No one warned me that learning to code would bring up so much... self-doubt.
Sure, I expected the hard concepts. The long hours. The Google rabbit holes.
But I didn’t expect to question if I even belonged in this industry.
“Am I smart enough?”
“Who am I to call myself a developer?”
“I’m too late. Too old. Too different.”
These voices hit hard—especially for veterans. We’re trained to execute missions. To move with confidence. But in tech? We start at square one.
And that can shake you to your core.
Why Self-Doubt Shows Up in Tech (Especially for Veterans)
- You’re surrounded by people who seem “born” for this
- You come from a different world (military → code)
- You’re learning something totally foreign
- You want to prove yourself fast
It’s not weakness. It’s growth pain. And it’s common.
How I Fought Back Against the Doubt
🛠️ 1. I Treated Learning Like Training
Instead of chasing mastery, I chased daily improvement.
I gave myself missions:
- Learn one new tool
- Fix one bug
- Commit code, no matter how small
That built confidence through reps—not results.
🧠 2. I Reframed the Voice
When I heard, “You’re not good enough,” I countered with:
“You didn’t know how to fire a howitzer until you trained. Same here.”
Remind yourself: you’ve learned hard things before. This is no different.
👥 3. I Talked to Other Self-Taught Devs
Hearing others say, “Yeah, I felt the same way” made a huge difference.
Whether in Discord groups, forums, or LinkedIn DMs—it reminded me I wasn’t alone.
📓 4. I Logged My Progress
I kept a dev journal.
Every week, I wrote:
- What I learned
- What I built
- What I struggled with
- What I overcame
Over time, I could see my growth in my own words.
Final Thoughts
Self-doubt isn’t a sign you’re not ready—it’s a sign you care.
It shows you're outside your comfort zone. That’s where all the growth lives.
So when the inner battle starts, remember:
You’ve fought tougher battles before. And you won.
Stick with me at jameshenderson.online—where resilience meets recursion, and courage becomes code.