One of my friends and peers in Microsoft evangelism did a great post on his journey to evangelism. It was insightful and inspiring. I hope everyone reads all of the multi-part series and gets as much from it as I did. What a great story by Dave Voyles.
Just some of the many lessons…
Keep on Keepin’ On – Invest in yourself. It cost me ~$2k for my trip, and I was already poor and drowning in student loan debt, but this was a chance I was willing to take to invest in my future. Still, this was way cheaper than college.
Do what it takes – Learn to be uncomfortable. I was lonely, on the other side of the country and learning something new every minute.
Blogging – Blogging works. Seriously. It got my three jobs in the short span of my career, and started countless friendships.
Building a Community – You can’t do it all alone. Work with others who are more talented than you to combine your skills and create the Voltron of whatever it is you enjoy.
Facing Rejection – Learn to handle rejection. If you take many shots, you’re going to miss quite a few. But you also learn a lot along the way.
Make Something, Anything – Start today — make something. The language and platform don’t matter, because once you build a project, you’ll have some momentum and everything becomes easier.
Game Jams and Hackathons Are Your Friend – Go to every game jam or hackathon you can find. You learn new skills, build on old ones, and network with not only peers, but also many of the companies you’d like to work for.
Putting It All Together – Keep on keepin’ on. Keep learning, make things, network as much as you can, and share the success stories of those around you.