Before you start something, you should think about why you want to do it. This may take a little time but writing out a pros and cons list is always good.

I recommend writing it out and then looking at it again in a week to see if what you wrote makes sense and still resonates with you.

One important thing to remember is you should not let money be your only motivation. You should do something you are genuinely interested in as this is what will continue to drive you to reach your goal.

When you decide what you want to do, research the topic to understand it fully. I talk about this in detail in the sections that follow.

This blog is has the following sections:

1. How to achieve your goal,
2. What’s required,
3. The costs involved, and
4. Conclusion.

Before I discuss these points in detail, you should realise that no amount of research will prepare you for all contingencies.

You have to be prepared for failure, frustration and be willing to reassess your reasons for your decision.

When you start your research, try to look for things that present a balanced and informed argument about it. There are alot articles and videos on the internet that are one sided and misguided. They sell you a dream and don’t tell you about the realities.

1. How to achieve your goal

Before you start to research what you want to do, make a high level plan. Map out the steps involved. When you do this, be realistic about the scope and time required.

This will change after you have completed your research as you will have more information about what’s required. Modify your plan accordingly.

Maintain a balanced life to preserve your health, sanity and inspiration. You should start small and work your way up. Trying to do too much straight away can be overwhelming and demoralising.

2.The cost

There are various costs that apply to the pursuit of your goal. These costs include:

• money,
• time,
• experience - Ie: projects, freelance work, internships, etc, and
• qualifications - Ie: a degree, bootcamp, masters, PhD, etc.

Look closely at these costs and understand:

• if you’re willing to make the sacrifice, and
• put in the time.

3.What’s required

Do you need a qualification?

You should first assess if a qualification is required for the type of work you want to do. This will help determine time and money is required to get into your desired field.

For example, you can start a career as a software engineer without any formal qualifications.

You can create your own path by:

• learning things online,
• reading books,
• creating a portfolio, and networking.

However, a qualification can help too as it verifies what you know and attending a university or bootcamp can give you job opportunities. Being taught in person and having a curriculum that’s curated by experts is also beneficial. It gives you a deeper understanding of complex concepts and teaches you important fundamentals.

If you want to become a data scientist, a formal qualification is most likely required. You can possibly get into the field without one and ultimately work your way up, but you would need to get into the right jobs, network with the right people and probably still need some basic qualification to get in.

I think a portfolio and experience can and will help, but I think a qualification is what is will help you the most when it comes to a field like data science.

How much do you need to study?

In terms of how much time you need to study depends on the type of studying you’re doing. It can vary dramatically based on whether you’re doing a university course, bootcamp or teaching yourself.

You have to consider different factors and customize your study time accordingly. Things to consider:

• is it part-time or full-time study?
• do you work?
• do you have a family?
• allow time for housework, exercise, relaxation, social life, etc.

Whatever you’re studying, I recommend avoiding burnout and making sure you look after yourself. Trying to achieve a lot in a small amount of time is often a recipe for disaster.

I can only speak to self-learning, as that’s my current situation. I’ve read articles and watched videos about it and the consensus is about 10-15 hours a week. If you can achieve more, that’s great but I wouldn’t exceed 40, especially at the start.

Spending lots of time on an intensive topic can be overwhelming, exhausting and frustrating. If you burn yourself out too quickly, you’ll want to give up. I have done this myself.

Good things come to those that wait. So you have to be patient and pace yourself. You can work your way up to putting more hours, and you’ll find that as you get more comfortable, things will flow quite naturally.

Also, it's more about results than time spent. The goal is to get things done efficiently. Afterall, we’re telling machines how to do things for us so we don’t have to. subsequently , it's counterintuitive to spend more time on something than required.

Again, I cannot stress the importance of taking time out for yourself. Having downtime and resting your brain helps stimulate your it and solve problems.

Routines are a good way of adding structure and helping you work toward your goal. It’s also good to modify or change your routine to increase its effectiveness and to stimulate your brain. If you go to gym, leg day does not always have to be on a Wednesday.

Tracking your progress gives you the following benefits:

• enables you to see your achievements and to reflect on them,
• it allows you to assess your plan and routine and determine if you need to make changes, and
• it lets you see where you are in your journey to your goal.

It’s good to have a robust method to track your progress but you don’t want it to be onerous. It is also good to check in your progress at least once a month for the reasons discussed above.

Your portfolio

Your portfolio is probably the most important thing you can do. YOur portfolio is your biggest asset, especially in the absence of a formal qualification or experience. It’s where you get to show people your skills.

It's a marketing tool that you need to use effectively. Spend as much time as you can curating it, making it look good and promoting it. Employers and clients will use it to assess if they want to hire you.

A personal site is the best way to centralise your work. Making a good professional site will showcase your skills and display your work ethic and methodologies.

Projects to put in your portfolio:

• work you have done for clients,
• personal projects - these should solve real world problems, and
• coding challenges - this can show your problem solving skills and your ability to organise your thoughts - employers, recruiters and clients may not look at this deeply but you if you’re applying for a technical role, some employers or recruiters may look at it.

Networking

Networking is an important way to promote yourself. Great ways to build a network are:
Use social media to promote your work. This can include projects you have started and finished, courses you are doing and books you are reading. Twitter and Linked in are great ways to do this. Reddit can be useful too.
Reach out to tech recruiters on Linked in or other job sites.

• join meetup groups - network with other developers and people in the field.
• use social media and meetup groups to network with other developers, tech recruiters and people who are associated with the field.
• write blogs and share them on social media and people in your network.

Other skills

There are other skills that are very important to develop. Many people refer to them as “soft skills” but I think they are just as important as your problem solving and coding skills.

Key skills:

• communication,
• organisation,
• knowing how to have oversight,
• clean and simple workflows,
• writing,
• public speaking,
• being able to articulate yourself,
• speaking in plain english and being able to simplify complex ideas and concepts,
• providing guidance,
• helping clients and others articulate their requirements.
• knowing how to be efficient and effective, -bbe collaborative,
• Be pleasant to work with,
• don't subscribe to or promote a culture of blame,
• learn about and promote self-care, and
• have a sense of humor.

4.Conclusion

What I have written here is based on my own research and insights. I have read a lot of articles, blogs and watched lots of videos about how to forge your own path and career. I have also used trial and error to see what works and I’m sure there will be plenty more.

With time, you can start to clearly assess the information you take in and see what is realistic and reasonable, not just objectively but also for your own circumstances.

I have over 20 years experience in the workforce. It includes, project management, analytics, governance, compliance and logistics.

I have learned a lot over the years and no matter what your experiences, you can research things for yourself and make informed decisions about what you should do and how you should do it.

You may not even realise it, but you already have a wealth of knowledge and experience which will innately help you connect the dots.