Get a soldering practice kit. If you're doing surface mount, get a SMD one. For next level practice, checkout azonenberg's rework challenge: https://github.com/azonenberg/reworkctf. He also has some YouTube video about it.

If you live near a makerspace / hackerspace, I would definitely recommend doing projects there. Mine has a weekly electronics projects and repair night with free access. This has two main benefits:

1. Access to a bunch of different equipment without breaking the bank. Want to try out a bunch of different kinds of flux? See what kind of de-soldering tools are good for different tasks? Now you can!

2. Access to expertise and moral support. Trying to do everything by yourself is no fun. A YouTube video can be helpful but it's no substitute for a knowledgeable friend or more experienced mentor.

I recently did an RTC battery substitution on my Framework laptop's mainboard, and I could do it with confidence because I had good tools and people to consult at my makerspace.

Here’s a great series from Pace Electronics from 1980:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL926EC0F1F93C1837&si=srD8...

I have not found a modern resource that explains it better.

For me, as there are so many "variables" when soldering, the most difficult thing is knowing what's wrong.

For example, you end up with a poor soldering. You try again, and again, but it doesn't get better. Maybe only worse. But what was wrong?

- Was the temperature OK? (And is my iron reporting the real temperature? Should I spend another 300 bucks in a soldering tip thermometer?)

- Maybe the solder I bought is not appropriate?

- Was it the flux? Did I apply it correctly?

- Also, is this tip the best one for the job? Besides, I could have damaged it before when trying to solder and it's not good anymore, although looks good to me

- Or my technique isn't good enough. Am I drag soldering this right? Maybe I should apply heat for longer? But what if I damage the component?

The main insight you need to have:

The things you want to solder need to be at a minimum temperature for the solder to properly flow.

Parts with a lot of metal attached to it will need more time to get hot. Most notorious are pads connected to a large (ground) plane.

If the solder does not flow properly because of this, increase the time of contact between your soldering iron and the items, add a small amount of solder to the tip to increase contact area. Or use a heat gun in your other hand or a preheater. Or buy a soldering iron with more power.

Flux will help too.

Use a fan to draw the fumes away from you, at a minimum. If you do this on a daily basis, get a fume extractor.

There are many more tips on the internet. The first thing I mentioned is the most important one, imho.

This gives me flashbacks to the last time I tried to replace the microswitches in my mouse...

After I finished, the right click felt like it was 'glued down' or 'stuck'...

I never heard the click sound again...

Yep, it was broken.

I've decided never to solder anything ever again...

But good luck to you!

I picked up the skill from my granddad when I was a kid. Yeah, 6 year old with a soldering iron, what could go wrong, right? Welcome to eastern Europe. There are really 2 things: good soldering iron(and soldering helping hands kit) and practice. Which takes me to one of my hobbies: drones. Look up a kit called Diatone Mamba soldering practice board. They cost 2-3 bucks, get 10 and you'll get the hang of it in a few hours. Oh and a fume extractor(any old pc fan will do).

The only way to learn is to do the damn thing. You'll eventually figure it out. Tinker around with projects that don't matter but are still rewarding. Like, commit a 555 timer and blinky LEDs to proto board. Then find some kits on tindie that seem interesting but won't break the bank. Wash, rinse, repeat until you're building your own multiprocessor homebrew 6502 computer.