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Comment by bayindirh | Hacker News Reader

> I used to be absolutely furious about being the best.

I found out that just being better than yourself takes you a long long way.

I have never competed, but just did my thing. Then found out that I've already know more and ahead of many people I'm inspired by.

Yet, this was not my aim, and still is not. I'm just one of the so-called dark developers. I just do my thing, try to do it better every time, and don't care about hall of fame of anything casual or serious.

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I recently put a little modal on my phone that just says "Compete against yourself" every 30 minutes, and I'm finding it remarkably helpful at focusing my efforts back to what I want to see in the world.

I like the mindset of trying to be just a little better than you were, every day. It feels... correctly scaled, somehow.

What does it mean in this context to compete against yourself? Anything at immediately at hand or on the todo list? Or is it just a reminder to get something done you thought of doing but normally wouldn't otherwise?

It means "It doesn't matter what other people do, are doing, or have achieved". In other words, do not compare yourself to others.

Do what you're doing, a little better this time, then GOTO 10.

I've become very fond of the phrase "comparison is the thief of joy" lately. This seems like a version of that. Keep your scope local only.

I like it phrased this way: "There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self."

Great for the upside of growth - how do you change it for when you start to age and skills erode a little bit. That would be deeply frustrating. Need to change the model at that point! What to though?

Your skills don't age like your physical body does.

My existing skills don’t, but learning new ones sure takes more effort.

It's not the effort of learning, it's the effort of tolerating all the know-it-all newbies that increases.

You are saying it like skills aren't contained in that physical body.

You can program using a blow stick if you have to. Its a mental ability not a physical one. Unless you get dementia you could do it forever

That is true, but the rapid change in the tech industry makes "skills" mean something different than it would in, say, woodworking.

Once you learn woodwoorking, you're going to be good at it (until you lose strength, flexibility in your fingers, etc).

In our industry, to 'stay at the same place,' you continually have to learn new technologies, new concepts, etc.

Computer programming isnt like woodworking though, its all in the mind

The AI helps a bit, I'm feeling a bit recharged with it, like I have a few more extra years of capable contributing in me. Easier to get stuff done, not getting worn out with technical minutia as much.

Move more into to people skills and relationships. It could be management, marketing, sales, HR, recruiting, mentoring, training. There's a plethora of side functions. Or take a lower paying less demanding role. Do harder technical work that isn't time constrained like open source or personal projects.

You willingly turned on a notification every 30 minutes that tells you to compete against yourself? I cannot tell if this is parody or just Peak HN

I'd go with Peak HN.

Everyone has their quirks. I've got my computer speaking the time every 15 minutes and everyone I know would be driven absolutely insane by that. It helps me keep track of time.

Some people put a postit on their mirror or laptop screen.

This is a comic I love (titled: Weird): https://viruscomix.com/page500.html

I store a copy in my "life changing comics" folder.

Ooooo... a peanut butter banana bacon sandwich sounds awesome.

Highly recommend.

I've done a PBBJ (peanut butter bacon jelly) but never a PBBB. Might need to try it.

This is a great comic. Understanding and appreciating other people's differences goes a long way. So much harm comes from being fearful or judgemental of people who are different.

Now I'm curious - what else is in your "life changing comics" folder?

Baki the Grappler.

oh hell yeah you're my kind of guy.

A couple notables from my collection:

   Hey, C'mon: https://www.viruscomix.com/page528.html
   The Human Race: https://viruscomix.com/page531.html
   So Mature: https://viruscomix.com/page532.html
   Sexier Th>n: https://viruscomix.com/page542.html
   Copper: https://www.boltcityproductions.com/copper

There are other another honorable mentions, but I was not able to find the original URLs, so I didn't add them here.

I'm intrigued by human nature and why are we the way we are, and search for a calmer, more peaceful self inside me. Apparently meditation helps a lot.

Mine is currently on a 15 minute loop as well, but it just plays prerecorded numbers from 15 to 0 telling me how many minutes left in my 15 minute time block

The time notification reminds me of a screenless "watch" 10 years ago. It would buzz every 5 minutes as a supposed aid in perceiving the passage of time for various tasks.

https://www.theverge.com/2014/1/30/5361210/skrekkogle-durr-t...

Yes, 30 minutes is a shockingly long time. I'd say 5 minutes makes a lot more sense.

Those are rookie numbers. You need to get that down to 5 seconds.

Amateur. I have a neon sign that strobes every millisecond in front of my office chair.

How embarassing for you.

I have a GPS disciplined rubidium clock with a 100MHz output hooked up directly to my sinuses. The slow sensation of waves washing ashore keeps me awake long enough to interact with the rest of you when I am taking my daily luxury 3ms break to read HN. Further, I have a script that, when my break time is over, automatically terminates any conn-

If you find yourself becoming desensitized to the notifications on your phone, I suggest training a parrot to stand on your shoulder to liven it up. Great for parties too.

i suggest a new push notification on your phone that says "be funnier" - all the top comedians do it

That is coincidentally similar to a pomodoro sprint: 25 minutes of work (compete with yourself) and 5 of something else.

> I found out that just being better than yourself takes you a long long way.

That resonates with me.

There is a saying where I'm from that says "most people are just kicking dirt" that basically means people are doing the bare minimum or don't care at all, and if you just do your thing and really care about your stuff, you're already ahead of the majority.

Being anxious all the time, I use that saying in the opposite way though: just relax and do your thing... you don't need to worry about not having a job, all those other people are barely doing anything and you can't be the best at everytime. Just do your thing are relax.

> I found out that just being better than yourself takes you a long long way.

I usually hold vast disdain for the "self-help" genre of books, but after a recommendation from someone whose opinion I value greatly, I read Atomic Habits by James Clear. I've never found myself agreeing with and finding revelations from such seemingly mundane and obvious statements. Sometimes seeing a statement or opinion you take for granted can make you cognizant of that point.

I've since tried to adopt such "agile" methodologies in personal improvement. Clear says 1% improvement each day always sounds attainable, and such iterative improvements add up.

Would you mind expanding on what you mean by ‘dark developer’? I could guess from context but Id appreciate your definition if you dont mind.

90% sure it's "dark matter developers" as in "they never write blogs, they don't go to user groups, they don't tweet or facebook, and you don't often see them at large conferences." - https://www.hanselman.com/blog/dark-matter-developers-the-un...

Yeah, that's true. I have a blog, and share the code & docs I write for myself, but my blog is not about programming, and the docs are more like cheat sheets for general public.

Well, the code is just GPLv3 licensed small tools which I develop according to my own needs. Nothing impressive.

I don't use Twitter, Facebook and Reddit anymore. I just converse here, and with a Discord server I really like.

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