I wish I could just download everything I ever wanted to know, like how to code, directly into my brain. But I’m not Neo and this is not the Matrix and that’s of course not possible, yet. I like to think that most things are possible given enough time and knowledge, but until direct knowledge download is available there is self-learning.
Self learning is the act of teaching oneself, with or without help from others, what you want to learn, how you want to learn it, and when you want to learn it. This way you can set your own goals, prioritize those goals, find and decide on what materials and resources you want to use to help you reach those goals, and decide on the time frame and rhythm of achieving those learning goals. And it’s never been easier to do so! With access to the internet you can teach yourself almost anything now. Want to learn how to walk the dog with your yo-yo, play the ukulele, or how to code? You can just jump online and google it! Of course there are other ways and resources to aid you in teaching yourself and that’s the beauty of being an autodidact, you get to decide what works best for you!
Currently I’m teaching myself how to code. The first step I took on this journey was clarifying why I wanted to learn to code. Doing this has helped me decide what to focus on because there is an overwhelming amount of information out there on how to code! Like so much that it almost kept me from moving forward. But clarifying why I want to learn to code and what I want to do with it once I learn it helps me narrow down what information is useful and what is not. It’s a fluid process and looks like however I need it to look like in order to achieve my desired learning outcomes.
There are also many learning methods to teach yourself something. Tim Ferriss has a method for learning anything fast. Jonathan Levi has a method for becoming a superlearner. These are only two examples of methods for learning and teaching yourself anything but there are so many more. And this is great because again it points back to the freedom and flexibility that self-learning offers when figuring out and deciding for yourself what works and what doesn’t. For a good read about teaching oneself to code try Clive Thompson’s “Ten Lessons I Learned While Teaching Myself to Code” https://tim.blog/2019/03/21/learn-to-code/.
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