2025-04-15 23:21:00
The single best trait to predict whether I'm looking at a good programmer or a great one is undoubtedly perseverance. Someone that takes to each new challenge like a dog to a bone, and who struggles to sleep until the next obstacle is cleared.
Today (literally today), I delivered the final story for the third project I’ve had at my day job since starting back in October.
This project involved a lot of unknowns and uncertainties, and resulted in a ton of code that was written and thrown away in order to arrive at the final stab at version 1.
It was painful. Ask my wife and she’ll tell you I spent many days in doubt, riddled with anxiety and impostor syndrome, feeling like a fraud.
But then, just like that, I’m able to click the “squash and merge” button, and it’s done. The clouds lift. It’s incredible.
Sort of reminds me of Courtney Dauwalter’s pain cave metaphor. Every time I start an engineering project, I go into the pain cave and start chiseling away at the walls.
Once I’ve chiseled enough, I am rewarded by stepping back out of the cave and celebrating what I’ve built. It’s an incredible feeling.
It’s a short lived euphoria, though. I only get a few moments before I dust myself off, grab a quick bite to eat, and begin my descent back into the cave to start chiseling away on the next project.
2025-04-14 10:55:00
bro straight up, but tenderly: if the only thing you use your apple watch for is to find your apple phone than it is time to lose your apple watch. OK DONE. drop kicked into the sea / reset and quietly handed to a family member. no looking back, no tears. the future starts today. what else.
I haven’t worn my Apple Watch for three days now, which is the longest period of time I’ve been without something on my wrist since I got a Fitbit a decade and a half or so ago.
What I miss, in no particular order:
What I don’t miss, in no particular order:
I felt like I should end this link with something, but instead I went back and read the rest of this article, which excellently ends with:
Can’t figure out what else to say to wrap this up, but I suppose resisting the need to wrap up every blog post with a CTA is its own form of protest
2025-04-14 08:42:48
Reach out to someone in your life who’s putting in the work—not for likes, not for a brand, but because they give a damn. Because they’re trying to make something better. Tell them what you appreciate about them. Be specific. Be honest. And say thank you. Like you mean it, because you do.
2025-04-12 21:03:04
I’ve had this on my todo list for a while now, and I finally went through and got myself removed from all the high priority sites.
I’d recommend everyone take the time to go through and opt out of having your private information on these lists.
I set up a spreadsheet and worked down it over the course of a couple weeks. It really didn’t take much time at all, and I don’t know, I feel better knowing it’s marginally more difficult for people to find out where I live and how to call me.
2025-04-11 10:58:36
If you're ready, step in.
If you’re not, keep performing.
If you don't have a choice, I see you—and I hope you get free.But know this:
You are not the problem.
The system was never built for you.
And you don’t have to shrink yourself to survive it.I’m not here to help you bounce back.
I’m here to help you stop pretending.
And start returning.
Saw this on Brad Frost’s site and felt compelled to share it here.
I do wish I saw it three years ago, but hey, “second best time to plant a tree” and all that.
2025-04-06 03:23:00
This is an episode of the Tim Ferriss show that I will undoubtedly revisit many times for years to come.
The best part is toward the end, where Jon asks Tim a question like, “What are the 5 things that you would possess if everything else was wiped away, and the only knowledge or inspiration or experience that you could draw from were of those five? Instead of the pursuit of more broad vision and connectivity, how can you go as deep as you can within a handful of things that are for you and leave the rest?”
After Tim answers the question, he flips it around and asks Jon, who in turn says, “Can I answer you with my piano?”
Another big takeaway from this episode for me was this mantra:
I feel good
I feel free
I feel fine just being me