Do things for fun, and at your own pace

Last week I started learning a little bit about SQL.

I didn’t do it out of a desire to become a programmer or to make a lot of money. I was simply curious to see how that programming language is, to see what it’s used for and to give it a try, just in case I really like it and I may find something useful to do with it.

I started a “course” on Codecademy and I finished half of it. I work on that “course” for around an hour a day, and then I focus on other things that require my attention.

Funny enough, I’m kinda enjoying learning SQL, despite not particularly liking the language. It’s useful and all that, but it doesn’t really look like something I’d like to spend hours and hours working with, at least not now. Maybe if I start working on a fairly complicated project using SQL that may change, but I’m not sure yet.

The thing I’d like to point out is that while I tried learning many programming languages in the past, this is one of the very few times I actually enjoyed doing it, not because of the programming language, but because of the lack of pressure I’m putting on myself.

When I started learning how to build websites 4 years ago, I had one goal in mind — money. I wanted to be able to build great websites and sell them for money. I learned HTML, CSS and some JavaScript for around a year before giving up.

Then I tried to learn other programming languages like Python and Java, but I never really enjoyed the process. That probably was because the only thing I had in mind was how I was gonna make money programming once I was done learning, and how I needed to be done with that as soon as possible so I can start working on something that I can somehow sell.

I guess no one’s surprised if I say that I always failed at learning how to code. I always lost my motivation in time and I never felt like I truly wanted to master any of those programming languages. I just wanted money.

And this applies to almost anything I wanted to do for an ultimate goal that wasn’t at all related to passion or simply enjoyment. The only exception is writing, something I seem to naturally enjoy doing, even when my goal is making money.

The thing is that getting good enough at something to actually make money out of that particular skill will take time, and you’ll probably put a lot of pressure on yourself to learn everything as fast as possible. It will be something you have to do, instead of something you want to do.

That can demotivate a lot of people, and it surely demotivated me when I tried to learn how to code in the past. I wanted the rewards, and I didn’t care about the process. I just wanted to learn what I needed to make money.

I didn’t work at my own pace, I ignored the things I didn’t understand at first and I just moved on, thinking I will get it in the future, which, obviously, didn’t happen. When I got stuck and I couldn’t figure out why, I gave up.

Now, I changed the way I do things, and I feel a lot better about learning new skills than before. I’m actually interested in finishing that SQL “course” and see if there’s anything new I can learn from it. Maybe after I’m done I’m gonna try something completely different. Maybe I’m finally gonna try to learn how to draw, or maybe I’ll try learning Python once again, this time for fun, not out of a desire to get money.

Doing all those things for fun, and at my own pace, without putting pressure on myself and without forcing myself to learn more than I can or want to finally made me like things I got bored of really quickly in the past.

It may not work for everyone, but it is something that you may want to try if you’ve been thinking about learning a new skill but didn’t find the motivation. Learn things for the sake of learning, just to discover what you may like besides what you already do, and don’t force yourself to do more than you’re willing to. Who knows, maybe that’s all you need to regain your motivation.