From Tutorial Hell to a Ritual of Growth: How I Plan to Make Every Lesson Count in 2025
Let me start with a confession.
I have a problem. A digital hoarding problem. No, not NFTs. Not eBooks. Not even free game assets.
Courses.
Endless amounts of them. From Zenva to Lynda (or LinkedIn Learning, whatever rebrand they’re rolling with now), Udemy to YouTube rabbit holes, to my beloved Gamedev.tv, I’ve collected courses like Pokémon cards—except I haven’t “caught ’em all” in the sense of actually finishing them. And don’t get me started on the stack of Dummies books on programming. I’ve got enough to open a makeshift library.
At this point, it’s less a collection and more of a shrine. A shrine to a version of me that was ready. A version that was constantly preparing, but rarely shipping.
Sound familiar?
Yeah… I’m a card-carrying member of what many in tech call “tutorial hell.”
What is Tutorial Hell?
It’s that cycle where you keep consuming content without creating anything of your own. You keep thinking one more course will give you that “Aha!” moment or unlock some next-level power—like a real-life video game skill tree.
You convince yourself that you’re learning. And sure, technically, you are. But the moment you sit down to start your own project?
Blank screen. Mind empty. Confidence tanked.
It’s like all those tutorials were stored in RAM and got wiped the second you tried to do something solo.
Why I Bought So Many Courses
Honestly? Some of it is classic impulse.
“Oh wow! A Unity RPG course for $14.99? Take my money.”
“This JavaScript Bootcamp looks like it’ll finally make async/await click!”
“Only 2 hours? I can bang that out in an afternoon!”
(narrator voice: he did not)
But deeper than that, it’s part of a hunger. A desire to become something. Whether it’s a full-time indie dev, a software engineer, or just someone confident enough to build and ship cool projects—it all starts with learning.
The thing is, I mistook buying courses for becoming the person I wanted to be.
Time to Make Amends (To Myself)
2025 is going to be different.
Not in that whole “New Year, New Me” way. I’m not here to burn out in January and ghost my resolutions by February.
I’m here to honor what I bought.
I’ve spent time. I’ve spent money. I’ve invested parts of myself in these decisions. And now, I want to treat those courses not as crutches, but as tools.
Here’s my new motto:
“Course → My Own Project → Course → Book → Course.”
This rotation isn’t just a schedule. It’s a rhythm. A ritual. Something I can flow with, iterate on, and turn into a way of life.
The Ritual Explained
1. Course
I start by diving into a course—but this time with intent. No passive watching. No mindless note-taking. Just active, hands-on learning. I follow along, I code with them, I experiment.
2. My Own Project
Immediately after, I apply it. A small project. A prototype. A mini-game. Anything to cement what I learned and make it my own. The goal is not perfection—it’s momentum.
3. Course
Back again. Maybe it’s a follow-up course. Maybe something totally unrelated. Variety keeps me sharp, and switching topics ensures I don’t tunnel vision too hard.
4. Book
Here’s where my stack of Programming for Dummies comes in. Some people look down on those books, but honestly? They’re underrated. Straightforward, beginner-friendly, and weirdly comforting. I’ll be reading to deepen my concepts and practice being off-screen sometimes.
5. Course
You get the idea. Rinse and repeat. Learn, apply, reflect, then loop back.
Turning a Crux into an Advantage
Here’s the truth: Buying all these courses wasn’t a mistake.
It was preparation.
Maybe over-preparation. Maybe a sign of fear. But it also means I have no shortage of resources to level up.
Now I get to take everything I’ve gathered and funnel it into output.
The tutorials aren’t my endgame—they’re the fuel.
And if I ever start slipping back into consumption-only mode, I’ll ask myself:
What am I building with what I just learned?
If the answer is “nothing,” then I know it’s time to pause, apply, and create.
Addendum: The Guilt of Untouched Gold
One more thing I need to get off my chest…
I’m not just guilty of buying too many courses.
I’m guilty of not even touching them.
Some are still sealed in their digital packaging—never opened, never explored. Others? I started but abandoned halfway through when life got hectic or motivation dipped. And now, every time I scroll past them, I get that gnawing feeling of wasted potential.
But here’s the kicker:
These aren’t just overpriced distractions.
They’re valuable learning resources.
Each one is a guided pathway, crafted by people who want to help me grow—whether that’s learning Unity, brushing up on JavaScript, or figuring out how to actually make a decent 2D game loop.
I used to see them as a symbol of guilt. Now I want to treat them as a vault of untapped opportunity. Every unfinished course is just a lesson waiting to be unlocked.
So yeah, I’m guilty.
But now I’m taking that guilt, flipping it on its head, and using it as fuel.
I want to finish what I started.
Not out of shame—but out of respect.
For myself. For the time I put in. For the vision I have for my future.
And this year, that vault’s getting opened.