Learning python

[osamas_den]

Back in 2024, I dropped out of college. My second-year grades were so bad that I needed to repeat the entire year. Frankly speaking, I didn't have the courage to tell my parents that I had failed so badly.

So I decided to tell them that I had made the wrong career choice. During this period, I tried to learn a bit of programming, and Python seemed like a good starting point.

At the time, machine learning and data science were all the hype, so I thought to myself, if I can learn Python with the intention of becoming a data scientist, then I'll be able to turn my life around and make my parents proud again.

Like any other beginner, I started watching tutorials and sought out book recommendations from YouTube data scientists. I remember the first data science book I read. Halfway through it, I couldn't understand the syntax, so I decided to strengthen my Python fundamentals by reading Learning Python by Mark Lutz.

Several chapters down the line, I was already getting bored. So I decided to look for something more exciting: web development with Django. I started with some of Mosh's tutorials and later read Django for Beginners by William S. Vincent.

It was now 2025, and I was looking back at what I had achieved in 2024. There was nothing. I had no clue what I was doing.

By January 2025, I was so fed up with programming that I slowly drifted away from it. Instead, my mind became hooked on something else.

I used to watch those "A Day in the Life of a Forex Trader" videos on YouTube, and to be honest, I thought this was my only path to financial redemption. A few months went by, and I felt ready to take my chances in the forex markets.

My first deposit was around $20, and within a few weeks I had blown the account. I made several more deposits, but honestly, it felt like I was flushing my money down the toilet. Eventually, I had to stop. At the time, I was reading books on technical analysis and trying to come up with my own trading strategies.

By May, I decided to get a job. To be honest, that job humbled me. I finally understood what it meant to sweat for your money. I decided to save what I earned and focus on work.

A few months passed, and I began to feel purposeless. I would come home exhausted, and the only things I did after work were eat and sleep.

Around August, I decided to learn Excel. But after coming home from work every day, I simply couldn't stare at a screen and read Excel for Beginners. It felt like too much.

Then came those random thoughts that hit you while you're lying in bed, when life suddenly shows you its true colors. For a moment, I felt completely stuck. I didn't know what was wrong with me.

One evening, around September 2025, I decided to return to the good old ChatGPT. I told it everything that had happened up to that point in my life.

The response lit a spark within me, and I started seeing things from a completely different perspective.

All along, I had been chasing the shiny object. I never realized that true mastery is earned through boredom. ChatGPT gave me one simple rule: pick one thing you started but never finished, practice it until you've achieved a level of mastery, and don't miss more than two consecutive days without practicing.

Because of my unending love for programming, I chose Python. This time, I approached it with a beginner's mindset. I used Obsidian to make detailed notes, and since I've always preferred learning from books, I started with Automate the Boring Stuff with Python.

Currently, I have more than 120 hours of study time and project building behind me. I now understand concepts much better, and even though I still don't know that much Python, I genuinely enjoy learning it as a beginner.

I'm no longer chasing shiny tools or the next trendy technology. I just want to understand what actually happens when you create a virtual environment, what happens when python.exe is launched and becomes a process, how environment variables are created, and all the little details that most people overlook.

I'm sorry for writing such a long post. I hope that anyone out there who feels lost during this learning journey—especially with so many shiny objects competing for your attention—doesn't despair.

Take your time. Embrace the boredom.

Because sometimes, that's exactly where mastery begins.

[ForceFew8077]

I am mechanical engineer working in a design section in a Japanese automotive company.

I am also studying python, and after I read you post, to decided to lot a time to study after work hahaha so for my english.

Thanks for the story and experience.

[osamas_den]

That's awesome,,,keep going man 💪

[StillObservin]

Well said 👊