This is one of the big fallacies in our industry.
For me, it was about six months in.
Growing up, I always knew I was pretty smart. School came easy to me. I could always learn new things really quickly. Plus, everybody always told me I was smart.
I just grew up knowing it.
Then, I started learning how to code.
And, it didn’t come easy.
In fact, even when I worked really hard at it, I still didn’t get it. The PHP manual is one I can remember. It’s weird to think about now.
But, it used to confuse the hell outta me.
To be honest, I’d got hired AS a developer…
Before I really, fully “got it”.
Which was scary as hell.
I felt like a complete fraud.
I remember telling myself at one point:
“Maybe, you’re not smart enough to be a developer.”
Then, one day, I was sitting in a hotel room… at a conference with my boss. And, he was asking me some questions about coding and how it worked.
Just general curiosity stuff.
And, for some reason, in that moment…
It clicked.
I can remember it clear as day.
I just suddenly “got it”
And, all this stuff started falling into place in my head.
Thing was, I hadn’t changed. I didn’t suddenly get 10X smarter. My I.Q. was exactly the same as it was before. But, my understanding… was radically different.
And, all it took was one moment…
For everything to click.
And, since I’ve started teaching others how to code, I’ve seen this time and time again. I get the excited emails from people and you can tell it just clicked for them.
Anyway what I’ve learned…
It’s really not about intelligence.
It’s more about persistence.
That “aha” moment comes not from some radical change in your intelligence, but from pushing and clawing and fighting to understand…
From grinding and learning…
And, stuffing as much info in your head as you can.
And, then, one day…
BOOM!
It all just clicks.
It re-orients itself inside your head.
And, it suddenly all makes sense.
So, the thing to do is NOT worry about if you’re smart enough and all those insecurities that can creep up. It’s to just keep working and learning…
And, building toward that moment.
Anyway, I’ve got a whole curriculum of developer training that can help you do that. Over 30 hours of training that you can get access to for nothing.
Details are here: https://www.skillshare.com/r/user/johnmorris
Later,
John
