My favorite quote was in the preface “how to learn” of one of their Obj-C/Cocoa books.
TLDR: You are not stupid. This stuff is hard.
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While learning something new, many students will think, "Damn, this is hard for me. I wonder it am stupid." Because stupidity is such an unthinkably terrible thing in our culture, the students will then spend hours constructing arguments that explain why they are intelligent yet are having difficulties. The moment you start down this path, you have lost your focus.
Aaron used to have a boss named Rock. Rock had earned a degree in astrophysics from Cal Tech and had never had a job that used his knowledge of the heavens.
He was once asked if he regretted getting the degree. "Actually, my degree in astrophysics has proved to be very valuable," he said. "Some things in this world are just hard. When I am struggling with something, I sometimes think Damn, this is hard for me. I wonder if I am stupid,' and then I remember that I have a degree in astrophysics from Cal Tech; I must not be stupid."
Before going any further, assure yourself that you are not stupid and that some things are just hard. Armed with this silly affirmation and a well-rested mind, you are ready to conquer Cocoa.
having failed to learn objective-c back in the day from their intro book... now I realise that I don't have a degree in astrophysics from Cal; there is a distinct possibility that I may be stupid. :-)
To be honest, I also “failed to become a real dev” from these books. It wasn’t until I watched Stanford’s iOS courses (Paul Hagarty) at 2x that I finally understood enough to build my first app. Such is the journey!
All sorts of people come to our class: the bright and the not so bright, the motivated and the lazy, the experienced and the novice. Inevitably, the people who get the most from the class share one characteristic: They remain focused on the topic at hand.
The first trick to maintaining focus is to get enough sleep: ten hours of sleep each night while you are studying new ideas. Before dismissing this idea, try it. You will wake up refreshed and ready to learn. Caffeine is not a substitute for sleep.
TLDR: You are not stupid. This stuff is hard.
—- While learning something new, many students will think, "Damn, this is hard for me. I wonder it am stupid." Because stupidity is such an unthinkably terrible thing in our culture, the students will then spend hours constructing arguments that explain why they are intelligent yet are having difficulties. The moment you start down this path, you have lost your focus.
Aaron used to have a boss named Rock. Rock had earned a degree in astrophysics from Cal Tech and had never had a job that used his knowledge of the heavens.
He was once asked if he regretted getting the degree. "Actually, my degree in astrophysics has proved to be very valuable," he said. "Some things in this world are just hard. When I am struggling with something, I sometimes think Damn, this is hard for me. I wonder if I am stupid,' and then I remember that I have a degree in astrophysics from Cal Tech; I must not be stupid."
Before going any further, assure yourself that you are not stupid and that some things are just hard. Armed with this silly affirmation and a well-rested mind, you are ready to conquer Cocoa.