I think private message would be better 
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Thanks for your input! You guys make me believe that I can do this if I keep trying. ^^
I can be such person out of sheer laziness, I like clear instructions that I can follow. But I can also take initiative myself just fine, it’s slightly harder but it can also be fun.
I have A LOT of time now - no job, no pets, no kids and no social life in a “physical world” since all of my friends live abroad and I just dedicate 1-2 hours a day to answer their messages. I’m 29. With my fragile princess body that constantly gives me trouble it’s hard to tell how long I will live… But that’s a big reason why tiring physical jobs were ruining me before and why I need a job where I mostly sit at the desk and then go exercise intensely for a short time (like an hour instead of 8 hours of constant exhaustion at physical work).
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Oh, I know the drill very well! Alright, guess I’ll answer you privately but a bit later cause now it’s time to study and if I start talking about these topics I can go on for hours on end.
Short answer: no.
Short answer: for years I constantly saw magic everywhere and then I learned a bunch of things in science and psychology and realized that it was all in my brain, trying to bring me comfort and illusion of order in this world.
I’m not overly passionate about programming. When I started building web projects, I had a similar situation where I was working retail customer service and was looking for a career path out of it. But passion wasn’t it. It was the drive to keep getting more skilled with programming which got me where I was. Drive is much more powerful force than passion because, to have drive, that motivation has to be so deeply ingrained in your psyche that it’s part of your subconscious.
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True… Your site looks nice. ^^
My “career” is a mixture of a lot of things, math, sciences, IT.
One of the most important findings for me was the experience, that any field can be shitty.
E.g. I work part-time as a IT generalist, after some years in some straight-forward software engineering roles. But software engineering was too boring for me. In my current role, I do: solve problems, develop software, write doc, talk to customers, optimize the company, research new opportunities for new products etc. And outside of this job, I do my mentoring and volunteering work etc.
I think having all eggs in one basket is problematic, especially if your life (e.g. earning money to survive) depends on it. Too often, employers uses this against you, knowing that you depend on this job/money.
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Yea, I do expect that… Trying different professions is like immigrating to different countries: no place out there is perfect so it’s all about deciding which set of issues you’re most willing to put up with. :'D
For most of my life I was forced to be a musician and work as a singer in a band. However, I’m very introverted, overly-sensitive person who hates noise, lights and crowds and spends most of my time in silence. I never wanted to do any of this.
Then I also had some retail jobs where you do the exact same thing over and over again forever so there’s no feeling of progression. You don’t have time and energy to learn new things, there’s never a project that you can start, finish and be proud of it in the end.
Yea, I have A LOT of experience with that… 
Lil update: after 3 months of struggle and falling asleep a lot, I’m starting to get a bit interested in this and thinking about things I could make is actually starting to be fun.
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Glad you’re starting to have fun with it. If you’re not I would say don’t go down this path. I spent 7 years in college and law school and much $$$, passed the bar got a job as a lawyer because it paid well. And I was miserable. I always wondered how is the website I’m looking at work. Due to unforeseen circumstances in my life I had the time and opportunity to learn just that. I became hooked, and just wanted to learn more and more, because I loved it. My point being the axiom “do something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” is true. Earning a living is important, but how you do that is important also for your happiness.
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What’s funny is that many people in this thread say the opposite - turning passion into work would be a mistake. I guess it varies with each case and from person to person. It seems like I’m not interested in creating websites or how they work but instead I can get sucked into the process of figuring out how to make things work and how to make them look good. So the enjoyable aspect is problem solving in a general sense + some artsy fun. 
Nice to see you not giving up.
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I’m glad you are starting to like it. In my case, I ended up studying computer science because I couldn’t get what I really wanted, which was mechanical engineering. But, I thought the job was very fun, the day went by fast and I liked it. Now I’m not working because of personal circumstances and I find that I love it.
When I was reading about all your experiences, I was thinking maybe you should work on a book. Like write a book. It seems that you have a story to tell that touches lots of issues. I know that could be considered a hobby if you don’t sell, but, just a thought.
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I’m good at being an entertainer or at telling people interesting stories or making them laugh live but I am rather bad at writing as I use my words with precision when most people filter words through emotions and make a ton of wrong assumptions when I say something controversial (so most of the time). I’d have to take a writing class in order to start writing books because I just never understand how people will perceive the things I say in a way I put them. It’s a mystery to me that often ends up in massive shitstorms and I have to constantly defend myself from people’s wacky interpretations of my beliefs and intentions.
I have always been interested in computers, IT, technology, etc. I ran a small freelance IT consulting business for 10 years a while back. Most of the “mistake” of turning an interest into work was not related to the interest, but all the other stuff that came with running a business which didn’t directly deal with technology that irritated me. For others it might be a poor, toxic work environment at a company, not their area of interest.
