If there’s one thing that’s made the biggest difference in my career, it’s not a framework or a tool. It’s mindset.
More specifically: the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.
For a long time, I thought you were either “good at something” or you weren’t. Some people were natural speakers. Others were born with an eye for architecture. I didn’t put myself in either category. That’s what a fixed mindset does: it convinces you that your skills are set in stone.
The Career Switch That Changed Everything
Seven years ago, I switched careers from lab technician to .NET developer. To say I was nervous is an understatement. I didn’t have the perfect background. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever catch up.
Looking back, those thoughts all came from a fixed mindset. That little voice in my head said: Don’t try, you might fail.
But here’s the thing: skills aren’t fixed. You can learn them. You can practice them. You can grow into them. Once I started to believe that, everything else changed.
How I Started Thinking Differently
That shift, from “I can’t” to “I can learn”, changed the way I approached everything that came after:
When I created my first Pluralsight course, I had no idea what I was doing. Writing a script, recording audio, structuring modules, it all felt overwhelming. A few years earlier, I would have thought: I’m not cut out for this. But I caught myself. Instead, I thought: Of course it feels hard, it’s the first time I’m doing this. I’ll get better with practice.
The same happened with speaking. I wasn’t a speaker yet. I didn’t fully understand Orleans yet. That one word, yet, made a lot of difference. Every big milestone came down to small steps: writing a blog post, giving a short talk at Visug, volunteering in the community. Over time, those steps added up.
None of it happened overnight. But by treating everything as something I can learn, I keep moving forward.
Practical Things That Helped
Looking back, a few things really made the difference:
- Adding yet to my vocabulary. “I don’t know this yet” feels a lot lighter than “I’ll never know this.”
- Celebrating effort, not just results. Sometimes showing up and trying is the win.
- Asking for feedback instead of avoiding it. The earlier you get it, the faster you can grow.
- Saying yes to things that felt uncomfortable. Every time I said yes to something that scared me (first course, first talk, first international session) it ended up being a turning point.
- Finding a community. Being surrounded by people who are also learning makes the journey less scary.
Why This Matters
Technology keeps changing. Today it’s .NET Aspire, tomorrow it’s something else. If you cling to a fixed mindset (“I’ll never understand this”), you’ll get stuck. With a growth mindset, every change becomes an opportunity.
I never thought I’d be creating courses, speaking at international conferences, or becoming an MVP. None of that was on my radar when I started. But by choosing growth, step by step, those things became possible.
One Question to Ask Yourself
The next time you catch yourself thinking I can’t do this, try pausing.
Ask yourself: Or can I learn it, with time and effort?
That single question has changed the direction of my career more than any framework ever could.
