https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DvP ... u3kw9qrymk
Your Biggest Struggles
I freaking hate coding interviews. They need to die. Working to implement your methods.
A.t.m ? ..ChatG...
Hi John,
I’m most afraid of Not keeping my skills sharp enough to continuing in the market.
Actually love. Because it mekes me busy and waste lots of my time.
Finding the first software development job is most difficult for a lot of people, I'm fear if I cannot get an entry-level job.
I'm most afraid that I will never be able to finish this one project in my current workplace. My boss doesn't care about it, which is reasonable as it is long overdue and don't bring revenue. But for me it is a thing of honor - abadoning it will be totally shamefull for me. So I'm kinda stuck with this sitation.
I'll read the articles you send me and think about programming.
I am a media design student.
What I fear most is that without systematic study, my programming skills will be limited to
Losing the job to better programmers and the day I couldn't learn anymore
I'm worried whether or not I could able to cope with the advancing technology
I am afraid of unemployment/not being able to survive or running out of money!
Second biggest thing is ageism/having a career plan in the long run. Where do I end up later? Pretty discouraging fears indeed! Lol"
So, the question must be, how can I be sure I'd succeed right? How could I be sure I'd succeed in the long run, retire safely as an old man? lol!
What are I most afraid of when it comes to my life as a programmer? I think is not having a time for myself to upgrade my skills and make an up-to-date knowledge of the latest technology and coding solutions. Afraid that my growth as a programmer would discontinue.
Sorry for the delay, I have two things that I am afraid of in a programmer life, the first is documentation and the second is about the time that I spent to start to code.
My Knowledge of programming is minimal as do not have experience, Teach me to start programming in Oracle, Python and Java programming
Give me instruction on how to start as i have downloaded Python Ide and Apache netbeans.
My most fear as programmer is being outdated. Being busy on my tasks so I missed the new technologies.
Imposter Syndrome:Feeling inadequate or fearing that my skills are not up to par with my peers.
Keeping Up with Technology:The tech industry evolves rapidly, and as a programmer I may fear falling behind in terms of learning new technologies, languages, and frameworks.
Project Failures:As a Programmer I am concerned about the failure of a project I am working on, either due to technical challenges, unrealistic deadlines, or shifting project requirements.
1. Programming has loads of leverage, but it’s ultimately the employer who realises this leverage, not the employed software engineer. While moderately to well compensated, I feel I am being short changed.
2. I’m a senior engineer. I want sales skills. This job doesn’t get me closer to that goal, but I can’t leave, I’m paid too much to step down, but not well enough to feel like it’s worth it. Golden handcuffs
as a programmer, working with a superior, who lacks knowledge on the subject, is difficult for me.
I’m afraid that I’m too late. I’m still learning so I’m not a programmer yet
My biggest fear as programmer is to become redundant in my profession and stuck at the same position forever.
Best regards,
I am afraid of not being relevant, and I will be unable to keep my skills up to date.
How are you doing? I have been following you for many years. I have been inspired by you. I started several companies in the a.i, crypto, e-commerce space.
I know it sounds weird but they all deal with the hospitality industry.
The main company is Bevcounter. We use a.i to count beverages for bars and restaurants.
We as added an E-commerce platform for restaurants and bars. We have since integrated an NFT marketplace for loyalty.
Anyway, it's been a ride. We keep pushing and moving forward.
That I am powerful beyond measure.
Get outdated, irrelevant and reemplazable.
Being up to the expectations of my employers.
Feeling that I could be REALLY A LOT better than I am... not impostor syndrome, but fraud syndrome.
Feeling that I had a more fulfilling life and a career path when I was working fulltime and studying my career that now that I only work.
Not having a purpose in life, nor a target in my career.
Feeling I'm always on the start line, I've achieved things in the past but don't value them anymore.
Feeling like an old glory, or a prodigy child that has grown up but not to its expectatives.
For me, that would be "setting unreasonable timelines for myself"
Not being intelligent enough
I'm most afraid of losing excitement about my profession. I'm afraid of thoughts "What's the point? What is my work contributing to? Am I doing a disservice to humanity?"
Interview questions about JavaScript, backend node Js I'm afraid of those question when they ask me to explain it, I even forget what I learn.
