Most Software Engineers Cheat To Success — And Here’s How

When I landed my first internship, I felt like I’d somehow cheated the system.

I hadn’t spent countless hours grinding LeetCode challenges.

I didn’t build a flashy, six-figure app to show off.

Instead, what I did have was something far more valuable.

A handful of mentors.

People who had already walked the path I was just starting.

For the longest time, I believed that to become a “real” software engineer, you had to walk through fire alone.

Burn yourself out learning everything from scratch, failing countless times, and eventually clawing your way in through sheer grit.

If you didn’t self-teach every concept, push through the frustration, or fail 15 interviews before landing a job, did you really earn it?

That mindset is not just toxic… it’s flat-out wrong.

The truth is, I progressed faster because I had guidance.

And having a mentor isn’t something to be ashamed of, it should be standard.

Mentorship isn’t cheating. It’s smart. It’s the shortcut nobody talks about.

When I had a mentor, I:

→ Learned in months what might have taken me years alone

→ Skipped the common mistakes that trip up most beginners

→ Asked what I thought were “dumb” questions and got real answers, without judgment

This is the real unfair advantage.

Not raw talent, pedigree, or luck.

I have a mentor(s). [Yes, right now!]

Recently, a friend and I took on a freelance project building software for a client.

Sure, we knew how to code (at least we thought so).

We could translate a client’s ideas into functioning software.

But when it came to deploying it, making it live for the world to use we were clueless…

We had two choices:

→ Option A: Walk away because we “weren’t ready.”

→ Option B: Build the software anyway and lean on our mentors to help us figure out deployment.

We chose Option B.

Because mentorship gave us the confidence to move forward, even in uncertainty.

So here’s what I want you to know:

You don’t have to do this alone.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

You don’t have to buy into the myth that suffering alone equals success.

Getting a mentor, asking for help, learning from those who’ve been there, that’s how you speed up your journey without the burnout.

I currently have space to mentor 4 more developers.

If you’re ready to skip the guesswork and move forward with guidance, DM me ‘mentor’ on Instagram.

My Instagram → Click Me

Let’s cut through the noise — together.