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Comment by baby_souffle | Hacker News Reader

So what if I choose to spend a decent amount of time and resources improving myself along other non software engineering facets?

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Then you did not chose to be a 10x engineer. The same way you probably are only mediocre in your hobbies (unless you quit your job and focused on that only)

Don’t be sad. It’s okay that other people do something better than you. Be happy you play disc golf, but the 10x engineer makes more PRs than you. Which do you want more.

What I hear is you envy somebody else choices, and want to vilify them because you can’t compete with them because you made different life choices.

It’s like you are mad that Serena Williams did so much better than you did, but you only played tennis on the weekends with your friend.

10xer can play disk golf too. They might sleep 8 hours and shower too.

Yah for sure. But if you are not a 10x and want to be. Then you got to prioritize what you spend your time on.

True. Now this is where ymmv but time away from the screen and sleep, while slowing down productivity this week is better long term. Not because it is healthy (it is) but programming in a nonlinear endeavour. During downtime you can realize the thing you are even working on is not the best thing. Or reevaluate overall strategy.

Then you're not a 10x engineer and will be filling out your hours in SAP and getting your tickets from Jira.

Personally that sounds like a new circle of hell but I've had people ask me to bring back Jira for a project I was managing so there are truly all kinds.

All the 10x engineers I have come across in my life often had the most non engineering hobbies and after work activities going on. They are like that kid in school who never needs to study to get an A and for whom things just click immediately.

Everything you do in life should be focused on becoming better at computers. All hail computers.

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