That I would give to my past self.
- Small steps count. Slow is okay. Slow and steady. When in doubt, do something. Eexternally visible sharable thing. Action (not only motion). Don't draft, publish. Don't plan, share/ship.
- One thing for a long time. How? Go with what interests you. What you have enthusiasm for. What you can imagine doing for a long time. Like a long time, years not months. (because it takes longer than it looks).
- Get used to feeling uncomfortable. Pain, suffering, discomfortable, fear of rejection/failure. It's all part of it. Don't avoid it, don't try to 'protect' yourself from it. Go toward it, face it, embrace it. go through it. (you will always be sitting in the comfort of your own home, typing while looking at a screen. come'on. It's not actually scary)
Bonus: talk to other people who are also on this journey and make friends. Seriously. Talk to people.
This last thing is what I truely wish someone has told me 2 years ago. Because talking to other people is what actually helped solidify the other lessons. Still working to internalize this but feel very confident that these are the right things for me to internalize at my stage in the journey.