June is an invigorating time for iOS developers worldwide.
Invigorating… And exhausting.
Me personally? The flurry of new-ness often has me feeling overwhelmed.
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WWDC – The Worldwide Developer Chase
When it comes time for WWDC, are you like me? Do you conjure up a mental image of a race?
It’s as if all of us who are enrolled in the Apple Developer Program line up at the starting line and wait for the pistol to fire, signaling the sprint that is the Worldwide Developer Conference Chase.
The race metaphor induces pressure.
Pressure to figure things out as quickly as you can.
Pressure to be one of the rist to download Xcode {next}.
Pressure to install the new beta operating systems.
Pressure to master the new APIs and features of Apple’s platforms.
Pressure to make a discovery, publish it out, and get noticed.
For me, it can be discouraging to watch the Twitter feeds of others who seem to be much faster than me at all of those things.
I watch the race to “be first” go on around me and realize: I can’t compete.
But… Why? Why do this to ourselves?
WWDC – The Worldwide Developer Community
What if we could shift the thinking?
If you build apps because it’s something you love to do, here’s what I propose:
Nix the race metaphor.
If writing Swift is something you enjoy because it’s fulfilling in itself, there’s no need to worry about how fast you’re able to grasp all the new-ness.
Competitors are always going to be out there, always trying to one-up another. That’s not the group of people I want to be a part of.
Instead, I gravitate to the global body of like-minded Swifters who, like me, enjoy building apps and contributing our share of bytes to the Internet in order to nudge the world in a positive direction. Thankfully, there are plenty of these kinds of folks out there to befriend.
Bottom line: Take your time. Enjoy yourself.
Build that example Xcode project and publish it to GitHub.
Tweet that new discovery that someone else already discovered and tweeted about before you.
Write that blog post without worrying with how much attention you garner from others.
It’s okay!
Do what you do because you love it. I guarantee it will impact somebody. @me – I’d love to hear what you’re discovering!
WWDC isn’t a Worldwide Developer Competition when you’re contributing to the Worldwide Developer Community.
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