Personally, I have an interest in, but not a “passion” for coding. A lot of people throw this word “passion” around when it comes to work or career path. What’s that even mean? that I jump out of bed like a child on Christmas morning everyday with this intense “passion” to answer 100 IT support calls? Nah. But do I enjoy technology, solving problems and helping people? Yes.
In that sense, I never feel like I have a “passion” for anything. There’s no consistent, overwhelming, burning desire, deep within my soul that drives me to do “xyz” or die trying! For me it’s more like, “hmm… what are my interests… hmm… yeah, OK, that seems interesting, I’ll try that out, if I enjoy it I’ll pursue it further, maybe it can lead to something. If I don’t enjoy it, I can always decide to do something else.”
I knew a little bit of programming before signing up here. But my motivation is not to not be a professional developer or work at any of the big tech giants (been there, done that; I hate working in large corporate environments). I feel that learning how to program would help keep my logical thinking and problem solving ability sharp, and better understand how software is created, put together, etc., so I can better understand and troubleshoot issues, and better communicate with other teams in a work situation.
This idea of “passion”… sure I guess some people feel passionate about what they do, and good for them. But I think more people simply have varying levels of interest in what they do, and then a vast majority of workers might have very low interest in what they do, but they do it to pay the bills.
Being successful at something is the result of applying discipline and perseverance; doing that thing even when you don’t really feel like doing it (as there will be times when that is the case).
Nobody enjoys or feels like doing a particular thing 100% of the time. Emotions, energy and motivation levels fluctuate. But having an interest helps a lot as motivation. I’d say, forget about “passion” and follow your interests. There’s some really dry, highly technical, boring details when studying IT or Comp Sci. Even within an area of interest, sometimes you just gotta get through the rough parts to get to the parts you enjoy.
I wouldn’t do something like learn coding due to external influences like just for the money or because someone else told me to, or because it’s the “hot field” or whatever. That will lead to misery down the road.
Two old quotes come to mind:
“Anything worth doing is going to be difficult” and “Anything worth having is worth working for”
But it has to be worth it to the individual doing it, and that’s a personal decision.
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I have trouble learning this in practice because for most of my life I relied on raw talents I was born with to carry me everywhere effortlessly. Now that I’m trying to do something I’m not just naturally good at, something that requires learning and practice, it’s suddenly very tough. BUT I am certainly doing much better now because I’ve been working on this issue for a while. 
Yea, here’s the thing about me - I do have this passion for some things that I’d gladly devote every minute of my day to. Some things I love learning about or discussing all day, every day my whole life. HOWEVER… it’s been suggested to me several times that I may have mild high-functioning autism which would explain why I have such fixated interests. I don’t know yet, I’ll hope to find out sometime this year with professional help. So I guess, it can be the case with SOME people out there but it’s not a norm.
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Yeah, I can definitely relate to that. I remember that throughout my primary and secondary schooling I always performed well (got A’s & B’s) with very minimal effort.
At times, I’ve experienced that when I am used to things coming easy to me, and inevitably run into something that doesn’t come so easily and is more of a grind, I can panic or have anxiety, or even get depressed and start to question myself and doubt my abilities.
I find with things that don’t come natural to me, the more determined I am to understand and figure it out, and the more time I put into it, gradually it becomes easier.
Doing something difficult without having an interest or passion for it does take a lot of time and mental energy. But each time a concept finally clicks and a light goes on, it’s a tiny success… a little dopamine hit… “yay, I figured it out… I get it now!” which can help with the motivation to keep going. It’s these tiny little successes along the way that add up to overall success.
So getting back to your original post “good reasons to learn coding but no passion”…
If you go to college and higher education, at some point you might have to take a course that isn’t necessarily interesting and may even be difficult for you, such as some particular prerequisite course. Students often have to take courses that aren’t directly related to their major or that they won’t even use daily or directly after they graduate but are required for the major.
Perhaps learning to code could be more of a life lesson, not just about the ability to code. Rather, learning to code being used as a tool to show yourself that you can tackle and overcome something that is difficult, even if you don’t particularly have a deep passion or raw talent for it, and it doesn’t come easily or naturally to you.
Kind of like a personal challenge to yourself. There might be some value in that as far as personal growth whether or not you do anything coding related in the future. Besides, there’s no rush here to learn anything.
It sounds to me like you are very aware of who you are and aware of your strengths and weaknesses. That’s a cool and valuable thing.
At least FCC is totally free so there’s no need to waste thousands of dollars taking a traditional college course only to realize that coding for a living is not one’s “cup of tea”.
I’m typically good at math & science, but I find certain coding concepts difficult to grasp.
I’m also glad they have a forums feature on this site so we can see that we aren’t alone in our struggle. We can give and receive help, support, and encouragement to each other and don’t have to go it entirely alone.
I guess I am trying to encourage you to stick with it for a while before giving up. I think that you have the ability and can learn this if you decide to put in the time and effort required. You sound like an intelligent, thoughtful person. 
