If you can find some resources in a short amount of time that's great! Start your learning process with those resources. Don't worry if they're the right resources or worry that they might lead you down the wrong path, just get started with them; you'll come back and evaluate them later. For now we're more interested in just getting started.
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-One trap that I'm guilty of falling into is trying to find the best resources for learning a topic. I'll spend hours looking for the right book, the right videos, the right courses; whatever it is I want to find the best materials available. I want to reduce the amount of false-starts while learning a topic. This seems like a noble pursuit (after all, why wouldn't you want the best materials available?). It's also a trap and can lead you into spending more time thinking about how you're learning rather than actually learning. Worse, if the material starts to confuse you (which is highly likely when you are learning something new) you'll spend your learning-time wondering if you made the right decision picking this material. You'll wonder if you chose the right material and continue searching for the best material (perhaps those good and great reviews really didn't know what they were talking about after all?) This diminishes your ability to learn the topic because you're more focused on discerning the quality of instruction and not spending time on the actual instruction.
+One trap that I'm guilty of falling into is trying to find the best resources for learning a topic. I'll spend hours looking for the right book, the right videos, the right courses; whatever it is, I want to find the best materials available. I want to reduce the amount of false-starts while learning a topic. This seems like a noble pursuit (after all, why wouldn't you want the best materials available?). It's also a trap and can lead you into spending more time thinking about how you're learning rather than actually learning. Worse, if the material starts to confuse you (which is highly likely when you are learning something new) you'll spend your learning-time wondering if you made the right decision picking this material. You'll wonder if you chose the right material and continue searching for the best material (perhaps those good and great reviews really didn't know what they were talking about after all). This diminishes your ability to learn the topic because you're more focused on discerning the quality of instruction and not spending time on the actual instruction.
-After a few days of practice sessions give yourself the opportunity to check in and see how you're learning. Are you feeling engaged or are you not enjoying this? If you're not feeling engaged (the material is loosely organized, the instructor is confusing, the examples don't work, this material assumes you're already familiar with another topic, etc.) then give yourself permission to see if there is better material or a different topic that interests you more. Even if your learning-experience wasn't great you'll have a better idea of what to look for when choosing something new. You'll have a sense of where your gaps are in the topic and will have a better feel for what you're looking for in learning materials.
+After a few days of practice sessions give yourself the opportunity to check in and see how you're learning. Are you feeling engaged or are you not enjoying this? If you're not feeling engaged (the material is loosely organized, the instructor is confusing, the examples don't work, this material assumes you're already familiar with another topic, etc.) then give yourself permission to search for better material or a different topic that interests you more. Even if your learning-experience wasn't great you'll have a better idea of what to look for when choosing something new. You'll have a sense of where your gaps are in the topic and will have a better feel for what you're looking for in learning materials.
-If you're finding that the topic you're trying to learn is no longer interesting to you then give yourself some moments to reflect on why that is. Is it a difficult topic? Do you feel ready for the topic? Are you currently overwhelmed with other projects and are feeling tired when you approach this topic? Sometimes when we think we're ready to learn a topic we realize that there's something else we need to know before we can fully understand the topic. It's OK to find additional resources and focus on those before we tackle this topic. Just be aware of your struggles and your internal dialog. Be honest with yourself about why you want to move to something different. See yourself in the difficulty and notice if you're wanting to run because it is difficult or if you are truly unprepared for or uninterested in this topic. See if you can engage more with the difficulty and notice when you start to feel overwhelmed by it. Give yourself permission to stick with the difficulty as long as you can and notice your feelings and urges as you practice with it.
+If you're finding that the topic you're trying to learn is no longer interesting to you then give yourself a few moments to reflect on why that is. Is it a difficult topic? Do you feel ready for the topic? Are you currently overwhelmed with other projects and are feeling tired when you approach this topic? Sometimes we think we're ready to learn a topic, only to realize that there's something else we need to know before we can fully understand the topic. It's OK to find additional resources and focus on those before we tackle this topic. Just be aware of your struggles and your internal dialog. Be honest with yourself about why you want to move to something different. See yourself in the difficulty and notice if you're wanting to run because it is difficult or if you are truly unprepared for or uninterested in this topic. See if you can engage more with the difficulty and notice when you start to feel overwhelmed by it. Give yourself permission to stick with the difficulty as long as you can and notice your feelings and urges as you practice with it.
