Hey everyone! I finally hit Specialist in the last Div 3 round! However, this wasn't an overnight success. It has been almost 1.5 years since I started my CP journey. To be honest, my growth was undeniably slow, mostly due to some specific mistakes I made along the way.

I’m writing this for my fellow coders who are grinding every day but seeing no results. I’ve been there, and I want to help you break through that wall. I’ve tried to keep this practical and straight to the point.

Here are the 5 lessons I learned the hard way:

1. Rating is Just a Number (Seriously) The first and most important step is to change your relationship with that number on your profile.

For a long time, I was obsessed with my rating. Even when I was Grey or Green, I put immense pressure on myself to "rank up." This actually backfired; my brain couldn't perform at its fullest because it was too busy worrying about the results rather than solving the problem.

Once I started giving less importance to the rating and treated it as just a statistic, it worked wonders for my performance. Detach your self-worth from the number.

1. Cultivate Curiosity You need to genuinely enjoy the struggle. I know it sounds cliché, but as they say in science: "Curiosity is the building block of invention." This holds true for CP as well.

Instead of just getting frustrated, try to appreciate the beauty of the problems. Ask yourself, "How did the author come up with this?" Take a moment to appreciate the logic of a solution you just learned. If you can find joy in the "Aha!" moment, the grind becomes much easier.

1. Touch Grass (Don't Let CP Consume You) For a person like me, having a social life and staying active is non-negotiable. Whether it's soccer, the gym, or just hanging out with friends, these things boost my confidence and improve my quality of life.

If you are the kind of person who loves outdoor activities, please don't let CP stop you! You don't need to lock yourself in a dark room to get good. A healthy body often leads to a sharper mind.

1. Practice for Growth, Not for "Accepted" Don't practice just for the sake of increasing your solved count. I don't believe that forcing yourself to solve a fixed number of problems every day is helpful if you are just mindlessly hitting the "Accepted" verdict without understanding the why.

Build a sustainable habit even if it’s just 1-2 problems every other day, but make sure you are genuinely learning from them. Quality beats quantity every time.

1. The "Tunnel Vision" Strategy This might sound extreme, but do you know what helped me exponentially? I unfriended everyone on my friends list.

During the contest, I stopped looking at the standings completely unless I was satisfied with my own performance. This silenced the noise. It calmed my brain and allowed me to put 100% of my energy into solving the problem in front of me, rather than worrying about how the rest of the world was doing.

Finally, everything ultimately depends on you.

What kind of person are you? When do you perform at your best? When do you crash?

Keep asking yourself these questions. And please, remember that these ranks do not define how capable or good you are as a human being. Take a deep breath, let the fear go, and just solve.

I hope this helps someone out there! If I missed anything or made any mistakes, please forgive me. I’m just here to share what worked for me.

Good luck and have fun!