Is not because programming is hard.

Or because there are too many technologies out there or because you don’t have enough experience.

Understanding that being good at software development is about discipline and not really about coding per se, frameworks or “on-paper” experience, that is hard.

For many of you, this is not relevant, unless you are ready to get to the next level as a software developer. Whether it is because you simply want to be better, more confident or you want to make more money.

But, I know many of you are ambitious developers who are looking to get to the next level. If that’s the case, make sure you fix these mistakes before is too late:

1) Lack of focus - the capital sin of ambitious developers. Jumping around online courses, tutorials and unfinished side projects. Doing 90% of things, 90% of the time.

Unfortunately, starting does not mean achieving, expertise comes with focus and consistency.

2) Weak fundamentals - particularly important for self-taught developers. Distracted by shiny technologies, they are more worried about learning the latest framework than the boring things that pay off (like HTTP or the debugger).

Nevertheless, boring is sexy in programming.

3) A narrow view of software development - this is mainly because at their job, developers get exposed to one part of the software. Maybe it is the frontend or the backend, they live in their little bubble with limited understanding of the software lifecycle.

If you’d like me to coach you to help you go from coder to engineer with a step-by-step action-wise plan, get on a 45 minutes call and let’s chat.

4) No direction in their career - the root of all evil. Too many developers think that at some point things will click. They have no strategic goals or understanding of where they should go, so they jump from job to job chasing 5% salary increases instead of disrupting a certain domain.

5) Bad Habits - when it comes to code and life It can be writing tests, documenting, taking care of that Jira board or even stop overdoing the snacks in the office. Habits make the difference between average and extraordinary.

6) Insecurities & poor self-esteem - a consequence of the mentioned about, many coders are full of self-doubt. This is why they ultimately negotiate poorly and end up undervalued and underpaid.

7) Stuck in the “Coder” Mindset - most programmers never leave behind the “coder” mindset, they live in a box where everything is about the code. Expert programmers have a multidimensional view of software development, a mature one.

8) No professional image - yes, I know Google engineers walking around with a hoodie. Assume you are not those people. You are a professional first and a programmer second, check your image and your manners.

9) Complacency - the final but probably the cause of all evils that software developers. Even though software developers have an image of always learning and improving, when you go beyond the noise, things are a bit different.

Programmers are resistant to change, and that resistance translates to complacency.

Sometimes to achieve better results, you don’t have to do more, you have to do less.

If you want to make a career out of this coding thing, if you want the flexibility and financial freedom that comes with being great at writing software, you better stop doing these capital mistakes now.

Now let’s be honest: reading a simple article about things you might do wrong and going about your day won’t really bring you the results you want.

If you truly want to escape the “developer rat-race”, to gain extreme confidence in your skills and to get the recognition and pay you to deserve as a software developer, then click on the link below.

Get in contact with me or someone in my team. We will schedule a Zoom call, where together with you we will build a step-by-step plan to get you to the “promised land” of software developers.

The only thing you need to do is click on the link below and apply on our website.

Click here to apply now!

Dragos Nedelcu - Expert Software Coach at CodeWithDragos

Looking forward to talking to you.

Dragos Nedelcu

Expert Software Coach at CodeWithDragos