How I’m Learning Outside of My FCC Courses
It has been exactly 79 days since I started working on my FreeCodeCamp coursework and made the decision to work towards becoming a full time web developer. When I first started, I actually wrote an article discussing my preferred methods of learning (like taking notes) and how it felt to be back in the student’s seat rather than the teacher’s.
Fast forward a little more than two and a half months and I’ve already found that there are other ways of learning that I desperately need to be taking advantage of in order to benefit myself in accomplishing my goals. When I “discovered” these new avenues, I originally thought about just dipping my toe in and seeing how I liked each of them. Unfortunately, until this point that has always been a flaw of mine: afraid of going all-in. Well 79 days ago I decided I was going all-in, so why not continue to do the same thing with my learning?
There have been three new sources of learning — to me — that I have been taking full advantage of over the past month now and know that I have greatly benefited from each of them.
Facebook groups are becoming the new big thing where communities are coming together with a common goal or interest and people are able to discuss and network with each other for all sorts of purposes. I think of them as the new-age message boards of 10+ years ago.
For me, I’ve joined a couple different Facebook groups dedicated to programmers that are self-taught or learning without formal education. Being able to relate with literally thousands of other people that are in the same shoes as I am has been tremendously helpful when I need a push in the right direction on a certain project, suggestions for programs or languages to use or a quick vent session on what’s bothering me on my journey.
Lately I have been giving some serious thoughts to creating my own Facebook group to create a community that I would have control over. Over time I know it could develop into a side project in a way where it could be a place where I begin teaching others how to do things in JavaScript or in other ways of web development and have it as a side job or freelance opportunity. While it sounds like a lot of fun, and perhaps financially and emotionally beneficial to me, I’ve decided to hold off and focus on my own journey first.
Reading has become a staple in my life. This is the guy that wasn’t into reading the first 30 years of his life. Now, I try to read every morning after I get back from the gym or whenever I get some down time. I have only read one and a half books that would be categorized in “self help” genre. This decision to dive into books for self help almost has nothing to do with computer programming or web development but more on personal growth and maximizing my times and efforts.
Right now, I’m working my way through “The One Thing” by real estate extraordinaire Gary Keller. While only about 75 pages in, I’ve learned a lot and have realized that what I’m doing isn’t nearly as effective as it could be. Before this, I read “The Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod and while I haven’t put all six of his Life S.A.V.E.R.S. into action on a regular basis, it has given me a new outlook on how my typical mornings (and nights!) can setup the rest of my day, week, month and life to become the most successful person I can be.
I have two other books — “Smarter, Faster, Better” and “The Power of Habit” — waiting in the wings once I finish Keller’s masterpiece so I can jump right in. Not only are these books going to continue helping me become better in my personal and professional life, but it also allows me to be a part of my brother Nicholas Rizzo’s company: Striven Life (links to the company’s website and Facebook page).
The company is running a #52BooksAYearChallenge where people are going to attempt to read a book a week, most of which are geared towards making yourself become a better you. The four books I have mentioned that I have either read, currently reading or will read next, are all on the book list for this challenge and I eagerly await the chance to join in on the conversation with his other followers. My goal would be to be a part of at least ten of these book reviews with he and the other brave souls taking part in the challenge.
The final form of learning I’m now nearly religiously taking part in is listening to podcasts. For years, I’ve spent countless hours listening to the same songs — whether it be the radio, my phone or Pandora — or meaningless sports talk radio. While at the time it may be enjoyable, it is not aiding me in my journey whatsoever. My recent discovery of podcasts has changed all of that.
At this point, I have a new routine that I listen to podcasts much more often than I listen to music or sports talk when I am not working on my FreeCodeCamp coursework. The reason being is when I’m doing something else that doesn’t require me to do a ton of thinking, such as working out at the gym, going for a run or driving, I could be using that time to gain knowledge in a field that I’m trying to be a sponge in.
I know am in a routine that before I go to bed at night, I will download two podcasts to my phone (I’m stingy with my data usage and make sure to do it on the WiFi) that I know will give me enough time to get through my one-hour workout in the morning. While I’m plodding along on the treadmill at 4:45AM or lifting weights shortly after, I don’t need to be giving those activities my complete train of thought. Now I’m able to consume two podcasts in the same time frame and am constantly learning new stuff.
When I’m driving alone (because I would never subject my fiance to this type of torture) I have podcasts ready to go to listen to while I’m zipping around. Just today I was on my way home from a mini-vacation up north and in a 90-minute drive I listened to three podcasts and learned so much that I wanted to pull over and start taking notes. I’ve made mental notes to go back and review all of the show notes from those episodes because there was so much invaluable information.
My favorite podcast thus far — and the one I listened to exclusively on today’s ride — is Start Here FM. Dain Miller has been in my shoes before and I feel like when he talks about different topics on his podcasts that he’s giving me the blueprints to a career in web development. He’s been there, done it and learned more than I have so why wouldn’t I believe him? I’ve been listening to his show — starting from episode one — and know that if I do what he’s telling me to do that my goals will be accomplished and my dreams will become realities. Dain, if you are reading this, thank you and I’ll be sure to write a review for the podcast soon and will most certainly be emailing in to the show in the very near future.
Learning never stops in the web development world so I’ve found that by adding these threw avenues of learning to my repertoire will only make my journey that much easier for me. There is no such thing as plateauing in this industry: you are either getting better at your craft or worse. I would hate to reach a point where I’m not improving at what I do before even reaching my initial goal of landing a job. That’s not in the cards for me and I’m going to do all I can to better myself and my career from now until I retire.
