I saw something on Hacker News yesterday and I still haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Saying you shouldn’t learn to code is silly. It’s one of the most empowering skills anyone can learn. Being able to make an idea come alive is simply amazing. There’s really no better feeling than creating something from scratch and SEE it working. Even better, know that you’ve made it after hours of hard work.

It doesn’t matter how you start learning to code. If you’re curious go to CodeAcademy; you have nothing to lose except for maybe a few hours. Guess what happens if you find out you don’t like to code? Nothing. Guess what happens if you find out you enjoy it? You pursue other methods of broadening your learning experience.

Are you going to be the most amazing developer on your first few months? No. Probably won’t be amazing until a few year’s time. But guess what? It doesn’t matter. As long as you keep pursuing it, your skills only get better. Don’t be afraid of looking like an “idiot” at first. Every “ninja”/”wizard” was at your position once. Hell, I’ve been coding since I was 13 and I still find myself asking questions and learning new things every day.

As most people would tell you, communication is one of the most important aspects of running a company. No matter what size company you’re running, being able to communicate properly with your clients is key. As it turns out, however, I have come to find out I am terrible at communication. I can’t count the amount of complaints Craig has had on the matter. It’s not that I wasn’t working on the projects, it’s just that I didn’t know how to properly communicate.

As a developer, how are you really supposed to communicate with your clients? Just tell them that you’re working on their projects? Send them a list of Git commits that you’ve made?

Unfortunately, just letting them know that you are working doesn’t really work – you can easily bullshit about getting things done. Git commits are great, except for the fact that most clients don’t really know what Git is – much less how to read commits.

Lately however, I’ve started doing just 2 things that have seen tremendous results with my clients:

I’m now using Basecamp

I’m sure you’ve heard at least something about Basecamp before, but if you haven’t, Basecamp is basically the most awesome project management tool you’ll find online. Easy to use, fast, and only has the features you really need. The reason it’s helped me so much is simple – it allows all of my clients to see exactly what’s pending and what’s being worked on right now. It also offers a really nice way to keep in touch. Again, if they want updates, it’s all there for them to see. It’s like email, but you don’t have to worry about the annoyances of email.

Likely, Most Likely and Worst Case Scenarios

As it turns out, a lot can go wrong along the way of timelines. After all, how are you supposed to guess the things that can go wrong along the way of a project? So by giving 3 dates that you can realistically target, you should be good, even if things go wrong along the way. This allows you to work a better without feeling the constraint of running out of time.

…that’s it.

Believe it or not, I’m no longer getting complaints. I’m also able to get more done knowing that everyone is on the same page. But I’m sure there are at least a million other things you can do to better yourself when it comes to communication. What did you do to better your communication skills? I’m actually curious. Email me, I’d love to chat.

I think it’s safe to say that one of the best feelings in the universe is the feeling of achieving an accomplishment. There’s truly nothing more exciting than knowing you were able to achieve a goal, purchase something you really wanted or finishing something that needed to be done. It’s important to not get caught up in that state of mind for too long though. You always have to keep progressing and keep pushing yourself to new limits. Materialistic or not, it’s super important to keep progressing. You get a lot more accomplished when you’re going for new things every day – even if you don’t realize it.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be happy for what you already have. But always strive for something more. Don’t stop. Got a $50k check for a project? Spectacular. Tomorrow morning wake up trying to get $75k. Forget the fact you got the $50k; it’s already there.

Try it out. Tomorrow morning when you wake up, act as if nothing has been accomplished.