I Tried to Become a Coder — Here's Why I Chose Digital Marketing for beginners Instead
It was not a my plan at all
I never wanted to be a coder.
Not even close.
My plan was embarrassingly simple — finish school, get into a BBA program, figure out the rest later. I was that guy who thought life would just… fall into place somehow. Then 2021 hit. Lockdown. Jobs disappeared. Families struggled. And my “simple plan” suddenly had a giant crack running through it. A teacher pulled me aside one day and said something that changed everything.
“There’s a government course — Bachelor of Vocational in Software Development. Three years. Low fees. Real skills. You should try it.” I didn’t have a burning passion for computers. I didn’t have a dream of building apps or cracking Google interviews. I just had a confused 18-year-old brain and a family counting on me to make something of myself. So I said yes. And something unexpected happened — I actually started enjoying it. When a concept clicked in theory class, something lit up inside me. I was scoring 70 to 80 percent consistently. Teachers noticed. I felt good.
I thought — maybe I found my thing.
But then the practical labs opened.
And that feeling disappeared fast.
I Could Understand It — But I Couldn't Build Anything With It
Here’s the thing about coding that nobody tells you.
Understanding it and actually doing it — are two completely different things. In theory class, I was fine. When the teacher explained how a program works, how logic flows, how one line connects to the next — I got it. I nodded along. I took notes. I felt confident. Then I sat in front of a blank screen. And my mind went completely empty. “What do I build? Where do I even start?” The cursor just blinked at me. Waiting. Judging. My college labs didn’t help much either. The practical sessions were outdated — we were learning things that the industry had already moved past. Half the time, our batch wasn’t even in the classroom. We were outside, laughing, killing time, pretending it didn’t matter. But deep down — it did matter to me. So in my 4th semester, I did something that actually changed things. I stopped waiting for college to teach me and started teaching myself. YouTube. Google. Late nights. Slowly, basic code started making sense. But here’s what I realized during those late nights — I wasn’t excited about building software. I was excited about building something of my own. And that realization — that small, quiet thought — is what led me to digital marketing.
It Wasn't About Coding Being Hard — It Was About My Dream
Let me be honest with you.
I didn’t leave coding because it was too difficult. I left because it wasn’t taking me where I wanted to go. See, ever since I stepped into college, one thought never left my mind — I want my own business. Not a 9 to 5. Not someone else’s dream. Mine. A restaurant. My family’s taxi business — taken online, made bigger, made better. Maybe an e-commerce store someday. I didn’t have it all figured out. But the dream was always there, sitting quietly in the back of my head. And one day it hit me — If I want to build a business, I need to know how to promote it. And if I have to hire someone to do that — why not just learn it myself? That was it. That was the moment.
Not a YouTube video. Not a mentor’s advice. Just a simple, logical thought that changed everything.
Digital marketing wasn’t a backup plan for me. It wasn’t “coding didn’t work so let me try this.” It was the missing piece I didn’t know I was looking for. The best part? Unlike staring at a blank code editor — when I started learning digital marketing, things actually started making sense from day one. SEO, content, social media, ads — it connected to real life. It connected to people. It connected to business.
And for the first time, I wasn’t just studying.
I was preparing.
4:30 AM, 12-Hour Shifts, and Still Learning Every Night
Let me paint you a picture of my typical day.
4:30 AM — alarm goes off. No snooze. No “five more minutes.” I get up, get ready, and by 6:00 AM I am at my security guard post in Dubai.
From 6:30 to 7:30 AM — I study. Phone in hand, stealing every quiet minute before the shift gets busy. Then 8:00 AM hits. Work starts for real. Twelve hours of standing, watching, being present — while my mind is quietly planning, thinking, dreaming.
Evening. 6:40 or 7:00 PM — shift ends. I go home.
Do I rest? Not yet.
40 minutes of exercise. Then food. Then 8:30 PM — laptop opens. And I study again until 9:45 PM.
Then I sleep. And do it all over again tomorrow. Some days are harder than others. Yesterday I was so exhausted I skipped. The day before too. There are nights where every part of me just wants to shut down.
But here’s what I keep coming back to — I left Amritsar where the best I could find was a 10,000 to 15,000 rupee job with no real future. I came to a city I had never seen before, took a job I had never done before — because I believed something bigger was waiting for me on the other side of this struggle. So on the hard nights, when the laptop feels heavy and my eyes are tired — I open it anyway. Because giving up was never part of the plan.
Can I Teach Myself Digital Marketing as a Beginner? Yes — Here's Proof
This is the question I get asked the most. And my answer is always the same — yes, absolutely. But let me show you what that actually looks like. Because “teaching yourself” sounds romantic. It sounds like those motivational videos where someone drinks coffee, opens laptop, and becomes successful in a montage. Real self-learning looks different. It looks like studying on your phone during a security shift in Dubai. It looks like choosing a mentor when you finally get serious — because wasting time on the wrong things costs more than money. It looks like building a website from scratch, writing your first blog post, figuring out SEO one confusing term at a time.
It is messy. It is slow. It is frustrating. But it is possible.
Here is what actually helps as a beginner —
Start with one skill. Not everything at once. SEO, content, social media, ads — pick one and go deep before moving to the next.
Use AI as your learning partner. ChatGPT, Claude — these tools can explain anything in simple language. Ask questions like you are talking to a friend.
Document your journey. Write about what you are learning. It forces you to understand it better and builds your personal brand at the same time.
Find a mentor. Someone who has already walked the path. It cuts your learning curve in half.
You do not need a degree. You do not need a fancy course. You need consistency, the right resources, and a reason strong enough to keep going on the hard days.
I am a security guard in Dubai learning digital marketing at 8:30 PM every night.
If I can do it — so can you.
I'm Not Writing This for You — I'm Writing This for Myself
I want to be honest about something.
This blog — this whole website — is not me pretending to be an expert.
I am not a digital marketing guru. I am not someone who has cracked the code and is now here to teach you from a place of success. I am someone who is figuring it out. Every single day. One lesson at a time.
I started this because I had a dream that was bigger than my current situation.
A restaurant someday. My family’s taxi business in Amritsar — taken online, made visible, made better. Maybe an e-commerce store. Maybe something I haven’t even thought of yet.
And I realized — if I want to build those things, I need to learn how to market them. So I am learning. Publicly. Honestly. With no filter.
Some days I am consistent. Some days I skip. Some days Dubai feels very far from where I want to be.
But I keep coming back.
And if there is one thing I would say — not to you, but to myself, to the version of me that is still building, still struggling, still figuring it out —
Keep going. Rukawatein aayengi. Thakega bhi. Karne ka mann nahi karega bhi. But karta reh. Ek din zaroor achieve hoga jo tune socha hai.
No one is coming to save you. No one is going to hand you the life you want.
But if you show up — even on the hard days, even when you are exhausted, even when it feels pointless —
You will get there.
I really believe that.
And I am betting everything on it.