tmshu1

It’s not everyday that devs like me get to learn from someone with as much experience as you have. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge!

None of the OP’s tips for increasing product velocity apply to my company. The essence of product velocity reveals itself when N=1.

Focus on a few things. Don’t rush, do them well. Say no to everything else.

Let Your Life Speak, Parker Palmer

The Beginning of Infinity, David Deutsch

A Philosophy of Software Design, John Ousterhout

Poetic prose about creativity and life. Infrequently updated.

I want to write better quality code: less fragile, easier to change. Which is something I haven’t really done for one reason or another. Now, to level up my development skills, I just finished reading Philosophy of Software Design, Clean Architecture, and Design Patterns. I guess Stackoverflow is a good place for me to get most questions answered. But I like the idea of an “in-person” mentor who can help me discover things I don’t know I don’t know. Things about the general “art” of being a good developer that seems to encompass much more than just knowledge about what good code is like.

In my experience with my own difficulties executing, I’ve found that ineffective action comes from inner struggle. Inner struggle comes from an inaccurate view about how thought works. See my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34692137#34699010.

With less inner turmoil, inspired, effective action becomes effortless to do and maintain.

Screw motivation. Screw discipline too.

Tricking yourself (motivation, discipline, etc.) to do something means you don’t really want to it. This results in a feeling of struggle, and also repression. And thus, ineffective outcomes as you sabotage yourself or fail to “stick with” something.

We all naturally know what it is we really want to do. So stop. Relax. Listen to what that inner voice whisper, right now. Not to what others say you “should” do.

Ask yourself: “what would I love to create?”

Listening to oneself may not come naturally. We are trained by society, our parents, and schools to listen to “authorities”. So thoughts about what we “should” do run rampant in our minds.

But who’s the greatest authority of your life? You.

Once, I truly internalized the above, everything changed. It can happen to you too.

Problem-solving mindset: what problem do I need to solve? “Problems” will always arise life (due to other people, random events, our brain always wanting novelty, etc.), so this mindset is a reactive one that leads to anxiety and lack of direction.

Creational mindset: what would I love to create? This mindset can seem harder to get at because of all the conditioning we’ve gotten from society and childhood. But all it takes is a simple perspective shift. It leads to more proactivity, and trust that you’ll be able to do whatever you need to do. All the secondary, tertiary, etc. questions about how get answered relatively easily when you’re clear about what you want to create.

I keep hearing about this kids thing, gonna have to get on that soon...

I'm not very well versed in this idea, curious to learn and read more. Have any recommended books? What do you think about this one https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13587160-to-save-everyth...?

I personally believe that all problems are, at their core, human problems. Hence why the focus on meditation as an Archimedes lever. Technology helps us solve problems at scale, but it has to be applied "mindfully". Technology is always a double-edged sword (see Facebook)