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078 How Do I Win The Comparison Game? How Do I Get Better? · DevQuestions with Tim Corey

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Dev Questions Podcast with Tim Corey.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Join us each episode as we tackle the questions you are asking about a career in software development, understanding the industry, and new technology.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you're just starting out or you want to grow stronger as a developer, this is the place to get your questions answered.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's your host, expert developer and online educator, Tim Corey.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: How do I win the comparison game?
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: How do I get better as a software developer, especially compared to others?
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's the question for today's dev questions.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: I want to take us on uh today because I think this is a great topic to really get into the reflection moment.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: You see, today is actually Thanksgiving in the US.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: And on Thanksgiving, it's a time for us in the US to think through all the things we're thankful for and to look back over time and say, hey, you know what?
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: We've got a lot to be thankful for.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so this is a great topic to look at in an idea of reflection, looking back over your career.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about how do I win the comparison game?
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: So the first step is going to be stop comparing yourself to others.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Really, don't do that.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: That's a trap that does not have a positive win in it.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: The first reason why is because you're gonna be looking at others and their strengths.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: So you look at others and say, Man, that person's really great at this, and I'm not.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so you're comparing yourself to their strengths, and then the second half of that is you're comparing their strengths to your weaknesses.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: So if you look at, let's just say, um, I don't know, their ability to talk to SQL Server.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: And man, you know, they're really great at using entity framework and Dapper and APIs, even.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: And you're looking at that because you're seeing them maybe present on that, or you're reading their blog post, or they're just talking about it at conference or in the break room, and they're talking about what they did in that topic.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they're talking about something that they had success in, you're seeing their successes, and yet what you're doing is you're looking at that and comparing that to the fact that you're not having success in that area, and so you're comparing their strengths to your weaknesses, which means you're always going to lose the comparison game.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Don't compare yourself with others.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, there's always gonna be someone better than you, okay?
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: It does not matter how much you study in software development, there will always be someone who's better than you, at least in an area or two.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, you just can't learn everything.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: My goodness, I don't know half of C sharp, it feels like, because there's just so much to know.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: I really haven't touched machine learning.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: I've seen it, I've toyed with it.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know what?
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: There's a whole side of C sharp on a machine learning.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: There's a ton with mole development, game development with Unity.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's uh entity framework.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: I don't touch that very much.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: So there's tons of things where I'm very weak, okay, and there's someone better than me in those fields.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so there's always gonna be someone better than you.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then, but the other thing to think through is no one was born knowing C sharp.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so when you're comparing yourself to somebody else, and you find, hey, they're better than I am.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Guess what?
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: They weren't always, they started not knowing that topic at all.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: So you are better than they were at one point in their life.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: So no one was born knowing C sharp or whatever language or piece you're talking about.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: So they had to learn it.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: So instead of doing that comparison, instead of dragging yourself down, making yourself feel bad, and looking at others and saying, hey, I wish I was like them, but I'm just not.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, instead of doing that, here's how you can win the comparison game.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: Here's how you can be a better developer and feel like it as well.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so number one, I want you to create a training list.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Write down here are the things that I want to learn.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Try and break them down into smaller topics rather than just say, I want to learn C sharp step one.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's a little bit broad.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: Try to break down learning C sharp into multiple steps.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, now this is where courses, uh, learning paths, uh those kind of things will really help you and may even create that training list for you.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: For example, the foundation C sharp series.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's going to be a step-by-step guide in how to learn C sharp from very start all the way up through getting a job.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's a step-by-step guide.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that means you don't have to set up your own training schedule, you can just follow the one that was set up in the course.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so courses, uh, guides, uh, those kind of things, they help you take that step-by-step.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: But if you don't have that, or if it's not right for you, then set up your own step-by-step guide for what you want to learn.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so that's step number one is create that training list.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: Number two, you need to schedule time.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: Start thinking through how many hours a week I gotta study.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: Am I gonna do it twice a week for an hour each time?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Am I gonna do every every weekday night for 45 minutes?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what's that time gonna look like?
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: Set that schedule, put it on your calendar.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then number three, I want you to practice on that schedule, and then after three months, I want you to evaluate yourself.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: And here's where comparison comes in because comparison is important, but I want you after three months of having a training list, scheduling your training time, and following that schedule.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: After three months, I want you to compare yourself to where you were three months ago.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, look at your training list, look at the things you've checked off, and look at the things that you've learned that you didn't know three months ago.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: So that comparison now puts you in the positive light.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: It shows you that you right now are the superior developer to the developer that you were three months ago.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: That is going to help you improve because you're gonna see success, you're gonna see that win every time you look back.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: Because every time you look back, you're gonna look back and say, I'm better than I was.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: And by being better than you were, you will realize you've made progress.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: Again, no one was born knowing this, so everyone has to go through this progress list.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: And yes, you may go through slower than somebody else.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Doesn't matter.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: What matters is that you are consistently making progress and being better.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: If you think you're not fast enough, you can sit around and whine about it, or you can just work at it, work on getting better, but compare yourself to where you were three months ago, and then step four, repeat.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, make sure you go back to the top of the list, look and see what you crossed off, make sure there's enough stuff on the list, keep that training schedule going, keep practicing, come back three months later and compare yourself to where you were today, and look and see how much further you are along.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: That process will help launch you forward.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: It may feel like, man, I'm just not making any progress, but once you look back after three months and see, I checked off 12 things that I've learned.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's a big deal.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's 12 things you didn't know last time.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: And now you know what?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: Do it again and again.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: Because then you can look back in six months and say, I checked off 24 things, and after a year, you can look back and say, I checked off 50 things that I've learned this year.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's huge.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: If you had just said, man, I can't do this, man, I'm not good enough, oh, I wish that I could be good enough.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: You won't have gotten anywhere after a year, okay?
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: But if you consistently make effort, you will see yourself succeed, and you'll look back three months, six months, nine months, a year from now, you'll look back at where you were and say, Man, I have improved, I have grown as a developer.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so like I said, in the US, we're celebrating Thanksgiving, and it's time to reflect on what we're thankful for.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: But that reflection can help you see just how blessed you are and it can make you value what you have rather than just wish for what you don't have.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: I want you to do the same thing or something similar with software development.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: Look back at how far you've come as a developer to help you see just how much progress you're making.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: That can fuel you to make even more progress.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: Instead of being discouraged by what others can do, you're gonna be encouraged by how much better you are today than you were three months ago.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: Let that drive you.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: So thanks for listening to this Thanksgiving episode of DevQuestions.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: If you have a question about being a developer, check out the archive on the podcast as well as on YouTube to see if maybe I've already answered the question.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: And if not, go ahead and ask that question.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: All right, have a great day.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: And as always, I am Tim Corey.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us for this episode of Dev Questions.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Tim is committed to making it easier for you to become a developer.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: If you would like to help make more content like this possible, please like, subscribe, rate, and share Dev Questions.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: You can also send your questions to questions at IamTimcorey.com.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember, you are too smart and your time too valuable to waste it making all the mistakes Tim did.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: When you're ready to learn to think and code like a professional developer, head over to imtimcorey.com and enroll in a course.