I am afraid of too hard tasks and then I will be forced to learn in speed time to solve the riddle. Stress will make all the difference and it could ruin my experience. Then disrespect of higher "staff" could come and ruin it even feather. In the end I want to scream to project manager "Fuck you, go code yourself moron". This is it.
OK...
Being Obsolete
Being Bored
& Having imposter Syndrome.
The fear I have what a fine vest 4,000 hours in developing programming skills or cyber security skills and then not be able to get a job because I have felonies, I paid my debt to society served my time took responsibility for my actions no one cares I'll always be a convicted felon
I fear Allah the most.
Fear of not meeting deadlines
I will just be a programmer and nothing else
Thanks John. When it comes to programming I'm always afraid of meeting dateline because an error can occured along the way an my client doesn't care about that. I'm also afraid of accepting a task I think I can handle but it becomes difficult.
The takeover by AI
How to maintain the momentum of learning?
There are so many things to learn, how to know which learnings to prioritise eg Microservices, Cloud (which Cloud?), AI or ML or ChatGPT.
First of all, I'm afraid of when my imporvement shows its limitation.
As you already know, programmers should study steadily in order not to fall behind.
However, I am worried that my learning ability will deteriorate further when I am older. (Sorry for my bad English.)
So... Sound body, sound mind, and ability to learn anything quickly are getting more and more important.
To change my bad habits and terrible mind-set, it would be demanding works for me.
Sometimes, I just feel frustrated when I don't find much documentation, solution to a problem which looks very general. I also start thinking that I am not cut out for this. I have just done only webdev work and very little DSA. I just know JavaScript. Fear of not being relevant in future market sets in sometimes. It might take time but going one step at a time takes me through.
I was busy with coding.. If you're ask the most things I'm afraid of is the stack between workflow through another server and the hard time to package code function. Perhaps I'm not focus on one program language mostly I work on Laravel, Reactjs, Linux.. It's manage ERP business still I find hard way to thinking about algorithm. When it come to business with human resources it's hard to me jump into those algorithm.
Like I mentioned yesterday, my primary fear as a programmer is the fear that I may not be good enough to work on projects that truly matter and make a difference in the world. All I ever desire in life is to be a necessary existence other than a mere existence. Considering the fact that I am spending a considerable amount of my time programming, it will be a total let down if my work does not really make much difference in the world. I guess that is my greatest fear.
But, at this moment, I believe it is the fact of programming less. Not having more time to test things, and as a result choosing to use ready-made tools instead of developing them
I don't have any fear at all. I only need an opportunity to demonstrate what I have learnt so far.
i am afraid of how to do the things,
sometimes i forget the small Syntex and i stuck long hours on it by just think how to do it
then i think if i could not do this thing then how i am gona solve the real problems
Hey John, I am afraid of building the logic to run the program , I am not good in that.
In my life as a programmer I'm most afraid of prostate cancer or any other type of cancer, because I'm in my 60's .
No indications of any kind of cancer yet, but I'm trying to be honest.
My job is so good now I'm afraid I'm going to lose it and will never find anything as good again!
I’m not currently programming F/T as a job. My husband is. I can tell you that for both of us, it’s trying to estimate jobs.
Here's my fear: "I'm a self-taught and self-proclaimed programmer, coming from a Commerce background. I have a very long way to go to completely believe that I am a programmer. So, my fear is 'imposter syndrome' or something like that, where I fear calling myself a programmer when my educational background clearly says otherwise. How do I "sound like" a programmer, or how do I learn the lingo or thinking patterns of a programmer - so I start to feel that I belong to this "programming community"? I have a deep-rooted belief that I didn't get an engineering degree, so I can never be a programmer. How do I overcome this?"
My biggest fear as a programmer is that companies won't hire me because of my age- I have no experience, except for projects I have built, and am currently working on, and I just turned 61. This means that many years of learning will have been for nothing, although I could always start my own agency, and the six years of graphic design and web design courses, at two colleges, will have been for nothing.
