Many people ask me, "I want to do web design, how should I start?" or "If I want to develop web applications, what technologies should I learn?" Of course, the easiest way is to recommend a stack of books or dozens of articles about 55 techniques that can outperform competitors by 115%. But in reality, if you want to start doing something, you don't need to learn new knowledge first. The most important thing for you is to take action immediately.
Take action and start doing it. If you want to learn web design, then go make a website. If you want to be an entrepreneur and sell your products online, then go build an e-commerce application. Perhaps you currently don't have the necessary development skills, but why worry about these? Maybe you don't even know exactly what skills you lack.
Start with what you can do. If you want to do something on the web, don't worry about needing to learn HTML, CSS, Ruby, PHP, SQL, etc. They are necessary for completing a final product, but you don't need them at the beginning. You can simulate physical models of your ideas in Keynote or PowerPoint. Use boxes to represent form fields, label them with explanations, and connect pages with lines. You can create a very robust user interface interaction prototype using your existing software knowledge. Have no computer knowledge at all? Then use your pencil, paper, and sticky notes. Draw screen layouts, stick them on the wall, and try out various interface flows.
Perhaps you don't even know what skills you need, so don't worry about these things. Start with what you already know. You can do a lot with sketches or slides. You can see your ideas visualized, allowing you to evaluate whether it's truly valuable. At this point, you can move on to the next step and learn some HTML to implement your prototype in the browser. Here, you should maximize the knowledge and tools you already possess to do the best job possible.
Prevent lack of confidence
Often, the reason we can't start doing something and achieve nothing is due to a lack of technology, resources, and tools. But what truly stops us is self-criticism and making excuses. In the excellent book *Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain*, author Betty Edwards discusses why children like to write and draw when they're young, but most stop developing this ability during adolescence.
"Based on the drawing skills of many adults, entering adolescence marks a sudden halt in the development of artistic abilities. As children, they face an artistic crisis, facing the increasingly complex awareness of the world around them and the conflict with their own artistic skill levels."
Children's self-critical awareness gradually increases. They may enjoy drawing, but when they realize they can't draw well, they completely give up drawing.
This feeling persists into adulthood. We think about designing a website or developing an application, and if our resources and tools don't meet our predetermined requirements and standards, we will never start. Even though the internet shows us countless great works, talented individuals, and excellent processes as examples, it doesn't help. People easily compare themselves to the best and discover various inadequacies and shortcomings, but never consider that no one is born with these skills. If they didn't start from the beginning, they would never reach this point.
Do it - without testing
Successful people find ways to keep going despite doubts and dissatisfaction. The artist Vincent van Gogh only became an artist in the last ten years of his life. We all recognize him because of his great artistic works, but he wasn't a master from the start. Compare the two paintings provided in *Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain*: one is from his early period, and the other is from two years later:
Vincent van Gogh, *The Carpenter*, 1880
and *Woman Mourning*, 1882
He was not a prodigy (he started painting at 27), and he honed his skills through hard work. If he had succumbed to his doubts and despair when he realized his technical level couldn't match Paul Gauguin's, he might have abandoned his future.
All of this is to say one thing: there are many things that could have succeeded but failed because we didn't do them. If you abandon pursuing your dreams due to thinking you're not good enough, lacking skills, knowledge, and experience, it's a waste. In fact, problems within tasks serve as motivation and encouragement. They give you great challenges and great rewards. Why bother repeatedly doing things you've done a hundred times? You won't learn anything new from them. Stop worrying about what you need to know to complete a task; you already have everything you need to start doing it.