As a kid, I was the best basketball playmaker on my street and in my village. I was invited to play for teams from neighboring villages. I used to train alone… just me and my basketball, which I called my “girlfriend.” I would wake up at 4 AM, train in the cold, and I was known as the top playmaker in my school.
Everything changed when I moved to the capital for university. I started strong and impressed everyone with my skills. Then something unexpected happened.
Within a few months, I ran into players with much more refined skills than mine. Despite all the self-training, I couldn’t keep up. I kept asking myself… how did they improve so much with less effort?
That’s when I noticed many of them had personal coaches. These coaches guided them, corrected their techniques, and planned their fitness routines.
It felt unfair. My background didn’t allow for personal coaches. I got frustrated… and I gradually stopped playing basketball.
Looking back, I learned two things:
There's no concept of fairness. If you have an advantage, you should take it.
I was playing basketball in ultra-hard mode. It was not just about playing; it was about training smart.
Having a coach shortens your learning curve because you are leveraging their experience. These players were benefiting from their coach’s 10,000+ hours and all the mistakes the coach had already made.
Look at any all-time great… you’ll see they had a great coach.
Have you ever felt stuck in your career? Trying to figure things out on your own, but not making progress as fast as you’d like. It feels like something is missing… and it is. You have blind spots you can’t see.
That’s where a great coach comes in. They help you identify what’s holding you back and shorten your path to success.
But not all coaches are equal. Just like a bad personal trainer can harm you, the wrong coach can waste your time, energy, and money. Imagine following a dangerous workout program and ending up injured.
We begin by discussing your current situation. Based on that, I suggest the first step.
Each step is focused. It may involve watching a YouTube video, reading a PDF guide, completing a coding assignment, or making a system design decision for a real use case. That use case may come from something I am working on now, something I have dealt with, or something I created for the assignment.
After each step, you send me a recap of what you understood. I review it, send you feedback… and only then we move to the next step.
You can send a chat request on Reddit or email me directly at hh@justifiedcode.com.