chamboo

Man. At 25, you are still so incredibly young, you have no idea. I am 30 and still feel incredibly young, but you already have a 5 year jump on me, which is huge. Take advantage of it and don't waste it. You're already on the right path by looking to be a developer, which leaves the world open to you. Maybe you'll get tired of working on other people's stuff when you reach 28 or so, and maybe you'll start a company that you're passionate about and exit by the time you're 30. Then you can spend the rest of your life swimming with sharks, looking through telescopes and learning more about physics, or whatever it is that excites you. 25 is the ideal age to make this transition. Do it.

Hi there. Just wanted you to know that you shouldn't be embarrassed/ashamed about the stuff that you're putting out there. A lot of people don't want to admit their struggles or often won't post something for fear that someone will consider them stupid, not gifted/insightful, etc... These fears are illogical and usually stem from personal views/beliefs on intelligence.

Especially if you were always ahead of the class in school, and could get away with less studying than your peers, you are prone to this way of thinking. The fact that you cannot grasp something immediately and innately may be disturbing to your brain, and it will easily get overwhelmed by the sheer scale of it all.

Just want to tell you that if you are able to recognize these fears/doubts, and continue what you are doing in spite of them, you will reach your destination. You are still incredibly young. I am 30 and not even to the point where you are, congratulations. You have 6 years to fuck around before we're on even playing ground.

It may sound stupid, but what has helped me deal with overwhelming emotions is the fact that we can only be successful one day at a time. If you have a successful day, then you are on the path to being successful at whatever you're wanting to do. Even if you don't exactly know what it is yet.

Focus on having successful days, and eventually you will look up and be amazed at what you were able to achieve. Also, realize how much time you spend looking for those silver bullets-"Am I reading the right stuff, is there a way to get there faster? Is there a better way?" These are all important to think about, but they can also be used for reasons to do nothing, which is not a good formula for success.

As one successful dev once told me, there are tons of ways to get there. There isn't a better or best path that anyone really knows of. I know this isn't what you want to hear, but it seems to be true. I think a lot of times, worrying about finding the best way to get there is the best form of procrastination. You fool yourself into believing it is better to find a better way than to actually do something. I think the best advice when you come to a point like this is to think of something you want to create and just take some time off to learn how to create it. You may realize along the way that there are certain things that you really don't care about learning for the time being. If you look at all the different responses from HN users, you will see that every response is unique. Some may suit you, but some won't. I think it's really going to be up to you to find what you need and what you don't. The only way to find out is to do the work.

Cheers, and I love the website you created. Keep up the good work and remember to not be too self conscious about the stuff you put out there.

Same thing happened to me when I tried to outsource a slot machine app to a company on Odesk in India. Was ridiculously dumb to try and work with those guys.

Thanks for this, I did see this earlier. I will certainly consider this option as I progress.

Thanks for your support. I will keep your contact info, and keep it in mind as I progress down this path. Hopefully I will be in touch soon.

Man I want to hug you for this. I am so glad you were able to make it work. I'm just going to do it too, it can't hurt me at this point, and I felt very much the same as you. My doubts are what has kept me from actually doing it. Is there any reason you started C first before Python/Ruby? Probably a stupid question, but I don't even have a basic grasp of the differences or if it even matters. Thanks for posting this.

I hear this often. Is this really a good idea? I have thought of it, but I wonder, am I just going to move all the way out there, and then I still won't find anything? What then. I guess I could just sit here and do nothing too, I guess that would be similarly effective. I would like to think that what you suggest is true. I hope that it is. I don't know why I have so many doubts without even actually attempting it. Maybe a visit out there would be a good idea to break this way of thinking.

Well I did build a custom, fully watercooled computer with flow/temperature monitoring and custom fan control from scratch. Custom wired and designed and overclocked to 5GHZ. Although it's just a computer, it actually took quite a bit of extensive planning and research. Not sure that it really did anything for me, I don't tend to give myself credit for anything for some reason. I figure if I can do it, it must not be too hard.

But yea, maybe that is a good start. I need to shrug this feeling of worthlessness that I carry so heavily. Maybe these are the baby steps needed.

Would love to talk to you a bit more about this. This is very much a real issue for me, and I would like to further understand what you mean by finding practical things to do, etc. I would greatly appreciate any further response. Thank you.

It doesn't. Part of the reason is urgency, and part of the reason is not fully trusting what I have found with my research (or not knowing if there is something better, and maybe I am missing out). I thought about this before posting, as I don't wish to shirk my own responsibilities, but from your response and others, I am glad that I decided to post, it has been very helpful and encouraging for me. Is there any reason this boot camp might be better than the others? I do not know anyone who has attended these camps.

First, thanks for the specifics here, it is very helpful to someone like me who is grasping at a starting point.

Second, I so want to believe that this is true. Even if I could just make 1k/mo, my stress level would go from 9.5/10 to 0. I've been told so much by my parents that I'm a fool to pursue such a thing, that I'll fail etc... I think it's really ingrained in me that it would take nothing short of a miracle for me to succeed doing this. It doesn't seem at all rational, but I fear it for some reason.

Thanks for this link. :)

Hey, thanks for the support. I admit I don't know enough about what was going on in that vid to make it exciting, but the thought of being able to make a website do whatever I want to sounds incredibly fulfilling.

I basically have no technical background other than basic engineering, but nothing software related. On the bootcamps, do you personally know anyone who attended and recommended a specific one? I thought about doing this, but I heard mixed reviews (I know there are quite a few now).

Hey, I am currently in Dallas. I really have no ties here, I am considering picking up and moving, but not sure yet. I would definitely like to know some people who have worked on, or are working on something programming related. Part of the reason for me wanting to learn basic coding is to find my mission/passion. I have many interests, most too large probably to be feasible on any level, but I feel that as I become more aware of things that are missing in my life, more ideas pop into my head. I would like to be a little more prepared than I currently am in case the need arises, to put it coarsely.