Incidentally, this is off point, but a while back you asked if I was facing any challenges, and I never responded, because I was in the midst of my challenges. On December 27, 2022, I was injured on the job at McDonald's. I ended up with what's called De Quervain tenosynovitis, where the tendons in my thumbs become inflamed, and I can't use my hands without a lot of pain. This, after I had 19 years of classical piano lessons, and I had been trying to return to playing. My treatment has taken all of 2023: two wrist surgeries, dozens of sessions of physical therapy, many doctor appointments, while continuing to work part-time, around 18 hours per week, and trying to pay the bills. As of January 9, 2024, this may finally come to an end. However, around 6 weeks ago, my 83-year-old mother had to be taken to the hospital- they thought she was having a stroke, but she didn't. After two weeks in rehab, she's back home, thankfully, but now she needs therapy, as well as other treatment.
I am most afraid of frequent changes in technology.
So we need to be updated and always in learning mode.
I believe my belief that I am not good enough or smart enough to become a programmer.
As a programmer, my biggest fear is that I lose the motivation to learn, programming is a job that is constantly pursuing new technologies, and once I lose the motivation to learn, then I have been regressing. Thank you for your question.
My greatest concern lies in my path as a programmer without a university degree. While I'm self-teaching programming, I worry about the potential knowledge gaps I might encounter along the way. From writing and understanding meaningful commit messages to diving into broader programming concepts and having connection in the industry. The fear of not having a structured education leaves me anxious about how thorough my expertise will be.
I'm a bit older, I'm afraid of two things, ageism, and how the fear of how fast environments change when we hire people who come in with different views, knowledge, and backgrounds.
I've always loved to learn, and there is always a problem where change is made just to change, without fully understanding how changes will affect the processes long-term.
Just the old fear of IT people who get older and things seem to happen faster.
I am afraid of where will I be able to keep myself up to date with latest trends in Tech; will I be able to follow-up with right trend or will miss opportunities incase not able to get along with it.
I trust this letter finds you well and thriving! Lately, I've been contemplating various aspects of life, particularly as a programmer, and some concerns have been lingering on my mind.
Firstly, there's this perpetual worry about bugs lurking in the code, surfacing at the most inconvenient moments, akin to ghosts making a surprise appearance. While I understand it's an inherent part of software development, each occurrence still manages to send a shiver down my spine.
Additionally, I find myself fretting over the rapid evolution of technology, fearing that I might lag behind the trends. You know how it goes – every time there's an announcement about a new framework or language, I can't help but wonder if I'm too far from the cutting edge.
Nevertheless, I believe these worries are a natural part of growth, pushing us to continuously learn and progress. Perhaps we should all release a little chuckle in the face of these concerns because, in the end, we are indeed a community of comrades navigating the challenges of this digital realm together
I am most afraid of not being able to get customers who I can help to work on their systems.
I am afraid time come and I move to projects management position and can't code anymore while this time will come no way to escape it.
That I am able to get on the program around Christmas or New Years.
I am afraid that I am not truly capable of becoming a good developer. I am afraid that my attention span is too short. That I am too literal. That I cannot focus long enough, and hold enough information in my head at the same time to fully comprehend what needs to be done, or worse, what someone else's code is doing. I am afraid that I am too mentally lazy to force myself to focus.
Biggest fear is 'disembodiment' because of how much I would need to immerse myself in programming whether through excess screen/book time or spending a lot of time 'in my head' regardless of whether this results from my own interest or for meeting a deadline. In some ways there is no middle ground, because when you are in, you are completely sucked in (you become a total programming machine with a huge percentage of your total attention focused on programming because you think if you stop being one, you won't be able to finish existing projects or start new ones), and when you're out you're completely out (and feel like you're hardly employable).
Hope that makes sense, or maybe not, as this is a quick writeup which I think could be more succinct given enough time. When I say disembodiment, I don't mean disembodiment in a sense that can be balanced simply by exercising.
Perhaps a better way of expressing this is the fear that I am forced to define myself by what I can do (programming) rather than what I truly am or could become, in order to remain relevant in the industry, let alone be 'the best'.
I’m most afraid of the lack of mentorship. I transitioned to a programmer role just under two years ago and haven’t had any real mentorship. Do you have any tips with connecting with other programmers and finding real mentorship?
