I've started my front-end developer journey, and decided I'd share my way of helping get through the times I'm feeling demotivated and unsure I'm going into the right direction.
I feel that affirmations and achievement awareness are a great way of helping here. It's definitely helped me realise that I'm making progress so far.
Affirmations
You can write these down, just say them out loud, or put them into a spreadsheet in Notion (that's what I did).
How to use these affirmations
- Either say these out loud or just in your head
- Go through each one, think about it, and then move onto the next one. Don't rush the process
- Repeat each one, total time can be just 5 times each. Start slow, and then you can build up to 2-5 minutes if needed
- Recommended - write down how long you've spent doing your affirmations and try to slowly increase this time
My affirmation list - C.A.R.E
- 🐢 Consistency - I can’t expect to rush my learning, only through consistency
- 👀 Always learning - I understand that progress is always being made, even if I can’t see it
- 🏖️ Relax - I'm busy enjoying my life, I don’t need to stress about coding
- 🎉 Enjoyment - The more I learn, the more I enjoy coding
I use Notion, so here is an example below (every time I complete an affirmation I tick off a box and increment the times I've completed one).
Note: these can be added/edited/removed as you see fit. These are just a few simple affirmations to help get you going and motivated.
Achievement List
Another way to help keep you motivated is through an achievement list (or lists). Writing down your achievements helps you realise that you are learning and making progress, no matter how much or little it is.
The process is simple:
- Write down daily (or weekly) what you have completed in your coding journey. It can be as simple as "Writing 10 lines of code" or more complex, e.g. "Completed my to-do list app"
- Make sure to keep consistent and don't get discouraged if some days aren't as good as others. The point is to highlight your progress.
Below is an example of how I track it using Notion. Very simple and can be edited later.
Note: don't get discouraged if you miss a day. Consistency is key, but so is not stressing if you miss a day.
I usually complete my affirmations and then my achievement list afterwards every day (except maybe weekends).
If you have any other tips for motivation, let me know in the comments section.
Happy coding! 🎉
Special thanks to Camille Daligand for the idea and suggestions!
Top comments (6)
Consistency is a big one for me. When you said, "The more I learn, the more I enjoy coding"--is one that I don't see brought up often. That's key for any long-term learning endeavor.
I add consistency because I used to try cram everything into 2 weeks. I then ended up getting burnt out and stopping for weeks on end. Now as long as I get in at least 5 mins per day I'm happy.
With the enjoyment, I really thought "am I enjoying what I'm doing?". I was learning PHP and trying to cram it all in quickly and ended up hating it after a while. I realised I learn more effectively when I enjoy what I'm doing.
The enjoyment part is something I'm very interested in as well, because from what I've noticed by attempting to learn various skills over the years, is that enjoyment is often tied to how good you think you are at it, and how well you think you're progressing. Nobody likes to be reminded of their inadequacies every time they sit down to code. Coding actually becomes fun when you can use what you've learned to solve a problem, on your own or by googling. That's why I think its beneficial to learn programming with someone, either by learning from them or teaching them, and by tackling projects or coding problems that are just slightly above your current skill set; something you can look at and say, "I can figure this out."
Interesting approach to a personal development process
Thank You
No problem, thank you for reading!