Let’s talk about regrets

or: Why I start learning to code

Jeff Bezos is famous for many things. But one thing really speaks to me: his so-called “regret minimization framework”. Project yourself forward to age 80, then look back at your life and see as few regrets as possible.

That’s easy to say. But you’ll probably know that regrets don’t only show up when you fail but more often when you didn’t even try. “What would have happened if I had done that?” This question could haunt you for the rest of your life.

Which it does to me.

Hi, my name is Thomas and right now I am working as a marketing manager for the WBS CODING SCHOOL in Berlin. I love this job because we help people having less regrets within their professional life. My regret is, that I didn’t learn to code earlier in my life. And from now on I want to help others to not have this feeling.

Why am I that serious about this circumstance? Two years ago I dived into the startup ecosystem. I had several ideas, which where awesome of course. I studied journalism and philosophy, so my educational background is about words and ideas. But to turn my ideas into reality, I needed someone to build an App. Without having neither the skills nore the money to do so, I felt helpless.

Fortunately I did find someone to help me out. Richard. He was ambitious as well and he had the necessary coding skills. We did become friends and I was even invited to his marriage.

But one thing didn’t change. I still felt helpless somehow because I was totally dependant on someone else. Even worse, I had no idea what he was doing and I couldn’t tell if it was a good product or not. “If only I could program” I said to myself. Every day.

Did I change anything about it? No.

I talked to many people about my struggle and most of them replied either to learn coding or to focus on my strength and collaborate with others. Because you only have one life and you cannot master several skills. Nonetheless it feels like knowing how to code is much more than just a skill. It leads to opportunities.

One issue haunts me ever since: What would have happened If I could program? I cannot get rid of this question in my head. You see the similarity to Bezos’ “regret minimization framework”?

It is not about how many times you fail but about how many times you didn’t even try.

By writing this down I publicly make my decision: I want and I will learn coding. Because deep inside myself I know that this could be the biggest impact in my professional life and therefore in my private life as well.

Why do I write about it? Learning new stuff beside your current job is difficult when you have a quite pleasant living. Changing habits is challenging as well. Many experts suggest to make your journey public so that others can cheer you up and be the voice in your head telling you not to quit.

So I decided to start writing about my thoughts, struggles and small wins while I am learning to code. I would love to hear from your thoughts and stories as well!