Best wishes to you in finding the right path!
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Thank you for a thoughtful and inspiring answer. It’s exactly what I needed today and hopefully someone else who may need it too will stumble upon it later. ^^ Lots of paragraphs where I thought: “relatable” or “trueee”.
(and by “lots” I mean “all of it”)
So right now things are going much better with CSS altho there’s still so much to learn there, holy crap. Now… I decided to keep learning it till the end of this month and then start JavaScript in June and THAT is terrifying because I’ve heard that this is where 80% of people quit cuz learning curve skyrockets. I feel like I’ve been doing better with this whole coding thing and also improved my mental state recently and now I’m gonna have a whole new mountain to concur so wish me luck. x_x
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I, too, escaped from retail by becoming a programmer.
I have always been passionate about tech. Was I passionate about coding from day one? I’m not sure. Probably not. I am now, though.
But I was passionate about learning. And that, imo, is the best part of being a developer - you spend every day learning. There’s always new things to try, new toys to play with, and new stuff to learn.
I also think that many people find their “passion projects”, or coding projects that keep them coming back to this. I know a few folks in this thread who are working on some - my passion project at the moment is my Discord bot. The initial learning process can feel intimidating, overwhelming, and less fun. However, once you reach the point where you can build things and start exploring different options, you might find something that really sparks that engagement.
It sounds like you’ve overcome a lot - I am sorry to hear you have faced such struggles, but proud of how far you have come. Keep up the great work, you’ve got this.
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Hi,
I’ve been skimming through the comments because there are a lot of them. I have probably overlooked some important part of the discussion so sorry about that.
First remark: I think you are taking good decisions and I wish to support your efforts. I also have a few things to say to bring nuance the above remark.
Some jobs can be learned, done and even enjoyed with and without passion. A cook, receptionist, secretary, cleaner … don’t need burning passion to get the job done. But there are good cooks of course and cleaners that specialize in certain fields.
The thing is, learning to code takes a lot of time and effort. It takes a lot of commitment before you start earning any money with it.
You strike me as overwhelmed by what happens around you. Extreme people, extreme ideas and reactions that you try to deal with by trying to understand what is going on.
Not everybody tries to understand, you do.
This ties in with my impression that you like rational clarity. I like clear instructions too, it’s one of the reasons I like to code so much. There’s no ambiguity. And I can do it without anyone pushing me. My own initiative gets me where I want to be.
If I combine the two, the need not to be overwhelmed by other people’s irrational ideas and reactions, the need for clarity, the available time… Coding can be for you.
I also get the impression that you are an intuitive kind of person, I can’t really say why, probably because you are interested in a wide variety of things that all have something in common, the way you see connections between them.
By the way,
I had that impression from the start.
Well, everything takes time. Coding and writing take time to learn. I’d keep writing in the back of my head if I were you.
The thing is, people have been telling me to write my whole life. ‘Karin, why don’t you write a novel’. Deep sigh. I don’t like it! And I have mental issues too and they’re probably tied up in my non-desire to write and maybe I should…
And passion did happen for me. After I had written code for ten minutes I fell in love and I have kept chosing code. I do agree that that is not the sure path to a job, a career and a stable life. For that one needs your practical mindset as well. Absolutely. It can’t all be about passion, life just isn’t like that.
Intuitives are often bridges, they are not one or the other but stand in between and see connections that others are blind to.
I suggest that you continue to code and take that writing course.
You could form some bridge between coders and people that write stuff. I don’t know what. Technical documentation, articles for non-technical people, learning material for schools, SF novels that uses your knowledge of code… (Isaac Asimov was a scientist and a writer).
For example, I myself am a teacher. I see lots of bad didactic software and lots of teachers that have no clue what it takes to write an app. I’m not in need of a job but if I would be I’d start writing to all publishers of school books and to software companies that make didactic software. I could be a bridge, someone who understands both sides of the story.
JS is not going to be easy. JS can be all or a part of what you’re going to be about. Maybe I’m a pessimist but one usually gets less than what one asks. So don’t aim too low. Aim high enough that you get a decent job. Use everything that you are not bad at and improve it. Try it out. Coding, writing…
But don’t do what I tend to do, which is jumping from one subject to another, all wonderful and fascinating. Learn to do something well enough.
I have had such pupils. All that talent and they don’t use it. Such a waste. Your grounded knowledge of self may be your biggest talent.
Greets,
Karin
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Thank you for a thoughtful response. There were some relatable and insightful things in there. ^^
Since programming is already such a huge new thing for me, I’d rather not start learning another new skill like writing. I’d rather focus on my artistic talents which were nurtured in me since I was young - easier and faster solution at times when I can’t afford to use more of my time than absolutely necessary. Illustration, digital drawing and maybe photography could be useful additions to front-end skills. Otherwise I thought of working with my voice to make some extra money until I get a coding job, I have a good mic for it.