In education, there is the idea of intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation means: I need to learn this to pass an exam, get a job, earn money etc. Intrinsic motivation means: I’m doing this because I love it and it fascinates me.
People who only have extrinsic motivation are rarely successful or happy at what they do. If you want to do a manual skill, I would say go for it. Electricians, plumbers, builders etc can earn a good living and there will always be demand for that kind of skill. We might not always have the internet, but people will always need houses to live in.
23 means you’ve got plenty of time for many successes and failures, hopefully. Its unwise to neglect the reality of mortality.
Sounds like you, obviously, have had other things on your mind and needed to put your programming learning on hold for a minute. That’s totally fine… you can only do so much in a day.
Working in the skilled trades is fun (/s). Seriously, though I have a lot of respect for skilled trades workers. You’ll meet a lot of interesting people, good people, and some jerks. Like any other profession… However, you’ll be subjected to harsh working conditions, and exposure to various chemicals and fumes. Hopefully you don’t shoot yourself or someone else with a nail gun. Hopefully you don’t fall off a roof, have a beam dropped on you, or heaven forbid someone gets gashed with a skill saw or table saw (/shock) or many other common occurrences on wood framed construction job-sites. Once you start increasing the complexity of the build, such as concrete and steel, you introduce a whole additional set of tools and layers of risk. The point is getting into the trades can be rewarding. You can make a lot of money. But it’s also at the risk of destroying your body and living the rest of your life in pain. Go talk to anyone who has worked in the trades for long and ask them if they know anyone who has had a debilitating injury. I’ll bet you .00001 bitcoin that they can give you a few examples. If I were you, I’d do whatever you have to do to provide for your family the best you can. But also don’t stop improving.
I also struggle with motivation sometimes and need to remember the goal. I think that clearly defining your goals is really important.
Take some time to write down what’s most important to you, the things that motivate you, write down the reasons you do what you do, write down the things you want to do, and why you want to do them.
Try to step back and survey the scene. See what types of things people are building and working with. Investigate things that interest you. I like the advice of just picking something and learning it as best you can.
Dan is 100% on target:
stay away from: Customer Service, and manual labor jobs.
They. Are. Not. Worth. It.
I felt exactly the same. I nailed the HTML and CSS and then JS completely threw me off track and made me think I was never going to get my head around this stuff. Then I decided that I totally can do it, because it is something that I am very passionate about and I can do anything that I put my mind to. We all can.
I went back and redid my JS, and for every challenge, I researched that topic online first and wrote notes down (which always helps me to retain new information) before trying to do the code for that challenge. This new way had me completing the tasks at my first try. I could do it, and I am still doing it, and now I love it again.
Anyway, if you are not passionate enough about something to want to make it work, then it’s not going to work for you. Do what your heart is telling you to do.
If coding is something that you really want to do, don’t stop! Motivation from this community is free and very important to most of us. We are all in the same boat, or at least have been at some stage during our coding journey, so use us. Lean on us and ask us for help when you feel like you have hit a brick wall. We’ll smash that brick wall down for you no trouble
