What I discovered from six months of being silly on goal · WVEZ Solutions

Feeling silly typically, and in new methods

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Me

I graduated from Loyola U Chicago again in May of this 12 months (2026) with a level in Finance. I additionally spent 4 totally different summers working at a big healthcare firm as a Financial Planning and Analysis Intern. Despite how wonderful these experiences had been, in addition they made me really feel like my destiny had already been determined, fostering an unhealthy perspective the place careers outdoors of my “one-way path” had been a waste of on a regular basis I had invested.

However, that short-sighted mindset quickly modified inside my remaining semesters of college and blossomed into what I’d name a serious pivot for the higher – all as a result of I began instructing myself a software program I’d by no means touched in my life.

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Who tf is JSON?

I’ve been an innovator for so long as I can keep in mind, with random side-hustles ever since I used to be in elementary faculty. From sneaker reselling, dropshipping therapeutic massage weapons, rug tufting, rainbow-loom bracelets, you title it, I’ve most likely achieved it.

The latest one I stumbled into throughout my remaining semesters at Loyola was workflow automation in n8n. That was the primary time I really flexed the stupidity muscle, activated by working outdoors my ol’ dependable set of finance/quant data that I often relied on and barely had the braveness to step away from.

I’d heard concerning the software program from social media, fellow entrepreneurs, and different productiveness creators I observe. All had been saying the identical issues: it improved enterprise processes, multiplied productiveness, supplied passive earnings alternatives (the basic), and extra. So like all simply influenced faculty scholar, I jumped on the hype prepare.

My unique plan was to simply automate the duties that felt redundant in my schoolwork, profession search, asset placement analysis, and primary day-to-day duties. Then, I’d later pair my automations with the analytical capabilities of AI brokers as soon as I first felt comfy making workflows that didn’t contain AI – all with hopes to create the inspiration of an honest enterprise.

I signed up, opened it, and was met with a clean canvas with entry to a whole lot of random nodes, triggers, and inputs to select from that I had no thought how one can use.

Starting with that clean canvas after being bombarded with colossal workflows that took up whole canvases made me query my restricted skill-set and if it was even potential for me to do the identical factor with no technical expertise of any type.

These had been a number of of the questions I requested myself after opening that first canvas and questioning if it was even potential for me to catch up to those who had been working with the system for YEARS:

• What’s an HTTP node for?
• Are “AI Agents” all everybody makes with this?
• Why does every little thing want an API key?
• WHAT IS an API key?
• Is coding my largest bottleneck?

And most significantly:

“How do I not know what to do already?”

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Just Quit Tomorrow

“Wow, I’m silly” is what I informed myself, all as a result of I didn’t miraculously know what to construct first, or what workflow might “revolutionize my productiveness” like discussion board writers and “consultants” had claimed. As foolish because it sounds, I felt fairly down throughout my begin as a result of it fully uncovered how little I knew about primary matters within the technical global community. Especially ones that had been thought of second nature to these extra skilled than I, and often utilized in workflows I’d seen. Even with the actual fact I used to be simply beginning out – I, for some purpose, nonetheless anticipated myself to determine all of it out then and there.

I noticed in that second and admitted to myself: This wasn’t part of my pre-programmed script. My first intuition was to stop and cancel the subscription to avoid wasting myself from the frustration, however I changed my wishes to stop with the mindset:

“shut up and attempt to determine it out.”

This was my very own little manner of making a wake-up name to remind myself I used to be absolutely able to constructing one thing helpful and had the flexibility to do precisely as I had deliberate so long as I put within the work.

• Quick nod to some stuff that all the time provides me an additional push:

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Blocking Noise

I spent weeks scavenging Reddit posts, Medium articles, and reviewing YouTube guides to study as a lot as potential from those who knew greater than I did. But trying again, I truthfully have regrets with how a lot time I invested in doing that. I discovered that there’s solely a lot I might achieve from simply watching movies and studying earlier than getting caught in what I name tutorial limbo – the place I’d spend unending quantities of time watching others and researching random questions as an alternative of really doing.

I really feel that tutorials and informative studying are all the time good beginning factors for getting down the fundamentals of a ability. However, I noticed getting to some extent the place you reap the advantages from what you’re hoping to study requires you to do it your self and fail. Quite a bit.

This naturally resulted in me feeling silly so much.

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Limbo

I’ve been a sufferer of instructional limbo myself as a result of it truthfully feels wonderful to assume you’re studying a brand new ability. The dopamine rush from all issues shiny and envisioning your self replicating content material you’re studying/watching – it’s addicting. Regardless, the heartbreaking actuality is that it’s not often ever productive. I’m nonetheless studying to keep away from falling into that void to today.

The most damaging motion, although, was actively exposing myself to the most effective outcomes the ability needed to supply that had been solely potential with months and even years of expertise.

