You Are Not Self-Taught

"I am a self-taught Programmer."

"I am a self-taught Chef."

"I am a self-taught Video Editor."

"I am a self-taught Fitness Personal Trainer."

When someone claims such a statement, reveals something important about him: high ego and lack of gratitude.

I was there too, when I blamed the University that didn't teach me what I needed for my job as a Software Engineer. I started to learn by myself.

But here's the trap: learning alone, in my room, didn't make me "self-taught". The authority presence of a teacher was indeed missing, but it's about how I learned.

Considering yourself a "self-taught" disrespects the people you learned from, either directly or indirectly.

It's very easy for your ego to blow up when you taste some sort of success. Though is to give credits to anything and anyone that has helped you reach that success.

Let me tell you what actually made me a "self-taught Software Engineer":

Buying $20-$40 online courses
Watching free YouTube videos
Googling errors and "how to"
"Subscribed" to the Holy StackOverflow (largest programming forum)

Does it sound like I really was alone in my success?

It's normal to want to be different, special, that we are killing it by ourselves. But it's not the right way for a long-term fulfillment.

Being special is extremely simple. Just do what the majority is not: be present, observe, be honest, give credit to others.

Learning is inherently a social process. No one acquires knowledge in isolation; even "self-taught" individuals rely on the shared experiences and insights of others (books, articles, tutorials).

The availability of knowledge (books, courses, YouTube videos) means that learning is facilitated by others.Without these resources, the self-taught journey wouldn't be possible.

Society has built a wall between people who follow a college and those who don't:

Those who finish a college think they are superior to the others, because they've had access to "official" resources
Those who don't, think that everything they've done it's only their work

Even without formal teachers, learners often follow structured paths laid out by others, making them "self-directed" rather than "self-taught."

The purest credit of a self-directed individual is how fast and how qualitative made his learnings by curating inefficient resources.

I happens to have a recent experience to give as an example: I learned to ride the bike with no hands. It happened in just 3 phases:

I've seen a guy doing acrobatics on the street, and made me curious whether I can too
I've spent around 30 minutes watching YouTube tutorials how to start doing that
In 5 days, practising it along the way to and from the gym I was able to achieve this goal

I could say I've learned alone, but it's untrue, since those tutorials gave me the tips I needed to practice.

But in the end, the obvious question is what do I get if I change this?

In my opinion, a few traits that boost various areas in your life:

Stronger Networks

Showing gratitude can strengthen your professional and personal networks, as people appreciate being acknowledged.

Continuous Growth

Acknowledging that you always have more to learn can keep you motivated to seek out new knowledge.

Appreciation for Knowledge

Being grateful for resources can increase your appreciation for learning and make the process more enjoyable.

Increased Empathy

Recognizing the efforts of others can increase your empathy and understanding of different viewpoints.

Resilience

This is crucial especially if you want to pivot to something new. Gratitude can increase resilience, helping you stay motivated and positive when facing challenges in your learning journey.

"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate." – Carl Jung

Letter's Quest

Today's Quest is about gratitude and becoming aware of how many people helped us to become who we are today.

Pick one of this 3 ways to exercise your gratitude:

Journaling
Meditation
Observation - just watch your books, YouTube/Instagram feed

Each day, think of just one quality of yours, and rewind how you become so good at it.

Examples of qualities: cooking, fitness, writing, ironing, healthy lifestyle, driving, listening to others, speaking, selling, motivate others, have good sleep, make good coffee. There are tons.

Examples of rewind: tutorials, books, articles, podcasts, interviews, videos, courses, in-person discussions, school, social media. Whatever led you there.

Remember how I've learned to ride hands-free? Just 3 steps: someone to trigger, YouTube guidance and my practise.

Practising this will lead you to have more benefits when you're learning something new and minimize your ego.

People are humble, but want to receive it first. Be brave and show it first, then watch your worldview become better.

Until the next letter, I wish you success in everything you're up to!