Grit, marketing, and coding

Learning to code takes grit, time, and perseverance. Ignore the rampant survivorship bias on Reddit and Youtube where people testify to learning the skill in weeks or months.

It might be possible to learn to code in a very short timeframe. I'm a big fan of Ultralearning and immersing yourself in a new skill. It's an awesome idea, but few of us can actually dedicate this much time to a topic. Not to mention focus and attention.

The most common question asked by new coders, “how long will it take me to learn to code?

To me, it's a rhetorical question. There is no answer worth offering because it depends on how much time you dedicate plus your ability to pick up the knowledge.

I am someone who believes in natural talents. When it comes to coding or technical topics, I have pretty much none. I failed Grade 10 Math so bad that my teacher told me it was the worst mark he'd ever given without removing the student from the class altogether. I let this narrative push me away from technical topics towards the arts.

Like many of you, I fell in love with digital marketing. I quickly found myself immersed in HTML and working in a CMS. Over the next 10 years, I became much more technical as I dove deeper into topics like SEO, marketing operations, and analytics. If you told my Grade 10 Math teacher I could write API calls to query web services, he'd probably wonder if you're talking about the same person.

In 2020 I started to formally teach myself to code, starting with JavaScript but moving into CSS and HTML. I was surprised that JavaScript wasn't just Math disguised as programming – JavaScript is wildly creative (to me) and, yes, very logical.

At the same time, I expected to learn enough to code to build my own web application within a year (I thought I was managing expectations). I'm not quite there but I am much further ahead, and it has everything to do with grit.

I believe coding is a subject anyone can learn and even master. Some of us have the background and/or skills to make this easy as pie; some of us (read: me), need grit and determination to learn this skill. And, that's OK.

Coding and grit

But wait, where have you heard this before? I am willing to bet as a marketer, you've tempered a few expectations about the results of this campaign or that campaign?

Great marketing unfolds over time, and results are often staggered from the date where we put in the effort. In other words, you've got plenty of experience with grit.

I want to unpack grit a little as it pertains to marketers learning to code. Here are six things I've learned about grit, marketing and coding.

• Coding requires interest
• Coding takes time
• Coding requires focus and attention
• Coding requires dedication
• Coding isn't always fun
• Coding doesn't require a formal education

Coding requires interest

If you're not interested in something, why learn it? Coding is no different with the exception many folks do so to get a job or switch careers. I'd argue if you're interested in the pay but not in the work, you're not going to be a very happy programmer.

Coding is a process. I used to think it was clean, easy, and fully complete code sprung from the developer's mind. Not so. In working with a coding mentor, I learned that even the best programmers are constantly banging his or her head against the wall. What separates the best programmers from the rest is an innate curiosity and interest in learning more.

Coding takes time

As an SEO, I've lost count of how many times I've told stakeholders that results take time. I've seen the effect of those results compound (and fuel my last company through two funding rounds), but it takes years. Uh-oh, I said a naughty word: years.

Learning to code takes years. Not weeks or months, but years.

If you're like me, then many of the concepts are challenging. Honestly, sometimes I need a nap or a good night's sleep for a concept to really sink in. Science backs this and your brain benefits immensely from well-planned breaks.

Coding requires focus and attention

One of my favourite books is Cal Newport's Deep Work . It touched a nerve with me because I've personally noticed that I've become increasingly attached to my phone. It's hard not to check it and get that hit of dopamine, at the expense of my focus and attention.

We pay a tax for these modern conveniences, and it comes due when we try to sit down and really focus. It can be surprisingly hard to resist cycling through your browser tabs to see all those little red notification icons.

Coding requires focus and attention in order to retain the knowledge. I found that taking hand-written notes was a game-changer for me. I talk about this in one of the first episodes of Humans of Martech, Handwriting makes better digital marketers. Your ability to retain knowledge hand-written is far, far better than any notes written on your computer.

Coding requires dedication

You're learning how to speak to a machine, and if you want to say more than “Hello World,” you're going to need to dedicate time to this.

It may sound funny but some of the purpose of this dedication is to give your brain time to really soak in these concepts. I struggled a lot with learning the various types of loops in JavaScript, yet I definitely did learn them. It took time and returning back to my learning station to really absorb it.

Part of the deduction is sitting down and struggling to learn a concept. Even when you feel like you're making zero progress, your brain is actually do some subtle things in the background. Each day you work at coding is another sleep and chance for your brain to internalize this knowledge.

In my opinion, a 30-minute daily session is worth far more than spending a 3.5 hours once a week on coding. You'll get far more benefit out of those short sessions precisely because your brain comes at the problem rested and has been given the chance to absorb knowledge.

Coding isn't always fun

Say it ain't so, learning to speak to machines isn't always fun? Sorry, it's not. And sometimes coding doesn't really feel like coding.

For example, setting up a domain, CMS, or your GitHub account – it's not what you think of when setting out to learn programming, but it's essential to acquiring these skills. It can be a bit frustrating diving into a rabbit hole when you want a simple solution.

And this isn't to mention testing your own code, meticulously looking for why this function or bit of code isn't firing correctly. The frustration is part of the process, and the best developers embrace the challenges of coding. It isn't always fun, but this isn't to discourage you but to manage expectations.

Coding doesn't require a formal education

In this day and age, we are blessed to be able to access almost unlimited knowledge. You can learn anything if you put your mind to it. For coding, you don't need to have a technical degree or formal education – your abilities are tested in the real world.

As someone who absolutely struggles with technical topics, I can tell you first-hand that coding is something anyone can learn. You can get good enough at it to land a job and make a great career out of coding.

So get rid of those hurtful narratives: you're totally capable of learning to code. It takes time, grit, focus, and dedication, but those are things you've got in ample supply already.

Grit is the difference maker

One of my favourite TED talks is from Angela lee Duckworth on the power of passion and perseverance. This should be an inspiring talk since it affirms a simple truth: you can do anything you put your mind, too. I'll leave you with her talk, which is totally worth the 10 mintues or so of your day.