Curated by: Sergio A. Martínez
The start of a new year is a perfect time for reflection, self-improvement, and goal setting. For professionals in the software development industry, setting New Year’s resolutions can be an effective way to foster a growth mindset, taking on challenges and striving for targeted goals that can promote resilience and equip you with additional skills and knowledge to serve you well in your career. There are various approaches to building a growth mindset that can be applied when developing your New Year’s resolutions—identifying achievable objectives, breaking goals into smaller tasks, tracking your progress, and seeking feedback from mentors or peers will help ensure you achieve success, so the second month of the year begins, how are you seizing the opportunities the year presents to build up your growth mindset?
After all, it’s important to remember that nothing great is accomplished overnight, which is why setting realistic goals, focusing on the right skills, and cultivating a growth mindset are all essential for success within the software development industry. A growth mindset allows us to have faith in our abilities and strive towards our dreams (no matter how difficult or overwhelming they may seem) while keeping a healthy sense of balance and patience along the way. Because software development is constantly evolving, resolutions that involve honing existing skills or learning new ones will go far in terms of professional growth. With a positive attitude, realistic outlook, and dedication to a growth-oriented skill set, software developers can make 2023 their most successful year yet.
How are things going at Scio?
Aspiring software developers should keep a growth mindset in mind and use it to look back at their progress from last year. It’s normal to have moments of doubt or worry about failure, but having a growth mindset means pushing through and continuing to grow, even when things don’t work out as planned. Setting goals and making resolutions based on that mindset can be an effective way to learn new skills and further develop existing ones. For example, practicing coding in unfamiliar languages, participating in hackathons, or working through tutorials are all great ways to cultivate a growth mindset while expanding your knowledge base. Everyone has a different way of approaching and tackling these challenges, often with very specific goals in mind. That’s why we asked many of our developers at Scio how their year is going so far, what their resolutions look like right now, and what’s the approach to ensure that 2023 remains a year of growth and learning.
“It feels absolutely amazing to be able to look back at the start of January 2023 and see how much I’ve achieved with my programming resolutions this year”, reads one of the responses. “One of my original goals was to become more competent with React, and I am now knowledgeably able to develop complex web applications with JavaScript through it. Additionally, I was able to teach myself Python and use its extensive library of modules as well as integrate other libraries into some projects I’ve been involved in. This month gave me great confidence in my skills that will help me for many challenges to come.”
Here at Scio, we have talked before about the challenge and reward of a self-learning disposition, and how it has always been a core aspect of the programming culture; understanding the value of this type of experience is fundamental for an organization where a growth mindset guides everything we do. That also translates to learning at every level, regardless of your status or years of experience.
“After reflecting on the past year, I decided to take my New Year’s resolutions up a notch for 2023”, said another response from a Senior developer at Scio. “I’ve set myself the goal of becoming fluent in at least two more coding languages and to be able to troubleshoot any project that arises without issue. Additionally, I want to expand my reach online by further connecting with other developers all over the world, as well as honing my English writing and speaking skills, which always feel like they can improve. 2023 feels like a year that will be full of challenges, so I want to feel ready and raring to go.”
In other words, senior programmers may have all the technical skills they need in their field, but that doesn’t mean they should stop learning. Soft skills such as communication and collaboration, problem-solving strategies, working efficiently with difficult colleagues and customers, understanding how an organization works, and developing creative solutions – all these abilities are hugely beneficial and can take an experienced programmer to a whole new level of success. After all, as companies grow on a more international level, skills like leadership, communication, and the ability to build successful teams, it becomes more important than ever. So while it’s easy enough to coast by on technical skill alone, those who are serious about succeeding long term should genuinely invest in sharpening those non-technical abilities as well.
“As the year ended, I started reflecting on my New Year’s resolutions as a programmer. One of several achievable ones was to allocate at least an hour each day just for studying new coding languages and frameworks”, said one final answer to our question about challenges to tackle this year. “And so far, I have kept up with this resolution and it has been very rewarding – I now feel comfortable tackling any programming challenge with any language. The additional benefit is that I am starting to gain confidence in developing new software and tools we could use in the future. I knew that setting goals such as these would help me develop exponentially as a programmer – and so far, this has certainly been the case.”
Always look for opportunities to learn
It’s the start of a new year and the perfect opportunity to create good habits. For software developers, this means resolving to always seek ways to grow and improve. Developing software involves complex tasks, such as relying on research and intense problem-solving skills, so staying up-to-date on new technologies is key. By establishing a practice of routinely checking out new tutorials, and conferences and finding more holistic approaches to development tasks, you can create an objective feedback loop that helps identify weak spots in your knowledge.
Whether it be learning a new programming language, understanding database optimization better, or spending more time on code reviews, making new year’s resolutions can help developers focus on important goals that will keep them up-to-date on the latest development trends and technologies. Setting achievable goals also gives developers an additional sense of accomplishment when they can check them off their list. Moreover, taking the initiative to grow throughout the year helps developers remain ahead of the curve in a constantly growing field, which ultimately benefits both their current employers and future prospects. Ultimately, New Year’s resolutions can be a great starting point for a successful 2023.