Pursuing satisfaction through software engineering
I had just received the largest paycheck of my life, and was preparing to tell my mentor (and manager) that I was quitting to become a software engineer. Was I about to make a grand mistake?
After weeks of consideration, I was confident that what I was about to do was the right thing for me, but that didn’t stop the doubts from popping up in my mind like mushrooms after a rain. Was I destroying my momentum in a promising and increasingly lucrative career for a job in a field that I knew little-to-nothing about? Will I even be able to get a job after this coding bootcamp? Am I just throwing my money away?
Despite my concerns, I knew that I was making the right choice and that my trepidations were more about not wanting to let down my mentor who had invested his time and energy in me. The time to tell him came, and I was happier than I could imagine after leaving his office and ending my brief foray into real estate. Instead of being angry, he continued being the selfless mentor he had always been. He helped me plan my next steps and left me without doubts as to my choice. Shortly after, I enrolled for the immersive software engineering bootcamp at Flatiron.
Why Software Engineering?
My decision to become a software engineer was based on pursuing a path that would lead to greater fulfillment, both personally and professionally. I’ve learned from others around me and recognized that having an in-demand marketable skill would allow me work and life freedoms more than other jobs. I was also looking for something challenging and something that would be intellectually stimulating and rewarding. Software engineering seemed to check off all those boxes.
Becoming a Digital Tradesman
For years I’ve had a Walden-esque dream of buying a piece of land, and learning the carpentry and framing necessary to build a small home where I can escape to to enjoy nature. It would be a mental and spiritual retreat; a symbol strengthened in meaning by the fact that it was constructed with my own hands.
While I’ve known for awhile now that I’ll likely never build a home with my own hands (and my wife would never step foot in it if I did), the desire to build something with my own hands and skills has never left. In all my hobbies before, I’ve found satisfaction not in the hobby itself, but in the creation process. Writing a new song, creating a product listing, learning a new phrase in a foreign language. The process of creating is definite and offers immediate feedback, confirming your capabilities.
Software engineering in that way is a creative pursuit that allows me to hone my craft while working as the architect and craftsman for the dream projects of clients, employers, and for myself.
Like carpentry or one of the other construction trades, my newfound skills will provide me the ability to work in a variety of businesses: tech companies, startups, ecommerce companies, almost anywhere. I’ll also be creating constantly. Having a piece of software or web app that I can look back on and say that “I built that”.
Growth mindset
When I was working for a small e-commerce company, I was able to work alongside the owner frequently and through this, gleaned several lessons about business and success.
Of all the things I learned from the owner, the one that had the greatest impact on me was his focus on growth. He grouped businesses in one of three categories. They were either growing, stagnating, or shrinking. In order to be successful, you had to keep growing, there was no avoiding that fact. Even though continuing to do the same thing that was successful before felt good, it was really a false success. One that tricked you into believing you knew it all. This had to be overcome and replaced with a growth mindset or else your business inevitably started to shrink.
While the owner talked of growth as it related to business, I saw a direct parallel with personal growth. Most important: if you aren’t challenging yourself, you aren’t growing. Even if you feel accomplished, keep going.
After weeks of personal growth at Flatiron, I can confirm that the only way forward is through growth, and the best way to maintain that growth is with a growth mindset. Seeing what I am able to do after only a few weeks is incredible. Imagining what I can do in several months or years from now is what’s keeping me humble and focused on incremental improvement.
Risk and Reward
Recently I’ve come to embrace risk as a necessary catalyst for success. For most of my life, I’ve been well served by being risk-averse and the idea of taking risks was something scary and at the time, foolish. Because of this, I’ve never broken a bone, been in legal trouble, or created serious interpersonal rifts. However, I’ve also noticed no great successes either. While risk-aversion will generally keep you comfortable, it won’t make you any better and in fact, risk-aversion actively shields you from growth.
My desire to achieve bigger goals in the past years has prompted me to start taking increasingly bigger and more frequent risks by necessity. As a rule, I’ve found risks are generally based on areas of your life where you are deficient. If you don’t know how to start a business, it’s risky to do so. Likewise, if you’re nervous around people, it’s a risk to your ego to speak in public. The bigger truth, however, is without risk, there is no growth. As the old saying goes, no risk, no reward.
So, in an effort to achieve my goals, I started taking risks. I risked time, effort and money to launch products as an Amazon third-party seller. I risked embarrassment and ridicule by taking part in a coordinated dance at a friend’s wedding. I risked future income and respect when I quit a job I was good at to study software engineering. I lost money and time, proved for close friends and strangers that I can’t dance, and alienated former co-workers and clients. More importantly though, I grew through adversity.
I learned how important a marketing plan was to launch a small business. I learned I need dance lessons and need to smile when I’m dancing. I learned that the voice inside me isn’t telling me to stop when I’m hesitant about making a big decision. It recognizes the risk and is just checking in to make sure I’m prepared for what’s next.
So far, the risk I took starting this journey has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. My decision to become a software engineer is a commitment to myself to keep flexing my risk muscle, keep honing my skills, keep creating and continue growing personally and professionally.
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