If you’re feeling perplexed, take heart. Finding your optimal cardio workout might seem like a complicated project, but

… is the slogan of an old Apple campaign, and while I completely agree that anyone can learn the basics of programming, I ask myself, can everyone achieve a career in software development? Definitely not, although the profession is rising in popularity and there are more jobs continuously being created the field is still limited and many people don’t have the aptitude for spending long lonely (and sometimes frustrating) hours in front of a computer, in short not everyone should code.,Let’s start by saying that if I still was nineteen I would no doubt attend university to study computer science, especially in my country Italy where education is cheap, the easiest way to get into the industry is definitely by getting a degree with a couple of internships under your belt.,I have no expertise in psychology and the best advice I have if you are in a dark place is to seek professional help, but I know what it feels to be lost and I want to help anyone that shares my same dream by writing this article offering actionable advice on how to achieve a career in software development.,Learning how to code is a remarkably long and difficult process, it requires you to assimilate a completely different way of thinking and spend countless hours trying to understand difficult topics or debugging applications that aren’t working correctly.,Fortunately, I ended up absolutely loving my job and all the people I got to know thanks to it, it was actually one of my colleagues that introduced me to coding and got me interested in it. Since then I never looked back, I started dabbling with programming and I soon realized I wanted that to be my career, I incredibly enjoy the challenge and the intellectual stimulation that it can provide and I think everyone should try and see if they feel the same about it.,I have spent several years trying to understand what I wanted to do as an adult and failing miserably at it, I spent a semester studying in Medical school when I realized I didn’t care at all about being a doctor, I attended three years of Engineering courses but I disliked the subjects of my major and in the end I decided I didn’t want to continue with it.,By now, you know that cardio workouts are excellent for improving your overall health and fitness, but with so many options, you can be forgiven for being confused about the best approach. Runners swear their activity is best, while cyclists, swimmers, and triathletes all make similar claims. Even the title of fittest athlete is up for grabs, with triathletes, CrossFit competitors, Nordic skiers, and more all vying. The options for cardio training are nearly endless: circuit training, the one-minute workout, high-intensity interval training, spin bikes, and treadmill routines, to name just a few.,I was very lucky to receive a job offer while I was still studying and I immediately decided to take a chance and go for it, I had never really worked full time at the time so I wanted to challenge my fears of not being able to succeed in a professional environment.,It took a lot of courage (and argumentations to convince my parents) to leave my university after three years of studies to accept a job in a Lisbon without knowing anyone nor the language but it was a wonderful experience that helped me find myself. Again it took even more grit and determination to leave Lisbon and start studying again, but I did it because I knew my dream was to become a programmer.,Go elsewhere if you see this as a get rich quick opportunity, without genuinely enjoying writing software you will never get far enough to get a job, being committed for so long without seeing any tangible result and having no external obligation requires a lot of motivation and dedication that not everyone can replicate.,The answer is of course yes, if you browse the internet is not uncommon to run into stories of people changing their career even in their forties or dropping their education to pursue self-study and land the job they always hoped for, the latter is basically what happened to me, but is it the best way to pursue this career?,What would Kevin tell her? He would probably tell her to just pick a name and go test out her e-shop — because nobody knows how or when or why her e-shop will or will not work.,A number of reporters and columnists these days are “going indie,” detaching from their previous employer and signing up with a site like Substack, Patreon or Medium to get paid for their writing by their readers. The motivations are usually blends of seeking freedom (to write at their own cadence and on whatever they want to cover) and the accelerating austerity at media companies from ad supported business models collapsing. Friends of mine like tech journalist Casey Newton have recently made this transition (he left Vox to launch Platformer) so I’ve gotten a bit of insider perspectives on the ambitions and economics of these launches.,Mistrust the so-called experts or gurus that promise you an easy program for learning programming followed by easily finding a six figures salary, that is a complete lie and if someone presents you with this tale you should assume they don’t have your best interest at heart.,Often people forget how difficult it was when they were just beginners, coding can become easy when you have put enough hours into it, but don’t make the mistake to assume that you are not cut for it just because it’s taking you a long time to understand recursion, every person has to learn at their own pace.