1. Play with all the things

Play with the sample code in your tutorial, don’t just read it. Install the development tools you need, type in your code and run it to see what happens. Actually take the time to type and understand each line, don’t copy and paste. Run the code examples even if it seems obvious so you’ll understand and retain the knowledge better. Make changes to the sample code and predict the result, then and run the modified code and see if you got it right.

2. Break code down to make it easier to understand

When you’re looking at sample code and it seems lengthy or complex, just break it down and understand one piece at a time. Focus on a few statements at a time and try to run a small section to see what happens. It’s good to test and experiment, even if you get error messages you’re learning something.

3. To test your skills, pick a simple project and give it a deadline

When thinking of a project to put your shiny new programming skills to use, you may be tempted to come up with a grand vision. Maybe you like games and want to make something like World of Warcraft, Borderlands, or Assassins Creed. I love your ambition but even an experienced developer would be overwhelmed. Start with something simple like Breakout or Snake. Make a task list for the requirements, rules, and logic you want to have your first version and give yourself a deadline to complete the work. Test your program as you complete each task and celebrate the victories.

Bonus Tip: When code gets frustrating, sleep on it

Programming can get frustrating when you expect the code to work a certain way but you get incorrect results or an error. Sometimes you may feel like you can’t get the code to work right no matter what you do. When all else fails, give it time or sleep on it.

I’ve been programming for many years and occasionally get stuck like this. If I’m not moving forward for more than 15 minutes and start to feel frustrated, I take a break and come back after a few hours or the next day. Whatever approach I was trying before will be out of mind so when I start to working on the code again my assumptions are gone and I’ll easily figure out what was wrong.

James Altucher recently mentioned that “the average multi-millionaire, according to tax data, has at least 7 different sources of income.”

I’m currently earning income from 4 sources, give or take. For the first part of 2014 I had 5 sources – a full time IT job in addition to the list below. My goal for 2015 and beyond is to build new income streams from on software & information products. Here’s my list:

• Salary from my software consultancy which makes money on
  • Software development
  • Web design projects
  • Retainer services
  • Software licensing fees
• Rental property
• Savings, Investments, and Dividends

Here’s what my net worth trends looks like in Mint over the past few years. Can you tell when I started working on additional income streams?

I don’t like how flat the curve is for the first half. That’s the sad reality of having only one income stream. You’ll have to do more to truly grow your wealth.

Even after negotiating raises that doubled my salary, I made little progress towards financial freedom. It’s better to invest in creating new value and income streams for yourself instead of someone who is already rich! James agrees with an insightful comment “With industry being outsourced and knowledge being outsourced, the best investment is in yourself.”

What income streams do you want to build for yourself in 2015?

But then I wondered, “How did it get so high, I’m no millionaire!”

First I want to clear up some misconceptions about credit. I hear people say over and over again that they don’t pay their credit card balances in full because they need to “build” their credit. This is 100% wrong.

For my entire credit history, I have paid my card balances off in full every month, so I never pay any interest or late fees. The only time to carry a balance is when your card offers 0% interest for some amount of time. You must pay it off in full before the promotional rate expires.

So without “building” credit by carrying a balance how did my score get so high?

1. Get a low limit card as soon as you are legally able to
I started with a $500 credit limit. I took the first “pre-approved” offer that I got in the mail as soon as I turned 18. Perks and interest rates weren’t important, I just wanted a card with no annual fee so I could start establishing some payment history.

2. Establish a Payment History
Use that low-limit card for your gas or meals. Pretend it’s a debit card so you aren’t spending more than you’ll be able to pay at the end of the month. I typically spent $100 to $200 a month and paid it off in full each time.

This should lead to a credit limit increase

3. Get a couple more cards with useful perks, but continue to use them in a limited fashion.
You want to keep your ratio of used credit to available credit low. So if you have $10,000 worth of credit available to you try not to charge more than $500 to $1000 per month, even if you could pay more.

This will help you maintain financial discipline and avoid impluse buys that add no real value to your life.

Assuming you started with a blank credit history your score will be in the low 700s within 12 to 18 months of getting your first card. With a score like this you’ll be offered the best interest rates on loans and mortgages.

To get to 800+ you need a larger credit portfolio and lots more time. Most of this will happen naturally as you progress through your career and life.

How I got my Dream Job, Twice!
Dream Job 1 started as an IT Help Desk position that I molded into the stuff of dreams. Within 4 years, I more than doubled my base salary from 32k to 68k per year. On top of that, I negotiated a yearly bonus to be awarded upon completion of a special IT projects of my choosing. With the bonus my cash compensation totaled 75k per year, a 134% increase over my starting salary. Icing on the cake: I earned the trust to work from home 2 days each week.

Dream Job 2 is the one I carved out for myself by starting a business. Many thanks to Ramit Sethi and his Earn 1k course for helping motivate me and give me the right guidance. I did so well that Ramit flew me to New York for an interview and case study.

In fact, I was able to quit Dream Job 1 after juggling both for a year. Now I work from home 5 days a week and finally have time for side project, or so I’d like to think

Why Your GPA Doesn’t Matter as Much as You Think
After spending some time in the real world I’ve learned that no one really cares about my college years. When I applied for my first job, I was still a college student. Funny story, I applied for a library job but ended up talking about my computer skills during the interview. It went so well that I was asked to apply for an IT support job that had just closed the day before.

I was told that a bachelor’s degree and a high GPA would be critical to my future success but I was already starting to see that social skills were just as important, if not more so. Interviewing well didn’t just get me a job – it got me a better job than I was looking for. They opened the job again specifically for me and sure, they asked for a transcript but at at this point it was basically just a formality.

This was my first glimpse of the informal job market. It turns out that the most sought-after jobs are filled this way. Tim Ferris talks about it more here: http://fourhourworkweek.com/2011/09/29/8-steps-to-getting-what-you-want-without-formal-credentials/

College is About Making Connections and Finding Inspiration.
These things often go hand in hand. Furthering your education is great, but you don’t need college for that anymore. I was so passionate about all the possibilities of computer programming and the internet that I was always a few steps ahead of my courses.

The course that had the biggest impact on my life certainly sharpened my coding skills but that didn’t change things for me. What changed things a professor that stood out to me as a mentor.

The book teaches you how habits form and describes ways to build new habits and replace old ones by reprogramming our habit loops. This sounds like a ton of fun to me. The first part of the process involves examining your current habits to look for cues and triggers that start a routine. The hack is to figure out what your keystone habits are and to modify their routines into those that help you win at life. Throughout life I’ve learned dozens of power habits without even realizing it. How much potential I can unleash with a deliberate and systematic approach?

The Challenge

To kick off 2015, I’m challenging myself to build up a new power habit – writing great material and sharing it with others regularly. To build the habit, it’s important to have a cue that triggers a routine, followed by a reward. Blogging seems to take a ton of willpower for me so I’m starting with baby steps. The small wins will build up into bigger ones.

Hacking a Habit Loop

After working a typical 9 to 5 job, I already daily built a habit of checking my email and rewarding myself with some leisure reading or web surfing. Most days, checking email leads to writing something, so I’ll replace the email check with a trip to my blog. And then I’ll write at least 250 words and push the publish button (the hardest part for me) before I indulge my knowledge sponge with the latest headlines on Hacker News.

So, what habits would you like to develop in 2015? I read every reply.

Update:
Get out of a slump by building a keystone habit.