For some background, I transitioned from a user/SME role to a team of programmers that supports said users. So my experience as a user has made me a valuable member for my current team as I help bridge the knowledge gap. I have been slowly but surely learning the programmer side of things. The feedback I’ve gotten has been great, but there are often times when imposter syndrome kicks in. I get overwhelmed with trying to determine what to learn next, and how to apply it to my current role. I don’t know if I’m moving forward, or if I’m just aimlessly learning things. This is where I feel like mentorship is missing.
I am not making enough money as a developer, I am working from Nepal and I am afraid that I might end my mediocre life.
I'm most afraid of not making it in the industry the next year or so and staying at my current minimum wage job. The market has been horrible this year and as a new grad from a not so well know school with a college diploma not even undergrad I am at a massive disadvantage.
My fear of leaving the stuck job to free lancing
Some thing like: when assigned a "challenging task" but had no clue how to proceed
Having to drop everything in my life and business to re-tool my skillset to the latest technology that will be obsolete in three years.
As a programmer I have always feared that I would not be able to solve the problem at hand in time bound manner or in efficient manner and come across as a dumb person among peers
Thanks
Finding solution for unique bug or problems while coding.
I am not particularly afraid of anything in my life as a programmer.
I first started watching your videos about 5-6 years ago, when I was transitioning from being a full-time poker player to a software developer, with a recent bankruptcy and zero savings. I feel that I got a lot of useful information from these videos (especially given that I had zero prior work experience in SD). Now that I do machine learning at Google, I am pretty confident in my ability to advance and find another job if necessary.
On a greater scale, I do still have logical concerns about having enough money for a comfortable retirement. Although I enjoy my job and am not planning to retire any time soon (I turned 50 recently), the limited time horizon that I have makes it harder to be sure I will have enough, especially with the uncertainties in all of the markets.
I am planning to invest in real estate (as I know you recommend) at some point, right now it just doesn't seem like the best time to start, considering the current levels of prices and interest rates and my not having enough cash yet for a 20% downpayment for anything here in the Bay Area.
I am afraid of stagnation and getting out of touch with the job market.
If my job disappears for some reason, I don't have a proper fallback plan, but I know I can find work relatively easily.
I also only recently realised that I have been fucking up as a software developer, by not spending my spare time developing side projects that might have made me money. I think that would have been the best thing for me personally. I really don't recall reading that in your book, although it's a long time since I listened to it. Only realised this maybe 6 weeks ago.
I am now 58, so getting older and not being able to keep up, being replaced by AI, and not having enough for retirement.
I suppose becoming unemployable .. though i am in my early 60's !
Am afraid of how the coding is
I believe I can solve any coding problem with enough time, I'm not afraid of the task at hand, I'm afraid of not being quick. My whole life people around me have solved things quickly compared to me. In a classroom setting I'm always the last out thr door during exams. But when I get the results back I see I'm one of the highest scores. What ever I lack in speed of understanding the situation or problem, I make up for it in solving really complex problems others might not find a solution to and give up. So when it comes down to problems that require deep knowledge to fix, I'm ur guy. I take a different approach to solving problems I feel I have a different angle than most, if that makes sense. So my fear is I won't be able to prove my self or my value quickly enough to others, basically I'm afraid companies or coworkers will get upset at me and label me incompetent before they actually see my value. Before I prove my self.
I left my software engineering job to build my own business. I don’t want to just do a 9-5. I want to do so much more.
My son and I are learning Java and Python for his college work. I've figured I've had to turn to the dark side and work on the dark web as I keep getting turned down for traditional day work no matter what level it is.
Back in the day, my fear of learning coding was the time that it took to get going on it and stay at it. When I was married [when my wife was alive], her family and, my my-inlaws were always on my case about "make more money now, now, now," without them seeing the effort that went into it. With those people mostly gone and out of my life now, my son and I are set to start working on learning to code.
My fear is loosing the passion that drove me to walk away from a very successful QA career to become a front end engineer.
And it's kind of started to happen where I want to explore other languages or even another career change but the money keeps me going.
I was thinking of going for contract roles where I can earn more and work 6-9 months of the year
My greatest fear as a programmer is that one day everything will be automated, and the world will no longer need me and I will be out of a Job. Already there is so much hype created by ChatGPT and other AI models that programmers are beginning to fear Job security.
