why you’re flopping
In 2018 I paid £10 for a Udemy course to help fulfil my dream of becoming a full stack developer. I started it in earnest, making my Glossier-pink aesthetic online resume using HTML and CSS. I’d got through a grand total of 8 hours of content on this course, I was on a roll. I shared my online resume to my friends and family, bragging how i’d been able to add star emojis and tables through code. Soon after, I took a peek at the rest of the course to see how long it would take for me to be hired at Facebook or wherever, there was like 300 hours left. I think I logged out then and didn’t check back until late last year when I was accepted onto a live web development bootcamp.
In 2024, not only did I manage to complete this web development course (and actually got past the HTML and CSS lesson!), but after, I passed an assessment for a competitive full stack developer bootcamp which I’ll be starting soon.
It took me 7 years to go back to actually take tangible steps towards this long standing dream. Why did I flop? and how can I avoid flopping again?
Motivation is temporary.
I’m an all or nothing personality, I want to be great at things almost immediately and once things get hard I clock out. Creating sustainable habits alongside that initial motivation is key. With my failed Udemy course, I went all in for a week, every evening was spent learning and building until I lost my initial zeal and crashed out. When I started my Web Development course I allocated one day a week for coding, and let things marinate in between. The difference was stark, I was realistic about how much time I could commit and how much I could realisticaly achieve in the two month course.
You can only focus on one new thing at a time.
When I started that Udemy course I was also in the process of developing a recruitment business with my friend (an industry I knew nothing about lol). My mind was shooting in multiple directions and I wasnt able to give either endeavour the time and focus they needed. Unsurprisingly, we did not take that recruitment business anywhere either.
No one actually cares about your new obsessions.
Telling the right people at the right time is key to getting a supportive network to cheer you on. My friends and family are supportive, but they cant give me any practical support on my learning journey. I was really lucky to connect with three cool women on my web development course as we were placed together to build an app for our course, we met up regularly and continue to cheer each other on as we continue our learning journey. This time around, I’ve informed my friends and family about my broader plans rather than update them on every new hyper-fixation I have to avoid that nagging feeling that I may appear flighty.
Focus on progress, not the timeline.
This is something I have struggled with most of the goals I’ve set myself, from weight loss to learning a skill like coding. I've often found myself fixating on deadlines and milestones, forgetting to appreciate the progress I’ve made along the way. Now I'm learning to let go of the pressure to achieve everything overnight. Its May 1st today and I will not lose 20lbs by June, however I will get more consistent at the gym and I’ll probably lose a few pounds. I'm learning to celebrate the small victories—the incremental steps forward, the lessons learned, and the growth that comes with each setback.
