What Peloton Instructors Taught Me About Being a Dev
Tags: webdev, beginners, community, motivation
Published: 2022-11-22 20:23:05

I got my Peloton bike two years ago, for my 38th birthday. My 40th birthday is right around the corner, and I'm about to hit 400 rides! I would have done a lot more by now if it hadn't been for a skiing accident that kept me off the bike for almost 6 months, but I'm not dwelling on that now! In fact, I would say my Peloton rides have played a crucial role in my recovery from that accident, both physically and mentally.  

If you've taken a Peloton class, you know the factor that sets it apart from a standard exercise bike is the instructors. They are incredible people - they represent a hugely diverse set of experiences, cultures, and ideas. I've gotten a huge amount of inspiration from them, and I've grown more as an athlete and a person than I ever expected from a home fitness program!

I've also learned some things about being a developer, believe it or not. A few words of wisdom for devs, from Peloton instructors:

##This is what it feels like to get stronger!
My favorite Peloton instructor, Emma Lovewell, sometimes shouts this out right in the middle of the hardest part of a workout. It's not an uncommon idea, but what really makes it connect for me is the timing - right in the thick of things, when I'm really uncomfortable, kind of desperate, and feeling like I might cry, quit, or explode, she's there to remind me that THIS - this moment, this feeling - is the moment when growth happens. 

Discomfort isn't fun, but it's definitely part of the game for devs. We tend to spend a lot of our work lives right on the edge of what's familiar and comfortable, which means we tilt into discomfort and struggle A LOT. I didn't sign up for this career because I liked being uncomfortable, and there are definitely plenty of times where it feels like too much. Crying, quitting, and exploding all seem like real possibilities. I don't usually shout to myself at my desk, but maybe I should! I love the growth - what I did sign up for was learning. And THIS is what it feels like.

##We practice for progress!
I'm not winning any Peloton leaderboards, let's be honest. Sometimes, I manage to be the top woman "Here Now", and I celebrate any time I crack the top 20% overall. I work hard, and I get really excited about beating my own PRs, but my partner is an ultra-runner who regularly cracks the top 5% of riders, so even in my own house, I'm not going to be winning any races.

But as Ally Love reassures me, we practice for progress, not perfection. That's true for writing code, too. If you ever struggle with impostor syndrome, remember that there's no such thing as perfect code, and no developer who knows everything. All of us - every single one - are moving forward one step at a time, starting wherever we stopped the day before. Nobody has reached some absolute standard of perfection for software developers, because it doesn't exist. You can't get there. You can keep growing and moving closer to _your_ goal, improving over where you were yesterday. The only thing you need to do is just keep practicing.

##Think SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic & Timely.
Robyn Arzón is known for making some big, bold pronouncements - I have at least one friend who thinks she's really a little too much, but she'd be the first one to say she doesn't need everyone to love her. I love her, and all the reminders to polish my crown and remember who I am make me feel like a queen. But I think the best advice she has to offer is about goal-setting. This is a woman who is a lawyer, the child of immigrants, a T1D patient, an ultra-marathoner, and a Peloton VP - she knows goals.

Whether you're talking about fitness or your coding projects, the same advice applies to your goals - make them SMART goals and you will have a much better chance of achieving them. Generic goals like "get more fit" or "get better at CSS" are not going to magically come true. You need a plan, and you need to know if you're making progress so you can keep yourself motivated. "Go to kickboxing class Tuesday and Thursday at 5PM" is a SMART goal that will meaningfully contribute to your fitness. "Spend two hours every Sunday on my CSS class" is a SMART goal that will _result_ in "getting better" at CSS. SMART goals are practical tools to help you make progress towards a better version of yourself. 

##Make modifications, not excuses.
This one is from Alex Toussaint - is the prescribed set of exercises not working for you today? That's okay, but it's not a reason to give up. Another quote from AT - "We don't have the luxury to quit." Sometimes, I get to a point in a workout where I am really struggling to keep up, and this is a reminder to just keep moving. Keep moving while you figure out what is going to work for you, and you won't lose ground. Make the progress you can make today.