Thanks for reaching out and considering me. In my case, I am afraid of my position or technology used becomes obsolete that I get layoff. Definitely now days you need to keep improving yourself to stay relevant. Even if you are so specialized in one important field that doesn't guarantee you will keep your job. I remember on the pandemic days many people were laid off. Then we saw a bubble of jobs, many companies started to hire a lot of people and offering good salaries. After the bubble exploded, we again see a lot of layoffs. This uncertainty its stressful, especially if you have a family. I hope my answer helps you. Feel free to reach out if you want to follow up.
Probably, the scope of my fears is in decision of a way of building myself - I fear to follow wrong easy ways instead of right hard ways.
From another side, there is known that "the Fear has Big Eyes". So, I suppose it is normal when this process is in undefinity conditions.
The thing I fear most when it comes to life as a programmer is not being good enough. As a graduate software engineer looking to start in development and have my first technical assessment planned for the 8th of January, I'm already nervous!
Most of all, for me, it's really important to work in the audio development field or for a digital audio/music company as a passionate self-taught sound engineer. Ending up programming for a fintech company instead, no matter how comfortable the salary, scares me a lot!
Being judged for not quickly resolving problems. No matter how experienced I am, I can still get stuck in some of the easy problems. So yeah.
I’m afraid that I will only be a programmer and not start some sort of business
Hi John, First of all,I want to say thank you for all the useful content you make.I am 17 years old and in my last year at high school.I want to be a self-taught web developer and get a job in my country,in Uzbekistan.Some people around me are saying that I need a university diploma to get a job in a company as a web developer in my country.Later,i'd like to be a freelancer.My concern is getting a job as a self-taught web developer without a uni diploma,will i be able to do it or will I not get any job and go broke?
How important is university diploma for web developers and Do I need to spend 4 years at a uni despite the fact that I hate studying at a university?
I think I don't have an answer for it. Maybe sometimes I am afraid that I'm not getting the job in the industry.
JavaScript coding
clients
nothing except the machine as i don't have computer
Loneliness!
Most of the time, debugging the code creates a fear: what if I can't solve the problem within the limited time? This creates pressure on me. Even if I think about the worst-case scenario (being called a dumb programmer), it doesn't always help. Sometimes it releases my stress, and sometimes it creates more pressure.
I'm not afraid of anything in regards to being a programmer, the idea of creating actual products with just words and symbols is one that excites me a lot, I'm just struggling with laziness and executing projects in general.
To be honest, you and I aren't all that different. We both started out as nerdy mama's boys, and either through shame, or frustration decided to change their lives.
The difference is that you were consistent enough to make it happen - And that's always been a great inspiration to me.
(Another difference is that I can't seem to gain weight.. I've been damn near a rail my whole life after puberty, and I do envy old John a little bit in that regard)
If I'm being frank and transparent, I really enjoyed and miss your simple programmer content A LOT.
Bulldog Mindset? ehhh, Not so much... I've been around the redpill/pick up artist scene for many, many years and it just makes me cringe a little bit, I won't lie to you.
But that's neither here nor there, and I'm glad your story can still inspire people. In 2023, and '24 I hope to complete more projects and take the life I want for myself.
As I close this email, I realize I lied about my programmer fears in the beginning of this email.
I am afraid to want to do this developer thing and letting outside influences tell me web development isn't a stable career, only to die old and unfulfilled never really giving something I could have really loved a chance.
I think about stuff like that a lot...
Oh yeah! "Killing two stones with one bird" is something I read in one of your newsletters a while ago, and still will use it in normal conversation to this day.
If you've gotten to this point in the email, I appreciate you John, seriously.
No matter the content, you've been a major inspiration in my life and I do want to take a moment to give you your flowers, and thank you for always trying your best.
Not being good enough to work on projects that truly matter.
My skills don't give freedom
The thing I’m most afraid of is being out of date. I’ve lost jobs because I’m not “quick enough“ because I don’t know a certain technology thoroughly, that’s a newer technology. And jobs don’t give time for you to polish yourself enough to be at the “speed “ that they want you to be. And that’s on me, but it’s hard to keep up when your prior experiences on prior jobs Is using some programming technology that’s older.
Afraid because last few months I lost so much money in online fraud
AI causing massive layoffs, including myself
The increasing number of languages/platforms/frameworks and the velocity they keep changing all the time.
