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Comment by andrewzah | Hacker News Reader

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andrewzah

That's like most hobbies/careers.

People want to learn the guitar|piano|violin, until they realize the amount of work it takes.

People want to get fit and jacked, until they realize the amount of work it takes.

People want to be a lawyer/doctor/engineer, until they realize the amount of work it takes.

Or they realize that they just don't really like it.

Programming isn't any different. One needs a particular mindset, and a level of patience to deal with debugging. It's not for everyone, and that's fine.

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E'ybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but don't nobody want to lift no heavy-ass weights.

https://youtu.be/4UlgXIL0-3g?t=10

I know it's a pithy saying, but is it true? People tend to report the actual lifting of the weights as pretty pleasurable. It's the whole supporting lifestyle grind of consistently making it to the gym, only and always eating food whose ingredients you have weighed, etc. where you lose most people.

It's a pithy saying. It's basically shorthand for: "nobody wants to put in the work and adjust their lifestyle to achieve that goal of being ripped". But I wouldn't say doing 3x or 5x sets of lifting heavy weights ever is "fun"- you just get used to it.

> People tend to report the actual lifting of the weights as pretty pleasurable.

well yeah, those are the people who are actually lifting the weights. the rest of us get sorted into the "don't want to lift no" category

> People tend to report the actual lifting of the weights as pretty pleasurable

Slightly NSFW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xZQ0YZ7ls4

As part of the right routine and exercises, lifting weights can be very pleasant. Personally, I love doing a good set of dumbbell rows.

What keeps me (and I think a lot of people) from getting ripped is the sheer consistency needed. Doing anything that isn't strictly necessary for 1-2 hours 5-6 days per week every week for years is extremely difficult imo. I get knocked off course very easily, sometimes for months at a time, and I have yet to find a solution for this.

Only caveat is, and this is where I feel bad, if the person hasn't learned something new in a very long time, they forget what it feels like to change, or even become convinced that they can't. It can be hard to convince someone that no, you don't need to have aptitude or be any good at it after a few days, weeks, even months. You just need to keep doing it. As long as the goal is realistic, you'll succeed. Whether you are more or less "talented" than someone else affects the timeline (a little) but you are going to the same place (again, realistic goals).

Applies to learning foreign languages too. I've spoken to many people that want to "learn Spanish" without having a clue that it's a huge grind to get to basic competency.

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