While within the strategy of studying, it’s by far been the largest lure and motivation killer I’ve skilled. It’s tremendous observing what’s potential with a ability, however by no means overdo it to the purpose the place you paralyze your self with doubt like I did. Especially within the age of social media larping, you by no means know who’s simply straight up mendacity for consideration, revenue, or in an energetic hunt for brand spanking new victims to purchase their snake-oil-esque course.

What I’ve discovered to truly be productive was beginning small and “simply doing.” Specifically, in search of out errors inside MY manner of labor to truly study what labored for ME.

Furthermore, reminding myself that the flexibility to even begin was an accomplishment in itself. Many by no means make it out of the limbo loop within the first place, so beginning has all the time been a win in my e-book. So many previous pursuits of mine carry hours that went into googling and asking individuals “how do I get higher at ___,” as an alternative of really doing what it took to determine it out for myself.

Wasted potential survives and feasts on these caught within the limbo loop.

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Baby Steps

Nobody comes out of the womb sprinting full velocity (hats off in the event you did). You must study to crawl first, and my first time crawling was a easy workflow that despatched me a Slack notification once I obtained an e mail response a couple of job I utilized for at Google.

Can this simply be achieved by establishing notification preferences within the careers web page? Absolutely. But who cares? The level was to begin and make one thing that labored – and this workflow did precisely that. I obtained the notification of my rejection to the job in a well timed style to my Slack with inexperienced execution alerts subsequent to it. Success.

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Strides

From then on, just about Monday – Sunday I spent my free time making random workflows with nodes I’d by no means used earlier than on goal only for the sake of enhancing. Slowly however certainly after two months of by no means taking a look at automation content material outdoors of error decision, and breaking issues each day – I grew to become extra superior with what I used to be making.

Here are a number of of the “superior” flows I got here to create throughout my final semester:

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These workflows are a small pattern of the a whole lot that I remodeled the span of my final semester, and virtually 50% of the stuff I made both didn’t work, was dropped, or had no actual use-case that benefitted me.

But due to that delayed realization, I discovered a lot about myself and issues I by no means imagined I had a ardour for. Just from this expertise, I used to be capable of study and make the most of in new tasks of mine:

• REST APIs + authentication (API keys, OAuth 2.0)
• Finally who JSON is, parsing him, and knowledge mapping
• Reverse-engineering undocumented APIs (DevTools, cURL, .har information)
• Web Scraping
• JS and common expressions
• Webhooks, polling, and cron triggers
• AI brokers with device calling, immediate engineering, and capabilities of deep reminiscence
• RAG modeling inside my brokers (embeddings and vector shops)
• MCP servers
• Self-hosting by myself area

Those are just some matters I can title off the highest of my head, and studying that listing as I sort this makes me really feel so happy with myself. I by no means envisioned myself coming this far with matters I actually knew nothing about (and truthfully nonetheless don’t) after having that one-way road mindset earlier than beginning. It’s sparked quite a few new passions, enterprise alternatives, and connections I by no means imagined myself having a 12 months in the past.

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Biggest Takeaways

If I might give anybody a chunk of recommendation from my private expertise of all the time seeking to study new issues, it could be:

Just begin. Ignore the noise.

The hardest half about this course of was simply beginning. More so than coping with the failures and disappointments. Looking again, there have been quite a few elements that performed a job in what stored me from doing so:

• Threads from SWEs referring to n8n customers as “course sellers on the lookout for a fast buck”
• Reddit posts saying “n8n/automation is cooked” (I can’t even rely the amt of instances I’ve seen this one)
• Condescending replies underneath posts from newcomers asking questions

Too typically we’re fed recommendation and enter from sources that aren’t price listening to, and even when they’re price listening to – their recommendation isn’t common or relevant. I’m not saying to disregard all recommendation or sensible norms, however when attempting to enhance any facet of your self, every little thing you devour issues. If you select to devour exterior enter, ensure that it’s the suitable stuff that applies. Nothing compares to studying what works for you, and in the event you spend an excessive amount of time consuming what works for others, you’ll by no means turn into the most effective model of your self.

Turning away from the void sucked. I had no shiny carrot to chase and I noticed I knew nothing. But in the long run it paid off 10x greater than I anticipated.

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Present Day

Fast-forward to current day, and the teachings I discovered began to spill into my life for the higher. The apply I gained with scripting inside code and filter nodes led to quite a few enterprise ventures powered by agentic coding, all of which I operated as a scholar.

My effort to steadiness the nonstop concepts I had from my newfound ardour throughout programming, fixing issues with knowledge, and uncooked starvation to simply construct finally led to me growing my largest mission but. That mission and its MVP finally landed me early-stage acceptance into Chicago’s #1 tech incubator. Being surrounded by among the brightest minds in my very own yard with the flexibility to study from them with out judgment has pushed me past what I ever thought was potential for myself.

Avenues that didn’t exist a 12 months in the past for me solely got here after I made the choice to be content material with feeling silly, and I hope anybody studying this feels extra motivated to do the identical.

Maybe my very own recommendation isn’t price listening to both. But nonetheless, I really hope everybody studying this could expertise the identical thrill I’ve been feeling since I began being content material with stupidity.