There are two simple steps to making progress when you’re learning a new skill like coding. Keep in mind that I said ‘simple’ and not easy.

The first step is to decide on the skill that you want to master, and the second is to demonstrate it. Sounds straightforward enough, doesn’t it?

So, why don’t we do it?

The answer is fear. We’re afraid. We’re are scared that it’s not going to be good enough, or that people will judge us, or that people will make fun of us, or that it will be good, or that it will suck and we will be exposed. We worry, and we put it off. We doubt ourselves.

We fear the feedback that we might get or the reaction; worst yet, the silence that follows when nobody gives a crap. So we delay, and we hesitate, hoping that the fear will go away. But it doesn’t. Because there is only one way to make the fear go away.

Do it!!

Share your work. Push the button. Publish your site. Demo your app. Commit your code. Bare yourself.

That is how you get over the fear. It’s simple, but it’s not easy.

You might wonder how I can be so sure that it’s fear and why I speak on it? Well I know because I’ve felt the same fear when it’s time for me to publish an article. And it’s a recognizable feeling. You can learn to spot it as soon as it comes.

It’s the same feeling that I used to have before turning the faucet when I had committed to taking cold showers in the winter. It’s the feeling that I had before I asked my high school crush to the prom and she laughed in my face. And that was the worst thing that I thought would happen and it did. But I didn’t die (trust me at that moment I wanted to).

Step through it

The fastest way to progress beyond your doubt is to step through your fears and share your work. The reason is that once you do, you will realize that only two things can come from that. People will either give you reactions (silence is one of them by the way) or other input which you can use to grow.

More importantly, you will realize that feedback will not kill you. Not even the negative ones. But they might help you to improve or encourage you, or point you in the right direction. And if you take that and move boldly in the direction of your goals, you will soon discover that this is the shortest path to gaining confidence in your new-found skills.