Code Your Way to Freedom: A Hard-Earned Guide

P/S: Originally published June 11th 2024 on LinkedIn and Facebook

Based on my experiences and the battle scars I've earned, this would be my June 2024 advice to aspiring programmers/software developers just writing their first "hello world" today.

𝟭 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘆; 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁. But if you trust the process, you will reap tenfold, eliminate poverty from your life, and you will never regret it.

𝟮 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. The bar has been raised recently. The level of knowledge that would have been sufficient for a full-time job five years ago is insufficient now. You would have to know twice as much, so learning takes twice the time to achieve. I would estimate that time to be 1 to 3 years currently.

𝟯 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲, 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱. You cannot focus enough to learn on an empty stomach.

𝟯𝗔. If you are a student or recent graduate being taken care of by your guardian, excellent. Make sacrifices and cut out all distractions so you get to the finish line quicker.

𝟯𝗕. But if you are taking care of yourself, love and do not joke with your day job. Outside work, you need to make sacrifices. Cut out all distractions so you can get to the finish line quicker.