Everything is trash!
I secretly have a philosophy that everything is trash until proven innocent.
I was no exception to this philosophy, I sucked and didn’t know it.
I remember when I first got into web design. I was looking for a way to make money with my art degree and a friend told me about making websites for clients with WordPress.
I thought it was a great idea and it seemed like something I could pick up easily.
Boy was I wrong.
I sucked and was trash. I was able to navigate the dashboard but the templates I used seemed to limit what I could do. I felt like I had no control over the design (this was way before popular web builders).
I just couldn’t get the design the way I wanted for my client.
I complained and was frustrated.
Yet from frustration I thought the best idea to have control over my design was to learn how to code. (If I knew what I know now lol)
I thought to myself if you won’t give me control then I will learn how websites works and build my own from scratch. (I’m a bit extreme sometimes).
Little did I know I would learn how to do something more than just coding, I was learning how to solve problems.
Which leads me into the topic for today.
I had an itch (problem) and I wanted to fix it. I wanted to have more control over the design of my website. The best route I thought at the time was to learn how to code.
This drive and motivation to fix your own problem guides you to looking for solutions you didn’t know existed
I have no regret learning how to code because it literally changed my life and the way I think, but the point is, coding helped me to solve my own problem.
Why you should solve your own problems
So why is this important?
Well have you ever had anything that bothered you and just pissed you off. Anger is a result of something out of order and if something is out of order, and doesn’t work, then there is no peace.
So what does this mean for you? Your job now now is to create that peace.
When you face a problem first hand you…
- Know the problem intimately
- Are a direct user
- Know exactly what could make it better
For example, I like to study languages, and even though I use duolingo religiously, I wanted a way to study vocabulary with flashcards.
Anki didn’t have a mobile app and I couldn’t study specific words I had trouble with.
So thanks to my previous experience of learning how to code, I built this little app to help with my spanish.
It was great because I knew exactly what I wanted, what it was missing, and how I could make it better for myself.
All because I was an end user and wanted to improve my experience. User experience is everything to me, and should be to you too (more on that later).
Now I have a custom made product I can use anywhere. It has what I need, and I know others can benefit from it too.
I scratched my own itch and solved my own problem and you can too.
How to solve your own problems
You know your problems better than anyone else, but finding a solution can be hard when you don’t know where to start.
Remember when I said learning to code taught me much more than just coding? It helped me learn how to solve problems. (which is a skill in itself).
With coding you will face many problems and have to figure out what’s the cause and how to fix it.
Along the way I’ve picked up a few things that have helped me face those challenges and find solutions.
1) Develop A Grit Mindset
I know not another mindset rant, but here me out.
A grit mindset is having the ability and attitude to not give up no matter what. No matter how long it takes.
The problem with problems is they’re hard. They push our buttons and drain our energy mentally and physically.
Yet that’s when you have to keep pushing.
It’s having a competitor’s mindset telling yourself “they’re not going to win or beat you”.
It’s a form of self motivation and belief that you CAN do this.
Problems don’t have to be solved in a day but if you can step away and give your mind a rest, then a solution can and will come.
The beautiful thing about the mind is even if you consciously take a break, if you have a desire to figure it out, your subconscious is still at work for you.
I’ve had ideas come to me while I was about to go to sleep and had to write it down for the next day.
So build your grit up.
2) Ask Questions
My favorite quote is
“the solution is in the question”.
Another way to put it is
“if you ask then you shall receive”.
My favorite thing to do is ask questions. Questions help you to think and give you new perspectives. Asking the right questions will lead to solutions you never knew existed.
Please, I deal with this on a daily basis frankly because I think people are lazy, but we have an amazing resource that gives us access to almost anything we are looking for…
Google.
Whenever you have a problem, before you go to someone, stop and think about questions about the source of the problem. The more time you spending thinking is how you build your mental capability.
Then with those questions you can ask google. A few quick searches can lead to the answer you were looking for.
Doing this helped me to be self-reliant on figuring out my own problems. I didn’t have a senior developer I could go to ask for help so I had to dig deep and learn for myself how to find the answer.
I like to learn things on my own and it taught me how to do research which I think we’ve lost the ability to do. Which leads me to my next point.
3) Research
Learn how to be a research investigator.
One quick search won’t always do but sometimes you have to dive deep into a matter. You have to look at multiple resources and see how others have approached the problem.
I believe this will help you to form your own conclusion.
One thing I like to do is I create mini courses.
For example, I wanted to learn how to shuffle an array randomly. I went on youtube and typed in “how to shuffle an array”.
Then with the top videos that came up I created a list and watched each one to see which would be the best method to try and made sense.
I even looked into articles and blog posts because I didn’t find the right solution from the video.
I do this all the time when I need to figure something out or learn something new.
Sometimes you have to put in the work with the research. This will separate you from the rest because no one is willing to do the work.
Trust me you become better because that ground work produces results.
4) Test, Test, and Test Again
And finally, the only way you know if something works is to try it out. You have to put the new information you just learned into practice.
Sometimes it won’t work with the first solution you used, but if you have that grit mindset then you are going to keep trying and looking until you solve your problem.
This is how I’ve learned to scratch my own itch and solve my own problems.
The beautiful thing about all this is you can build a business around it.
If you think about it, that’s all a business is, solving a problem that the market has.
And like I mentioned before, if you are a part of that market then you are a direct user and know exactly what could be improved.
So if something pisses you off and you want to improve it, or you want to learn something new, do some research, find the solution and make it yourself.
Well that’s it for this letter,
Thanks for reading
P.S. Do you want to see another problem I solved for myself? I wanted to design landing pages faster so I made this Elementor Template to speed up my process. But It’s more than just a template but a guide to getting started with web design and no code.