The life of a data scientist can be filled with questions and very few solutions.That’s why every time you solve a hard problem, celebrate. Celebrate like you’ve just unearthed a gleaming nugget of gold in the rubble. How can you celebrate? Make a cup of tea, go treat yourself to something nice to eat, go for a walk, whatever works for you. By celebrating, appreciating and respecting the problem at hand, it’s also a good sign that you’re not setting super high expectations of yourself.
Social rewards are also useful, if you can find someone who is interested, show them what you achieved. Much of the value of a university environment is the people and academic social culture that you’ll find yourself surrounded in. The inherent want to prove your capabilities to peers is a powerful motivational force, find a way to simulate it and once the social reward mechanism kicks in you’ll find yourself pushing harder to learn. Read on to find out how best to do this.