Your Ideal Developer Positions
Thanks for your commitment. I just want to be an end to range Rover repairs problems that comes my way.
I like coding back end things. I'm early in my journey but things like data structures and algorithms are fun for me.
Back end developer. I just don’t possess the artistic touch to develop the UI that users deserve. I’m fine doing the “boring” (not boring to me) work behind the scenes. I just love to solve business problems.
Q: If money wasn’t an issue, what kind of developer do you want to be?
A: Do something no one has done before regardless of front or back end development
Money is not something that is stopping me from choosing one type of programming rather than another but it's stopping me from learning programming because i don't have a computer.I have started working as an English teacher and making some money(thank God) but I don't have enough money to buy a laptop yet.I want to be a Web developer and currently trying to learn HTML on other people's laptops.
I would like to be Full Stack developer dwelling in both Front and Backend seemingly.
I am inclined towards full stack development. I am a backend(Java, Microservices) developer of 16years of experience but I worked my first six years as frontend developer(Adobe/Apache Flex).
Variety with a leaning to cloud.
I am an average developer. I had 10 years of experience in C++ on the Windows platform when I came to Australia. But I didn't get the opportunity in that space so I switched to an automation testing role (Using C#, Selenium etc. Guess what, I learnt selenium from your Plural Sight course). 4 years ago I switched to a fullstack web developer role. Now, 95% of the time I do backend work only. I struggle with DevOps-related things like creating build pipelines. I don't have much time for learning because I am 45 and have other priorities too. My salary is not very great but it's not bad either. I may or may not be promoted to a tech-lead role too. I know that I need to learn a lot about Azure Services, managing my team etc.
I have also started investing in properties so out of money as of now but hoping to start getting some rental income in the next 4-5 months. I am not thinking much. I am happy with my life. I know I can make it much better in terms of money but I am trying to maintain a balance in all facets of my life. I don't read all the emails but sometimes I read yours. Since you wrote a personal one, I had to reply. I also appreciate your work. You are doing a great job by helping many people.
So far I would like to grow as a backend developer. That's all about me mate.
I'm glad that You sent this email to me and I must be honest you positively surprised me
First I must say that I have experience in Linux, open source kind of systems. Don't get me wrong, I'm using windows as well, but with open code softwares one has more freedom and it's much easier to work with.
I'm using various softwares to make fractals, more lika a hobby, but it is art with math, literally. So, I must add visual design to my skills. But, now Ai can produce anything, that's the reason why it became a hobby for me.
Freelancer, learned almost everything by myself etc. White hat, networking, visual creating etc. is the best option for me..
But, before we continue our possible future story, please let me know how did you find me and decided to contact me?
I'm more like you! I also prefer some variety, that's why I'd like to be a full-stack developer. I know it's going to take time to get there but I'm working my way up
If money wasn't an issue, I'm like you, I prefer some variety between frontend and back-end, but I do prefer to do more backend work rather than more frontend work.
Ideally, I think I'd like to be involved in some kind of research, preferably graphics but maybe also audio. I'm curious how I could make this happen, although gaming seems like the area that is closest to this as a goal.
I suppose that my answer will be more complex than you wish to get from me.
Currently, I'm looking for my own garmonic wayin software development area
This garmony looks like for a balance between my open-source activities and my future activities into a commercial project.
When this issue is in the area of open-source activities, I see myself as an enthusiast-modmaker (but not an indie game developer).
When this issue is discussed in the area of commercial IT projects, I want to be a pragmatic full-stack web developer.
What is the key to understanding this balance ?
Probably, it's a golden mean between own limitless creative freedom and a limited role in environment living by Conway's law.
I'm sure that these both sides are possible to enrich each other from the professional experience position.
May be, building myself in this paradigm is my ideal as a happy software developer
Would look at getting into the GTA modding scene. Do some 5m scripts or even vehicle models and add them onto a modded GTA server.
Rockstar recently legitimised modding of GTA 5 with the partnership with cfx the company behind the top GTA modded platform.
They also had a recent week of GTA RP on twitch (the main reason being modding GTA 5)sponsored by Rockstar which means
Devs on the biggest server NoPixel get up to 10k per month plus then other perks.
Seems to be a niche that is starting to get popular