#CNC2022 Pre-Post

Hey everyone, I'm excited to get after 2022 with the Coding More cohort for CNC2022. I've always experienced a few months of being super excited about coding before hitting a roadblock which has hurt my progress (more mentally than actually). Each time I've come back a little wiser and been able to progress, however now I'm hoping to get into a pattern where I have a healthy habit of coding and learning while not getting discouraged and tired (i.e. taking lots of breaks, a few days off each week).

What has worked in the past? I get motivated by progress. If I am learning new things and practicing them, I love it. Checking out a new framework, reading a book about other amazing developers in the past, and listening to podcasts has helped me. Also, I just got some DEV stickers for my laptop and that was an encouragement, funny enough. I'm motivated by these, as I look up to other software developers who have made careers out of their job. It's a reminder that this is still possible without a CS degree.

What has not worked in the past? In the past I have had to go back and repeat parts of courses or the entire thing because I took time off and forgot some of it. While it's good to pick it back up, it's definitely a drag repeating myself. And I don't feel I'm actually making progress. I also get distracted by the next shiny thing and need to focus on one or two things only. The biggest challenge here is that, due to work and family, I have to code at the end of my day, and sometimes I really want to be practicing more but I'm too tired. Then I get discouraged.

Long term goals: I want to be able to apply for Hack Reactor and get accepted. Or get to a point where I can apply to a software developer role without a bootcamp. That's where I want to be around this time next year.

Short term goals: I want to complete the CS50 course, and I want to finish the Front End Libraries course on freeCodeCamp by the start of summer!

Anyways, this is where I'm at right now. I hope to continue to progress each day, and remember to just improve 1% each day, and over time the progression will be real and noticeable.