It’s Okay to be An Average Developer
You do not have to code 13 hours a day.
You do not have to be up to date with the latest libraries and frameworks.
You do not have to write top libraries.
You do not have to build 3 side projects in parallel.
You do not have to be accepted at Facebook, Amazon, Google or your local hyped company.
You do not have to be a specialist in Frontend, Backend, Machine Learning, Augmented Reality whilst knowing your way through AWS, and oh, let’s not forget, also work on your Flutter and React Native side projects in the evenings!
You don’t have to, because…
Being Average may just be The Best for You
Employers are mostly searching for developers they can trust. For developers that can get their assigned tasks done in their own pace. For average developers.
Remember, there are very few people that are truly exceptional. These developers, well, you can see from a thousand miles. They quickly get up the ladder and are put into tech lead roles. A lot of responsibility. Stress. Long workings hours. Would you even want that if that’s not what you were born for?
The vast majority of us are average. We get our tasks done. We solve problems. And that, in most cases, is perfectly fine!
About Guilt
We all get that nasty feeling sometimes! Am I doing enough? Am I learning, building, hustling enough? Am I enough?
Do not feel guilty that you did not work on your side project on Saturday evening!
Do not feel guilty that you haven’t had the time to experiment with the latest frameworks!
It’s fine!
As long as you get your tasks done at your own pace, you should feel pretty darn good about yourself!
As long as you are conscious enough to know that you will always need to learn new things on some occasions, do not let the complicated and quickly changing world of programming overwhelm you.
Progress & Opportunities
Take everything in at your own pace.
Learn, experiment and build in your free time only when you feel like it.
Do not do it out of obligation, as this only puts more unnecessary stress on you and won’t get you anywhere.
Remember, most of the jobs are filled by average developers. You, me, the average Joe.
Learn, experiment and build only out of fun and passion!
