As An 11 Year Old, I Built iPhone Apps

I was 11 years old, huddled in front of a glowing screen.

It was later than I was allowed to stay up (by quite a bit if I remember correctly), but I was so close! I was trying to build an iPhone app. I was also frustrated.

For hours I had fought with Xcode (the software used to build apps for the iPhone) to put a navigation bar at the top of each of my pages.

Then finally, on perhaps the thousandth iteration… It worked!

I still remember the giddy feeling I got when I hit play… and there was my navigation bar!

Immediately, I ran upstairs to tell my parents. They were watching a movie, and I knew I shouldn’t be awake, but I didn’t care. My program had worked!

I paused behind the wall for a split second before I overcame my fear and charged into the room.

As I entered the room my hands shot up above my head as I said: “I got it! It works!”

To be honest, I doubt my parents knew what I was building or the things I was struggling with. But to their credit, they leapt off the couch and celebrated with me (even though it was past my bed time).

Thinking of this story reminds me of the greatness of my parents and how grateful I am for them.

But it reminds of something greater that I know exists within me:

Even as a kid, I was willing to try and fail thousands of times.

To let every failure inform my next action.

To not stop until I had achieved my vision.

And to celebrate the win I had, even if it broke some rules.

Thousands of hours were spent in front of that glowing screen teaching myself to code.

I was obsessed.

What are you obsessed with?