Time for a Comeback

Are You Still There?

It’s been a while since the last post here on this blog/newsletter.

Now I feel like it is a time for a comeback.

What happened?

I just had a super busy year on the work and personal front as well, but I also just wanted to be away from content.

Probably most of you are here because you followed me on Twitter. That was my main platform before it became a shitshow. That is where I felt at home, and that was really my style: Short content packed with visuals.

Moving to Substack was hard. Even though it is a nice platform with a lot of potential and great creators all around, it’s needless to say that it is different. In my “blogging“ journey, I always created threads, short tweets, and now I am staring at a blank wall that waits for me to fill it with endless words. No character limits, just the empty editor.

When I write here, I feel that the content should be long and well-edited, like in a book. Twitter was loose and comfy, while Substack feels like the elite club, and I need to be well-dressed to belong here.

I didn’t like it originally, but now I see why this place might still be a good fit for me.

I learned to slow down. Twitter is also like TikTok, a constant fast-paced dopamine hit. That’s how I consumed and created content. I ran 365 sprints a year with my daily content. I thought creating on Substack is the ultimate marathon. The truth is probably in the middle. While it’s a “longer distance” to publish something here, it’s not a full marathon. And I feel way more comfortable running those distances than I did a year before.

We are living in an extremely fast-paced world. Tech is changing with every blink, AI is faster than a Ferrari, and slowing down here feels strange. But I must do it, I feel like. Running super fast all the time will not train you to run the longer distances.

How did I arrive here?

I work a lot in Power BI these days, and I needed to deepen my DAX knowledge. The best resources for that are the Definitive Guide to DAX Book and the SQLBI articles in general. And if you work with Power BI, it might not surprise you, but advanced DAX is haaaard. Every problem will hit you with a new challenge, and when you feel you learned something, it will just keep you grounded and humble. I need to reread articles and chapters all the time, and with each reread, I notice something new.

The authors make it very clear in the intro that this should be the way to do it:

Yes, if you want to leverage the real power of DAX, you need to be prepared for a long journey with us, reading the book from cover to cover, and then reading it again, searching for the many details that—at first sight —are not obvious.

The journey of learning DAX taught me that vibe coding is not the way. Programming in general requires you to master the basics and cannot jump right into the advanced stuff. No quick free lunch in this field, and writing good content might be the same.

What will come?

Previously, my content defined my days; now my days will define the content.

I will not push content if I have nothing to tell, just to send something out. I will not force myself to do things just because that’s great content.

We will still learn together, but I will write about things or projects that I am working on. Last year, I was too lazy, so it will also be some sort of motivation for me.

I want to learn about D3.js, Django, RAG, Dash, so many things on my list, but it will not be a rush. I will do some projects while learning and document the journey. If you are here for it and want to follow, then great, thank you. But if you don’t want to see it, please unsubscribe.