Any profession where you need to write code is one where you are always striving for perfection. Being human gets in the way of attaining perfection, so failure happens, often. In that sense, programming professionally is a very religious experience that requires devout discipline in order to achieve a state of enlightenment.

In the face of so much failure, it is easy to lose confidence in yourself. It helps (one might say imperative) to adopt a Zen mentality to orient your mind and focus in the right direction. Here are three things you should always repeat to yourself in times of frustration.

I can learn anything.

Everything complicated is made up of simple parts. Break concepts down as far as possible. Go over new material several times, starting with high level concepts and include a new detail with each pass.

I love failure and criticism.

Failure is a part of evolution, if you are not failing, you are not evolving. Criticism is hard to swallow sometimes, but remember, someone took the time to give you advice that will help you improve.

I must keep an open mind.

When something challenges your mental model, try to accept it first, rather than fight it. Listen. It’s hard as humans, we instinctively start justifying our own mental models, rather than use that energy to think along. Repeat to yourself “usually, my mental models are incomplete”. The willingness to first accept new information is one of the signs of a truly enlightened mind, which, in my experience, many traditioanlly-educated people do not possess.

So, when that thing you have been tinkering with all day is just not working, take a deep breath, walk around and repeat these three statements (to yourself). It is a good cure for the tunnel-vision mind-set, where people often find themselves trapped.

“Free your mind and your ass will follow” -Funkadelic