspired my belief of asking for forgiveness is easier than asking for permission, and I use that belief when making decisions about items I am working on. If I want to implement something new, I just do it and worry about any backlash later. Obviously there are some exceptions to this, but for the most part it is true.
Even though she is my fiancee, Julie is also another great friend that continues to push me further towards success and happiness in life. She is always willing to talk about anything that may be on my mind, and is dedicated to learning about the things I work with and what I’m passionate about. She makes it a point to ask about the things I’m working on at work, or side projects, or something new in tech she may have come across in the news. She always has an opinion about what I should do next, and is willing to discuss any opportunities that may come my way to advance my career further.
A never-ending source of advice and someone to talk about my feelings on certain things has been my grandmother, or Mamaw, Kitty. Even since I was little, she’s always been there to just talk to. Mamaw always has something smart to say about any situation I bring to her, regardless of the topic. She never forgets anything important that I tell her about and makes it a point to bring things up in conversation from time to time just to check up on them. I’ll call her multiple times a week just to talk about anything and everything, and it’s always a great conversation.
One person that is going to encourage me to be the best person that I can be and support me in my path to success is significantly more valuable to me than 100 people that may occasionally like my latest Facebook post.
There are many people that have had a significant influence on me in my life in an encouraging and supportive way, but these are the people that come to mind immediately. I could continue to grow my group of good friends that support me in ways like this by attending tech meetups, or making an effort to connect with some other coworkers outside of work. However, I question whether I even want to. As I said earlier, I would much rather have one great friend than 100 not-so-great friends. One person that is going to encourage me to be the best person that I can be and support me in my path to success is significantly more valuable to me than 100 people that may occasionally like my latest Facebook post. The question of whether or not I should have more friends is one that I’ll likely explore for the rest of my life, but right now I could not ask for a better support system.