[abhayb]

Ah I wasn't even thinking about motivation! Yeah it makes sense that I'd have to start with motivation when I'm breaking down a perf problem. I'm reminded of the talk So you want to be a wizard [1]. It definitely understands what you're talking about.

[1] https://jvns.ca/blog/so-you-want-to-be-a-wizard/

[inimino]

Don't forget overcoming fear. SICP helped me most in that I overcame unconscious barriers of fear of complexity. The only way to defeat those is to embrace complexity and fight through it.