How do you build personal confidence, how do you lend confidence to others?
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How do you build personal confidence, how do you lend confidence to others?
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
Oldest comments (43)
Don't over think. It makes you and your program ugly and sad. Also your team mates get mad if you think over something this much.
"Simple" is the key.
JDIS (Just Do It Stupid) principle bruh, we need to follow that.
I actually just looked at an old project I built last term at school, and while it isn't much to gauk at professionally, it reminds me that at one point, I never thought I could build it. Now I am writing code that connects to a SQL database, designing GUIs, and writing Java with the confidence that I can do this.
When I try to instill confidence in others, I like to learn what they know by getting them to explain to me what they're stuck on. My purpose is to show them that they likely understand more than they think they do but aren't progressing because they're stuck thinking they'll never progress. It usually gets the gears turning in their minds or at least gives them some pep talk.
Looking back on old things is a big big big one for me. Just thinking about where I used to be and how far I've come since then is always a big one.
One main thing I realized one day when I was struggling with learning c++ data structures is how long I went practicing c++ without even knowing what a pointer was (this was junior high and early high school). It's interesting to realize how easy the concept is and yet how hard I thought it was back then.
Totally agree
don't think about it, just follow your passion, confidence will follow as well
Accepting the fact that "Its ok to not know everything" and "I can learn it and do it" gives me confidence.
Pretty sure it does to others too
That first one is a big relief if you feel overwhelmed (especially since there are always new things coming out that suddenly get hyped up as "the future of X development"). It really is ok to not know everything. Heck, it's ok to use (and like using) a toolset that's a popular subject of ridicule.
To build it first you have to commit many mistakes, and learn from them. What you've got to be sure is to learn from those mistakes to become a proficient and confident coder C:
When it comes tackling things that I might not have immediate confidence in, I try to remind myself that often trying something, even if it is wrong, is the best way to learn whether I need to try something else. The sooner that course correction can be made, the easier it is to build confidence.
When it comes to code, I try to build tight feedback cycles into everything I do. I find the more I can get into the habit of making a small change and quickly seeing the result of that, the better my development cadence and therefore the easier it is to gain confidence in a path.
To lend confidence to others, I try to encourage both of the aforementioned things: fail fast to learn quickly and find ways to make feedback loops tighter.
@jess 's weekly wins threads are great for that π
High 5 people who had solved a difficult programming problem that they had spent hours or days on it
I really enjoy building the confidence of others. This is how I shape my developer relations program and advocacy work that I do. Talks, tutorials, blogs, etc. should distill complex information down to a digestible level without dumbing it down. I often introduce new language or jargon to folks first so that they can learn how to "speak the language" before trying to write code. From there I help them scope out small, manageable tasks. Confidence is easier to find with a sense of completion. Then you celebrate the completion and move to the next task.
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