How to stay motivated while learning to code

How To Stay Motivated While Learning To Code

Last Updated | Mar, 10, 2021 By Kingsley Ijomah
Creativity flows with motivation and without it, everything is an uphill battle, in this article, we are going to explore the day to day hacks to remain motivated while you are learning to code.

Why You Are Not Motivated

It would be hard to address the topic of motivation if we don't talk about the root cause of it in the first place, we are emotional beings! this is one of our best qualities but can also be a huge problem at the same time.

Everyone is competing for our emotions all the time, friends and family, adverts and news on television, everything about social media are all pulling at our emotional strings which causes us to loose ourselves and drains us of our energy.

When you sit down to work on yourself, you simply don't have the energy or any fight left. Now let's look at how to fix this...

Remember Your Why!

The first thing you need to do is to ground yourself and refocus on your destination, spend some time thinking about the reason you started learning to code in the first place "Your Why" imagine what your world would feel like when you get there.

The stronger your 'why' and the more radical it is to your current lifestyle, the faster you will see yourself getting motivated.

Celebrate Small Wins

Progress really matters when learning any new skill programming included, make note of your small wins and don't forget to celebrate them, have a celebratory dance, hi five 👋 yourself, treat yourself to your favourite beverage! 🥳 🥳 🥳

Create a positive feedback look to your brain, associate good things to programming and when it comes to doing more of it, you will find that you are more motivated to get started.

Get a Mentor

Accountability is a powerful tool when it comes to getting things done! you almost don't have to worry about motivation at all, just knowing that someone is looking over you setting you goals is enough to get you going.

A good mentor will not just focus on making you work hard, but also reminding you of how far you have come, help you celebrate your small and big wins, and keep you focused on the dream.

Aware of Imposter Syndrome

Most of the time, we are not even aware of the imposter syndrome, it becomes so much a part of us that we let it run on auto-pilot, saying you are not good enough, who are you fooling, your teachers, family and even best friend has told you so! why bother!

Be aware of this imposter, identify it as a fake news, remember your small wins to dispel off the imposters lies, you have a track record of wins which proves you can do this, every time the imposter syndrome comes back, fight it off and gain back control as the boss! 😎

Don't Compare Yourself to Others

I absolutely love this quote: "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." don't doubt yourself and don't compare yourself to others, shine in your own unique way.

I use to struggle to grasp concepts whilst it was being taught, so one day I forced myself to be ahead by one chapter and that changed the game for me, my style of learning wasn't to sit and listen, it involves trying things out, taking my time and just like that I found my own unique way.

Don't worry if you feel like everyone gets it bu you, spend time working on it, take your time, let your inner genius get to work.

When You Hit Roadblocks...

Another reason why most people are not motivated to code whilst learning to code is because of the memory of feeling stuck for ages! I remember this being the case for myself, and no matter how many times I was told to take a break I refused.

As I got more experienced and took more breaks, I realised what I was missing out on, just walking away doesn't mean that the problem solving ends there! as it happens your brain carries on solving the problem without you messing it all up.

Whilst making hot chocolate ☕️ or something, I will suddenly shout "I got it!!!!" head back to my computer and try it out and it works!, taking a break really is powerful, it makes the experience less stressful and gives a positive feedback loop about coding experience in general.

Conclusion

I hope you can identify with some of these steps to top up your creative energy not just to become motivated but to enjoy the process and journey into becoming a professional software developer.

Happy Coding...

MY STORY

My name is Kingsley Ijomah, I am the founder of CODEHANCE, an online education platform built with you in mind, a place where I express my gratitude to a skill ( coding ) which has changed my life completely.

Learn To Code With Me.
FREE course included.

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