Compounding effects

I laid my eyes for the first time in Haskell around 2007. Throughout the years I delve into Haskell now and then. Sometimes for periods of one month - while reading LYAH. Sometimes it was a bit shorter while I looked at functors and monads. I was mostly trying to get a feeling for what they were. Of course I failed, because I lacked the mental model to understand those concepts - eventually I redeemed myself. I started a few projects in it, until I decided that if I was using something else I would have been done much quicker - this is an example that’s been running for more than two years without an issue. In total I have plunged into Haskell 6 or 7 times across 16 years. But, what if I did Haskell every single day for 16 years? And by doing it, I mean working on a project, or exploring something about the language, or even just a silly one liner change. Where would my knowledge about Haskell be with such a timeline? Where would this knowledge lead me professionally? Questions for another life.

I started running in June of 2016. And more seriously in 2018. From them on, except for when injured, I have been pretty consistent with my training. What most surprised me about running and doing it in a more serious way, is how training compounds over time. There are adaptations that occur over long periods of time and stay. I can stop running for a whole month and then run a half marathon distance without too much risk of an injury. Speed is lost, but legs and fitness level are still good. These gradual improvements only happen over long periods of time - years to be exact. A counter example of this, is why it’s impossible for actors that never did bodybuilding become buffed naturally. Of course short cuts were taken (e.g. steroids). You need time to build these adaptations, there are optimal ways for achieving these, but there’s so much one can do. A coach, good nutrition and sleep, flexibility and strength training all play a big role to improve one’s run. In particular strength training helps you protect your body and avoid injuries.

Time and discipline is something you can’t buy. And these small daily investments pay massive dividends after a while. For now my dedication is to running and writing, but sometimes I go down memory lane and wonder where I would be with Haskell.