You will first need to acknowledge that you aren’t any good at it.
All you have done is taken an online course or two, and done some programming tutorials. Of course you aren’t good at it yet.
There are people who have dedicated their entire lives to the field, and you are just getting started.
Remember that the next time you see a bunch of complicated code you don’t understand. Instead of getting overwhelmed by how good the other person is at solving the problem, and how you’ll probably never get there, think about the time and effort they would’ve spent to get to their level.
If you want to become even half as good, you simply need to put in more effort.
It isn’t a competition. Just because they managed to solve a complex problem that you couldn’t, doesn’t mean they’re smarter than you.
They have put in more time and effort than you. To get there, you need to do the same.
Learn to be patient
Patience is arguably one of the most important character traits of a programmer. You need to be someone who has the ability to stare at a computer screen for hours.
A seemingly simple problem can take hours, or even days to solve.
You can only learn by sitting down and spending hours debugging code.
I found it really difficult to develop the patience to cultivate this habit.
If you are like me, and get bored easily or have a short attention span, you will need to spend a lot of time training yourself to be patient.
Once you start to learn the art of staring at the computer screen and putting in hours to solve a problem, you are a lot closer to reaching your goal of being a good programmer.
Stubbornness
Stubbornness: dogged determination not to change one’s attitude or position on something.
Remember when you were a child, and your parents refused to buy you a toy you asked for?
You clamored, cried, and whined for hours. You refused to leave the store with them until they bought it for you, and caused a scene.
Finally, your parents relented. They gave up and bought you the toy.
That is exactly the kind of stubbornness you need when learning to code.
Refuse to take no for an answer.
Every time you get frustrated because you don’t know how to proceed, or a bunch of code doesn’t run, just do not give up.
Stay there, and show the same determination you did when you were a child. If you want this at least half as bad as you wanted the toy as a kid, then you will stay there and finish what you started.
Remember: If you really want it, no matter how frustrating things get, you will stay there and get through the difficult part.
Just the right amount of confidence
Over-confidence is bad.
Over-confidence will prevent you from making progress, because you expect too much out of yourself.
There are people out there who are a lot better at it than you are. When you look at these people, or read their codes, it is natural to feel incompetent.
The first step towards making any kind of progress is acknowledging that they are better than you are.
And of course they are.
They have spent more time than you have, and have dedicated years to learning how to code. If you want to get better, you need to put in the time and effort too.
In fact, even seasoned programmers know that they aren’t great at coding. The ability to acknowledge that there is a lot left to learn is one of the most important traits of any programmer.
There is no way you can possibly know everything that the field entails. The tech industry is constantly evolving, and there is always going to be something new to learn.
Understand that you can’t possibly learn everything. At the same time, try to gain as much knowledge as you possibly can by keeping up with evolving technology.
Learning to code takes a lot of effort.
You will need to have the right attitude, and develop good habits. These habits that you develop will take you a long way in your career — more than intelligence, capability, or memory capacity.
In order to get over the fear of programming, you first need to understand that there is a learning curve. Embrace the fact that you aren’t great at it yet, and know that it is okay.
You learnt to ride a bike by falling down many times and getting back up again.
Think of programming as a bike.
You’ll fall down way too many times, but that is the only way to learn. As time passes, you will get the hang of it, and become better and better.
You just need to have the right amount of patience and stubbornness to get back up and continue every time you fall down.
The difference between impossible and possible lies in a person’s determination — Tommy Lasorda
