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Tech is not magic. It’s skill building. And skill building takes time!

I’ve watched too many people enter tech with silent expectations they never say out loud. You start a course in January and in your mind you’ve already calculated that by June you’ll be earning in dollars. You even start mentally drafting your “Finally resigned!” post.

Then month five comes. You’re still debugging basic errors. You’ve sent out applications and nobody has replied. Now you’re wondering if tech is oversaturated or if you’re just not smart enough.

Please breathe.
Tech is not magic. It’s skill building. And skill building takes time.
Nobody really prepares beginners for the awkward middle stage. That stage where you understand small small things but you still can’t confidently build something from scratch. You can follow a tutorial perfectly, but once the instructor stops talking, you freeze. That stage frustrates a lot of people.

And life is not happening in isolation.
You’re working a 9 to 5.
You’re running a small business.
You’re sharing a laptop with a sibling.
Your internet is unstable.
NEPA decides to humble you at the wrong time.

Meanwhile, someone online is tweeting, “I learned tech in four months.”
What they didn’t mention is that they were learning full time, had a mentor reviewing their code daily, maybe even had a background in something related.

Different starting points. Different realities.

For many beginners who are consistent but also living real life, six to twelve months to become solid enough for entry level roles is normal. Sometimes more. And that is not failure. That is growth.

Another thing we don’t talk about enough is this: watching tutorials feels productive, but it can become a comfort zone. You can spend months “learning” without ever building something messy on your own. The first time you try to build alone and it doesn’t work, that’s when real learning begins. That frustration you feel? That’s not a sign to quit. That’s a sign you’re stretching.

And please, let’s address this gently.

If you’re thinking of quitting your job because you want to “focus fully on tech,” pause. Your income is funding your journey. It pays for data, for better tools, for courses, for certifications, for peace of mind. Stability helps you learn better.

Pressure can sometimes slow you down.

Consistency is more powerful than random bursts of motivation. Two focused hours every day for months will beat one weekend of excitement followed by silence.

There is no hidden shortcut. No secret Telegram group where the real formula is hiding. There is skill acquisition. There is patience. There is positioning yourself properly. There is reading job descriptions early so you understand what the market actually wants instead of learning blindly.

If you stay long enough, if you keep improving deliberately, if you build real projects and keep applying even when it feels uncomfortable, you will break in.

But give yourself permission to grow at a human pace.

If this sounds like something you’ve been thinking quietly, share it. Somebody out there needs to hear that they are not behind.

And if you want more conversations like this, follow me, I talk about topics that beginners deserve to hear.

Iniobong Udoh II
Founder, Tech Skills Hack
Tech Clarity Coach

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