This advice actually reminds me of something I heard from [Rachel Lee Nabors](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelnabors/), of the web comic Rachel the Great, and a developer educator for React and now AWS. I interviewed with Rachel for a position at AWS, and they focused a lot on one anecdote I shared about a project that had not gone very well. I was frustrated, because I wanted to talk about my successes, and felt like we were getting bogged down in talking about a project I wished I could forget! Then, a few weeks later, I saw a post they shared on LinkedIn - the first paragraph made that interview make a lot more sense:

```
You're rarely going to be set up for success at a job. The only people who are supposed to be set up for success are interns and juniors. After that, your effectiveness is measured by how well you pivot or deliver despite the odds when things are less than ideal.
```
Got it. This multi-talented, driven, and generous person was trying to find out how I handled it when I was _not_ set up for success. Was I going to make modifications or was I going to make excuses? It's not that they didn't want to hear about my successes, it's that they wanted to know that I was going to continue to evolve and pivot so I could continue to deliver _more_ success even when things were not going my way. Because that's what it takes - we don't have the luxury to quit if we want to keep moving forward.

##If cauliflower can be pizza, you can be anything you want.
Cody Rigsby is the comedian of Peloton, and not known to hold back on his opinions or hide his light under a bushel. He speaks to a lot of people who are not "typical" athletes, and reminds us to love ourselves with "our whole ass, none of this half-assed" business. Cauliflower pizza is not for everyone, and you may not be to everyone's taste either. But if you want to be an athlete or a web developer or a public speaker or a Disney superfan, it is absolutely within your power and rights to be that. 

Another Ally Love quote that goes along with this might ring truer to you - "Don't compare your Chapter One with someone else's Chapter Six." You are where you are today, but that doesn't limit where you can go tomorrow. If you want to learn something, you can. If you want to do a new kind of work, you can. Your path there won't be the same as anyone else's, but if you set some SMART goals that line up with that vision, you can get there. If you want to know how people got to Chapter Six, ask them to tell you _their_ Chapter One. Chances are, they started out as the developer equivalent of cauliflower.

##Don't rely on compliments for confidence.
Oof, right? I'm a sucker for compliments. But I also know that I'm going to get more confidence by reflecting on my own progress than from any external validation. Christine D'Ercole is a pretty remarkable person, and has spoken openly about escaping an unhealthy marriage and poverty. Relying on others to provide her self-worth was never going to work, and her stories of discovering her strength and investing in herself are inspiring. For me, and for her, athletic achievement is a big source of confidence. 

Sometimes, when it comes to my work as a developer, though, I have a harder time remembering this idea. I work independently most of the time, and I don't usually get much feedback along the way. Now and then, a compliment from a client will get passed back to me, and I'm not ashamed to say I LOVE those moments! But I can't rely on it, because most of the time, there just isn't anyone else around to see what I'm doing, and when there is, they're usually preoccupied with their own challenges and needs. That's probably true for most of us, even on larger teams. We're all heads-down, plugging away on our own work, and compliments are few and far between. It's not because people don't appreciate your work or admire your strengths - they're just busy.  Don't take it personally, but invest in figuring out how to build your own confidence, because you're not going to be able to rely on anyone else.

##Hand on your back.
At the same time, you're not alone. D'Ercole is a competitive Master's division cyclist, teaches a series of classes based on big climbs from real rides. During these classes, in middle of a really tough effort, she'll sometimes say "Hand on your back."

It's taken from the way cyclists on a group ride support each other. Usually, the group will ride together on the flats, but when you get to the uphill, riders split up as each person digs into their own personal struggle. It's a time when you rely on the voice in your own head to keep you going, but sometimes, right when you need it most, you'll feel someone's hand on your back. 

That gentle push probably doesn't do much to actually get you further up the hill, but the knowledge that someone else is coming up behind you, looking out for you, watching your progress - that is powerful stuff.

Know that's true on your journey as a developer, too. People may not be coming out of the woodwork with compliments, but they are there, watching you, admiring your effort, seeing your progress, and ready to put a hand on your back when you need it. 

So keep pedaling, one foot in front of the other, stronger every day. Together, we go far.