-Treat your learning as an iterative process, with regular check-in periods to note your progress. Think about how you feel when you're learning. Are you excited and engaged or do you feel tired and withdrawn? Do you procrastinate when you think about this topic? When you focus on your learning does your mind wander? Note these feelings as they occur during your focus sessions and reflect on them when you think about your overall learning process. Later you can reflect on those feelings and see the patterns in your learning process. If you feel tired while learning you may want to try adjusting when you do your learning session. You may need more sleep or need to find other materials that are more stimulating. If you feel overwhelmed perhaps you need to start with something more basic before tackling this difficult project. If you're confused perhaps there is someone of whom you can ask questions to gain clarity. These answers may not be apparent while you're in the moment (you may be too busy feeling frustrated to understand where that frustration is coming from) but with practice you'll be better equipped to notice your feelings. When you notice these feelings you can use them to learn how your mind works and understand what it needs in order to keep engaged with your learning.
+Treat your learning as an iterative process, with regular check-in periods to note your progress. Think about how you feel when you're learning. Are you excited and engaged or do you feel tired and withdrawn? Do you procrastinate when you think about this topic? When you focus on your learning does your mind wander? Note these feelings as they occur during your focus sessions and reflect on them when you think about your overall learning process. Later you can reflect on those feelings and see the patterns in your learning process. If you feel tired while learning you may want to try adjusting when you do your learning session. You may need more sleep or need to find other materials that are more stimulating. If you feel overwhelmed perhaps you need to start with something more basic before tackling this difficult project. If you're confused perhaps there is someone you can ask questions to gain clarity. These answers may not be apparent while you're in the moment (you may be too busy feeling frustrated to understand where that frustration is coming from), but with practice you'll be better equipped to notice your feelings. When you notice these feelings you can use them to learn how your mind works and understand what it needs in order to keep engaged with your learning.
## Resistance and The Container
Any time we learn new things we put ourselves into a vulnerable and uncomfortable place. We take the things we are familiar with and try to apply them as we push into new territory. We become uncertain of the outcome; will it be successful or will it be a failure? Will this topic be too difficult for us to grasp? Will it help us or hurt us? Will we choose the wrong thing to learn and will that cost us opportunities in the long run?
-Discomfort and uncertainty are certainly a part of learning, but rather than think of them as something to be avoided we should instead think of them as a beacon. A beacon gives us direction and illumination when we're in uncertain territory. When we feel uncertain about what we're doing that feeling means we're pushing into new territory. Instead of trying to avoid it or wishing for comfort, we can instead relish that we're in uncertain territory and feel those brief twinges of fear and doubt. We can say "I'm about to learn something new. I'm frightened, and don't know where this will lead, but that's OK. I'm willing to see where this goes and enjoy the journey."
+Discomfort and uncertainty are certainly a part of learning, but instead of thinking of them as something to be avoided we should instead think of them as beacons. A beacon gives us direction and illumination when we're in uncertain territory. When we feel uncertain about what we're doing that feeling means we're pushing into new territory. Instead of trying to avoid it or wishing for comfort, we can instead relish that we're in uncertain territory and feel those brief twinges of fear and doubt. We can say "I'm about to learn something new. I'm frightened, and don't know where this will lead, but that's OK. I'm willing to see where this goes and enjoy the journey."
-We've been conditioned over our human existence to think of the unknown as something to be feared. These emotions have served us well. They've kept us from venturing too far out of our comfort zone and exploring the unknown. When you're living in forests and caves the unknown can house all sorts of dangers. It makes sense not to provoke those dangers by showing up on their doorstep. But programming is not the same as venturing into a dark forest or peeking into a damp cave; programming hardly warrants the amount of fear we give it. Instead we need to realize that we're not in any mortal danger. Our fears are merely letting us know that we're venturing into the uncharted territories of ignorance. It's up to us to let our fears know that this is OK and that by exploring these realms we will only find understanding.
