Embracing the Learning Journey: Reflections on Continuous Growth
There’s something both terrifying and exhilarating about standing at the edge of the unknown, about to dive into learning something completely new. Throughout my career and community work, I’ve found myself in this position countless times—facing a blank editor with a new programming language, staring at AWS service documentation for a tool I’ve never used, or preparing to lead a community initiative without a roadmap.
The Familiar Pattern of My Learning Process
When I reflect on how I approach learning something new, I notice a pattern that has served me well over the years:
1. The Initial Overwhelm
It always starts the same way—with that slightly uncomfortable feeling of not knowing where to begin. When I first decided to create the AWS Community Dashboard, I remember opening a blank project and thinking, “How am I going to visualize the entire global AWS community?” The scope seemed impossibly large.
This initial overwhelm used to paralyze me. Now I recognize it as a natural part of the process—a sign that I’m pushing beyond my comfort zone into territory where real growth happens.
2. Breaking It Down
My next step is always to break the mountain into molehills. With the Community Dashboard, I didn’t start by trying to map every AWS Hero, Community Builder, and User Group simultaneously. I began with just plotting AWS Heroes on a map. Once that worked, I added Community Builders. Then User Groups. Then filtering capabilities.
This incremental approach has become my mantra: “You don’t have to solve the entire problem today. Just solve the next small piece.”
3. Learning Through Building
I’ve discovered that I learn best by building something real. Reading documentation or watching tutorials only takes me so far—I need to get my hands dirty with actual code, actual designs, actual community challenges.
When I wanted to learn Hugo for my personal website, I didn’t just read about it—I rebuilt my entire site from scratch. Yes, there were frustrating moments (like when I spent hours trying to understand why my templates weren’t rendering correctly), but the knowledge I gained was deep and lasting because it was tied to solving real problems.
4. Embracing the “Aha!” Moments
There’s a particular joy in those breakthrough moments when something finally clicks. Recently, while implementing the interactive clustering feature for the AWS Community Dashboard map, I had been struggling with performance issues for days. The map would freeze when displaying hundreds of community members in dense regions like Europe or the US East Coast. When I finally discovered that implementing a custom clustering algorithm with dynamic zoom-level thresholds would solve the problem, that moment of clarity was incredibly satisfying.
These “aha!” moments are the rewards that keep me going through the challenging parts of learning. They’re like little victories that fuel the journey forward.
5. Teaching to Solidify Understanding
I’ve found that I don’t truly understand something until I can explain it to someone else. This is why I’m so passionate about creating resources for the AWS community—each blog post, each presentation, each template I create forces me to organize my knowledge in a way that others can understand.
The open-source design guide that Philipp and I are developing isn’t just about sharing resources—it’s also about solidifying our own understanding of what makes community events successful by articulating it clearly for others.
Learning Across Different Domains
What fascinates me is how this learning pattern applies across completely different domains:
Technical Learning
When learning a new technical skill—like when I first started working with interactive maps for the Community Dashboard—I follow this same pattern. I start with a small proof of concept, gradually add complexity, and build my understanding through practical application.
Working with Amazon Q has accelerated this process dramatically. Instead of spending hours researching syntax or best practices, I can ask specific questions and get immediate guidance. This doesn’t replace the need to understand the underlying concepts, but it does remove many of the friction points that used to slow down my learning.
Community Building
Learning how to build and nurture communities follows the same pattern, though the feedback loops are longer. When we try a new format for AWS User Group Vienna meetups, we might not know if it’s successful until after the event. But the process is the same—start small, iterate based on feedback, and gradually develop expertise through practical experience.
Our first few events were simple gatherings with a single speaker. Now we orchestrate complex multi-track events with workshops, networking sessions, and sponsor showcases—all because we built on what we learned from each previous event.
Creative Projects
Even my non-technical creative projects follow this pattern. Whether I’m learning a new drawing technique or trying my hand at video content creation, I start with small experiments, build on what works, and learn primarily through the act of creating rather than just consuming tutorials.
The Role of Community in Learning
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that while learning is a personal journey, it doesn’t have to be a solitary one. The AWS community has been an incredible accelerator for my learning:
- When I was stuck on a particularly challenging aspect of the Community Dashboard, another community member offered a elegant solution I hadn’t considered
- When preparing for my first major presentation, experienced speakers provided feedback that dramatically improved my delivery
- When exploring new AWS services, discussions with fellow enthusiasts helped me understand use cases beyond what’s covered in the documentation
This is why I’m so passionate about creating spaces where community members can learn together. Whether it’s through organized meetups, collaborative projects like the design guide, or simply connecting people through the Community Dashboard, these interactions enrich everyone’s learning journey.
Embracing Imperfection
Perhaps the most important aspect of my learning approach is becoming comfortable with imperfection. Early in my career, I was reluctant to share anything that wasn’t polished and complete. Now I understand that this perfectionism was holding me back.
The first version of the Community Dashboard had many limitations. If I had waited until it was “perfect” before sharing it, it might never have seen the light of day. By releasing it early and iterating based on community feedback, it evolved into something far better than what I could have created in isolation.
This mindset shift—from “I need to master this before sharing” to “I’ll learn by sharing and iterating”—has been transformative. It’s allowed me to learn faster, contribute more to the community, and derive more joy from the process.
Current Learning Frontiers
As I look at my current projects, I’m applying these learning principles across several fronts:
- With the AWS Community Dashboard, I’m exploring more sophisticated data visualization techniques to make the community connections more apparent
- For the open-source design guide, I’m learning how to structure contributions so that community members with varying technical skills can participate
- With my MzZavaa Hugo website, I’m experimenting with new ways to present technical content that balances depth with accessibility
Each of these projects presents unique challenges, but the approach remains consistent: break it down, learn through building, embrace the “aha!” moments, teach others, and leverage the power of community.
The Joy of Perpetual Learning
There was a time when I thought learning was something you completed—that you studied a subject, mastered it, and moved on. Now I understand that the most rewarding learning never really ends. Each answer leads to new questions, each mastered skill reveals new horizons to explore.
This perspective has transformed learning from something I do out of necessity into something I embrace with joy. The AWS ecosystem is constantly evolving, community needs are always changing, and there will always be new technologies to explore. Rather than finding this overwhelming, I now see it as an endless playground for growth and discovery.
As I continue working on the Community Dashboard, the design guide, and my other projects, I’m not just building resources for others—I’m also building myself, one learning journey at a time.
And that, perhaps, is the greatest project of all.
What’s your approach to learning new things? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below or at our next AWS User Group Vienna meetup.