At The Crossroads

In partnership with

There will be times when everyone who is self-taught will face a crossroads.

Should they keep going or abandon their path for something more tangible? I have had that struggle. The learning was difficult. I couldn’t land an interview, and my bank account was rapidly plummeting towards zero.

My anxiety about what I should do was at an all-time high. My focus had waned because I worried about my future. All of the sacrifices up to this point would be for naught.

Those thoughts were constantly churning through my mind, so here is the advice I wish someone had given me:

Breathe.

Take a step back. Acknowledge your feelings. And then, grab a pen and paper.

  1. Write out your pros.

  2. Write out your cons

List the reasons why you should continue on this path. What are your long-term goals? What are you passionate about? What are the potential rewards of your efforts?

On the other side, acknowledge your fears and concerns. What are the potential risks? What are your fallback options?

Your pros and cons are something that should make sense to you. My biggest pro, looking back, was the fact that I did not want to give up on myself. I was sick of being in dead-end careers and hoping for something better.

I could manifest something better.

And I did.

The fact that I didn’t want to disappoint myself was the biggest motivator in deciding what to do at that crossroads. It has instilled a sense of confidence in me that I didn’t know I had.

Ultimately, the decision rests with you. But remember this: Don't let fear dictate your path. Trust your instincts, listen to your inner voice, and choose the path that aligns with your values and aspirations.

This journey may be challenging, but it will undoubtedly make you stronger and more resilient. And remember, even if you choose a different path, the skills you've acquired through self-learning will always be valuable assets.

Writer RAG tool: build production-ready RAG apps in minutes

RAG in just a few lines of code? We’ve launched a predefined RAG tool on our developer platform, making it easy to bring your data into a Knowledge Graph and interact with it with AI. With a single API call, writer LLMs will intelligently call the RAG tool to chat with your data.

Integrated into Writer’s full-stack platform, it eliminates the need for complex vendor RAG setups, making it quick to build scalable, highly accurate AI workflows just by passing a graph ID of your data as a parameter to your RAG tool.

Reply

or to participate.