Words of encouragement

Hello fellow coding learners,

This post is maybe a bit random, but I’ve seen plenty of questions regarding feeling stuck when coding, impostor syndrome, worrying about whether you have talent for coding or not and so on (I have dealt with these questions myself, so I know how you feel), but I figured I would write some words of encouragement that hopefully will be helpful for at least some of you:

  1. First up, I really recommend you to look up the concept of growth mindset. You probably have heard about it already since it has been quite hyped lately, but if you haven’t then I would recommend this Youtube video: The Power of belief -- mindset and success | Eduardo Briceno | TEDxManhattanBeach - YouTube, but also Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

  2. When you feel that you are lost in coding and start to question your abilities - maybe just take a break and come back to it later, but don’t give up! Also, remind yourself that if you don’t know something/ aren’t good at something it means you aren’t there YET (growth mindset tip again) and that it doesn’t mean you’ll always suck at that thing! Instead of questioning your abilities - question your strategies! Perhaps you are just learning it in a “wrong” way i.e not reading any theory whatsoever, or expecting to be a coding prodigy without any practice.

  3. Remind yourself that everyone has their own starting point, so there really isn’t any point in comparison. If you for example start coding when you are 30 and you compare yourself to someone who has been coding since they were 10, you are doing a truly unfair comparison.

  4. I’ve seen Zed talked about it somewhere, as well, but I think it is a really good tip and that is to stick with one or a few resources so you don’t jump around from resource to resource and feel frustrated that you aren’t learning that much because you get impatient and want quick results. However, this of course depends on what you are doing - if you have a deadline or need to get answers fast, maybe you should read a little here and there, but for example for learning a programming language thorougly, I think it’s better to stick with one or a few resources.

A lot of other things could probably be added here, but these came to my mind for now. Good luck with your coding journey! :slight_smile:

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