I’ve been coding for almost 10 years now and I’m finally fully embracing that coding isn’t for me. It’s taken me awhile to reach this point, but the release of frustration is pretty amazing.
Please read on, though, because it’s probably not what you think.
You see, when I first started out coding… I did it for me. It was about me expressing myself, doing what I loved, making ME a living.
But, the reality of coding is that you’ll spend the majority of your time building stuff for other people. And, that’s why coding isn’t for YOU… it’s for them.
It’s a mutually-beneficial relationship where you achieve your goals by helping them achieve theirs. You win when they do.
I bring this up because as coders it’s easy to get caught up in our own view of how things should be done. It’s easy to believe that a client doesn’t know what they’re talking about and to get frustrated with them wanting things done a certain way.
And, it can even cause you to leave or screw up really beneficial relationships… because you want your way.
And, if you do… well, it’s your loss.
You still need to be an artist… but if you really want to be successful as a coder you need to fully embrace the fact that the more you help your clients achieve their goals… the more you will achieve yours.
And, that’s why coding isn’t for you… it’s for them.
QUESTION: Do you struggle with balancing your perspective on how something should be built vs how your client thinks it should be done? How have you dealt with it?
