(Not as much fun as finding fruit loops)

For me, I’ve found that finding a feedback loop is the difference between success and failure. It’s actually what I struggled with most programming. Once I figured that piece out, I got a lot better a LOT faster. And it was so easy. I feel silly, but that’s just me. 

Now, depending where you are in your journey, the feedback loop may look different. It can be:

• -Figuring out how to get the program to run.
• -Finding a source of instruction and challenging enough problems to keep you engaged.
• -Getting a job above your ability, where you constantly have to learn and grow every day to keep up.
• -Building a project a tiny bit above your means, where you have to keep iterating and improving what has been done before.
• -Working on an open source codebase, and getting feedback from developers all over the world.

They are important. You see, there are a lot of ways to get demoralized and lots of chances to give up.

• -The 15th time you have to look up how to use an iterator…
• -Why does it say input error? What does this error mean…
• -You thought you remembered how to get everything to load, why isn’t it loading…
• -That job didn’t get back to you huh…
• -Oh, my commit didn’t make the cut…

Early on, I made some big mistakes. Here are some of them (and not even all of them). I didn’t know where to start, so I didn’t ask anyone, I just started learning something. I bought a random book that was WAY over my head (I convinced myself I’d start off learning how to make iPhone apps, haha). I had a laptop, but it was so old, it couldn’t even install the software needed to follow along with that book. I give up. I start again and decide to learn C (what a fun way for a beginner to learn, the hardest language from the start)! I go through it again, with no help, flailing around. Every time I managed to compile my programs was nothing short of a miracle. I eventually give up.

I find the Odin Project. I never fully commit, I do a little here and there. I do not have my environment set up, never really master the basics, then I give up.

Hopefully, this doesn’t sound familiar to anyone, but I’m sure it does. Everyone is kind of like this.

Breakthrough

The last time, I finally figured it out. I restart the Odin Project. Only this time, I do two things differently.

• -I actually install things like they say.
• -I keep an excel sheet of useful functions and things to remember.

That’s it. This cut down on my start up time. This made me productive faster. I did not have to look up everything. The shorter feedback loops mean I do more. I have more fun doing it, so I do more, so I have more fun doing it, again and again and again.

Your Feedback Loops:

Take a moment and think about your feedback loops. What are the 10-20% of things that really annoy you? C programming and compiling? Forget the commands for CLI? Really think through it, and think: how can I make this frictionless. Print a paper with the steps for compilation? Have an excel sheet of the top 10 most useful commands for bash?. Have your reference book for your language of choice next to you, with the most visited sections marked?

Make it easy.

You’ll do it more.

It’ll be easier.

You’ll do it even more

You’ll get good.

-Andrew Roy