+We've been conditioned to think of the unknown as something to be feared. These emotions have served us well. They've kept us from venturing too far out of our comfort zone and exploring the unknown. When you're living in forests and caves the unknown can house all sorts of dangers. It makes sense not to provoke those dangers by showing up on their doorstep. But programming is not the same as venturing into a dark forest or peeking into a damp cave; programming hardly warrants the amount of fear we give it. Instead we need to realize that we're not in any mortal danger. Our fears are merely letting us know that we're venturing into the uncharted territories of ignorance. It's up to us to let our fears know that this is OK and that by exploring these realms we will only find understanding.
-Steven Pressfield in _The War of Art_ nicknamed these feelings "Resistance". He considers Resistance as a sort of mythological being who lives in each of us to thwart creative acts. As the work progresses Resistance ratchets up the pressure to stop by introducing the feelings of fear and anxiety that we mentioned above. I think of The Resistance as something that also happens whenever we are learning, especially if we're learning tools that help us in our creative pursuits. Pressfield limited his definition to creative folks who were working to complete creative work (books, paintings, games, etc.) but I'm expanding his definition to the learning process itself. In our case Resistance shows up when we're learning the tools to help us be more creative. Resistance is what tells us we're not good enough to learn these things, or we're unworthy of the benefits they'll bring us. It tries to keep us safe in what we already know.
+Steven Pressfield in _The War of Art_ nicknamed these feelings "Resistance". He considers Resistance as a sort of mythological being who lives in each of us to thwart creative acts. As the work progresses Resistance ratchets up the pressure to stop by introducing the feelings of fear and anxiety that we mentioned above. I think of Resistance as something that also happens whenever we are learning, especially if we're learning tools that help us in our creative pursuits. Pressfield limited his definition to creative folks who were working to complete creative work (books, paintings, games, etc.), but I'm expanding his definition to the learning process itself. In our case Resistance shows up when we're learning the tools to help us be more creative. Resistance is what tells us we're not good enough to learn these things, or we're unworthy of the benefits they'll bring us. It tries to keep us safe in what we already know.
-This is why the "focus container" that we mentioned before is so important: it gives us small doses of discomfort and difficulty in manageable chunks. We can guide ourselves through small amounts of daily discomfort and keep learning through our discomfort. It helps us work through our tendency to avoid and hide from difficult situations. If we focus on one thing at a time we can keep ourselves from the distracting thoughts about whether or not this is the thing we should be working on. Whatever we're working on in this moment is exactly what we should be working on. Whatever learning material is in front of us is what we should be learning. We can be secure in knowing that everything we are doing for the duration of this container is exactly as it should be. When we finish the container we can reassess how it went and what challenges lay ahead.
+This is why the "focus container" is so important: it gives us small doses of discomfort and difficulty in manageable chunks. We can guide ourselves through small amounts of daily discomfort and keep learning through our discomfort. It helps us work through our tendency to avoid and hide from difficult situations. If we focus on one thing at a time we can keep ourselves from the distracting thoughts about whether or not this is the thing we should be working on. Whatever we're working on in this moment is exactly what we should be working on. Whatever learning material is in front of us is what we should be learning. We can be secure in knowing that everything we are doing for the duration of this container is exactly as it should be. When we finish the container we can reassess how it went and what challenges lay ahead.
## Mapping out longer-term goals
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As you progress with learning you'll start to see that a lot of what we call programming is interconnected. Languages borrow heavily from each other and ideas that seem new and innovative have their roots in concepts dating back to the genesis of computing. Rather than dissuade us it should encourage us. We can open the doors of programming by learning simple, transferable concepts. The question is, which ones?
The simplest answer is "all of them", but that's hardly satisfactory or possible. A less cheeky answer would be "enough of them to start seeing the patterns emerge" but that sounds more like a truism than something we can use to start making our longer term goals for learning.
projects / themediocreprogrammer.git / commitdiff