#005: The Amazing Feeling of a Job Well Done
You know that amazing feeling when you finally capture a legendary Pokémon you’ve been trying to catch for what feels like forever? Instead of using the Master Ball, you weaken it through your own effort, reduce its HP to a minimum, inflict the right status condition, and finally start throwing Ultra Balls until you catch the overpowered Pokémon you’ve been waiting for! That sweet, sweet feeling of sweeping through the rest of the game with a monster that frankly should not have been unleashed that early.
I first experienced that in Pokémon Emerald after catching Rayquaza. I caught it immediately after the Sootopolis City cutscene and then defeated the entire Elite Four with it. I still cannot put into words the rush of excitement I got.
Yes, that is the exact same feeling you will get when you finally solve a hard problem you’ve been working on by yourself, without any outside assistance.
When you’re starting out, it can feel almost impossible. Even the simplest hard problems involve quite a few complicated steps before you can finish them. But once you start getting the hang of it, you will come to realize that solving them becomes a matter of “implementing what you have learned.”
And once you do that, it becomes its own reward. The euphoria of a job well done makes you feel that all your hard work was worth it, and that you are making measurable progress. Medium problems often do not provide the same satisfaction as struggling through and overcoming a challenge the way hard problems do. And once you start, you will keep chasing that feeling.
It won’t be easy; almost nothing worthwhile is. But I can say from personal experience that it is not only achievable, but also a significant accomplishment. Additionally, it’s also one of the best cures for imposter syndrome: realizing that you can indeed stand on your own two feet!