Coding as a vocation is somewhat unique because of our access to high quality global discussion forums. It can be a bit too much fun, but it's also a really interesting part of life.
This year I sat down to write some 2018 resolutions and realized that I've either already been successfully beeminding them for a few months, or am waiting to add beeminder goals in the next few months.
I wrote down resolutions before and never stuck to them. Beeminder is a gamechanger.
Hey, here's something that took me quite a while to realize: people have different tastes.
I don't find myself attractive at all (and I'm quite far from any western "beauty standard"). And even though I'm overweight, bald and definitely not rich, there's still people who find me attractive. Likewise, those I find attractive others don't.
It's a though spot to be if you are actively looking for a partner (whether through apps or real life), but just be yourself. I know it's cliché but it's the truth. From time to time you will get to know / match with people who do find you attractive.
Move. But do some research first. Obviously you need to consider things like employment prospects and cost of living. But the important thing here is to get away from the crowds of people who look, sound, and act just like you. Find an area where you're a bit more exotic, and watch your romantic prospects open up.
My 2017 resolution was to become involved with my local and regional community (outside of tech). It has been a tremendously fulfilling experience. My 2018 resolution is to do more public speaking/teaching in it. I am done doing the usual fitness, diet, etc. ones. I either do them already or not at all. But these new ones that took me three decades to try have been more fulfilling and more fun than anything else.
Maybe I'll start with posting on sites rather than just reading the comments :)
For a few examples I have in mind:
Instead of just playing games, try to create them. Theres the global game jam coming up. I'll make some time for it. And spend the first few weekends this year going over unity tutorials.
Instead of just using apps, hit the hackathons join the teams and try to make a few. Learn new frameworks and maybe even languages while doing so.
Instead of listening to podcasts, write a couple on topics I'm working on or in proximity to (Not just tech, but political activism im my case). Record a few. See what the feedback is like.
Instead of just voting, get involved in political parties (I already do this I must admit), get out campainging and creating new support.
Instead of just passively using open source libraries, have a skim through the issues and see if theres anything I can spend an hour or two helping with. Even if it's just documentation or tests.
The main point of it all is, even if it's bad or goes nowhere, I've found at least trying to create rather than just passively read/play/consume tends to have positive outcomes, even if that's just learning new things, getting new contacts, or getting new ideas to try further down the road. Hence, the resolution: More creating, less consuming.
> Maybe I'll start with posting on sites rather than just reading the comments :)
I like this idea! Primarily because for the longest of time, I have felt that passively consuming content wasn't helping to make the world a better place.
Instead, if only each of us contributed genuine, well-thought-out comments, it would be much more meaningful. A friend once said to me, "the meat of things for HN posts are in the comments" (paraphrased)
I often read the comments before I read the link. I’m not sure when I started doing this, but I found it gives me a diverse range of opinions that I can consider when reading the content.
>>Instead of just voting, get involved in political parties (I already do this I must admit), get out campainging and creating new support.
Does voting count as consumption? You aren't really consuming anything, but rather exercising a right. (OK, I guess you consume the physical ballots, but I have a feeling that wasn't your point.)
That said, getting more involved in political parties is definitely a commendable goal.
Ha, I interpreted the 'less consuming' as 'buying less things you don't need/not replacing smartphone every single year/not spilling food by not buying more than you can eat/not wasting electricuty/...' and 'creating' as 'try to fix broken things instead of throwing them away/creating art instead of buying it/growing vegetables instead of buying/...'.
Which shows it is a nice principle since anybody can fill it in the way they like.
No joke. I made no specific resolution, but a few weeks ago I promised myself to do this. Includes origami, programming and coloring books (if you're impressed by drawing, and want to learn drawing, you should start somewhere.)
Good luck! We can all do this. Create and create and you will eventually catch up with your taste.
I have a personal theory that unhappiness is due to too much consumption, not enough personal creation. Even if it just a sketchnote or a doodle... that is enough.
> Nobody tells this to people who are beginners. I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this.
> We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It’s only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.
This reminds me of a famous quote by Chuck Jones[1]: "Every artist has thousands of bad drawings in them and the only way to get rid of them is to draw them out."
In the same way, we probably all have thousands of bad programs/scripts/classes in us. Code 'em out.
[1] I've also seen this attributed to others and phrased differently
I found this line in an old blog post from 2013 in my drafts folder.
> But honestly, I've been thinking back, trying to remember the last time I felt like I was really in control and being the person I wanted to be.
That was 5 years ago and I now realize I've felt like that almost the whole time, with brief breaks. My goal is to treat this as a real problem and solve it.
Let me guess you are employed? I was in a similar situation and quitting my job helped me get out of this. Beginning was bumpy and I regreted it somewhat for some time, but I don’t even think about it anymore. It’s ok if you don’t have a plan or a project, you need some curiosity and general area of what you are interested in (a stack of unread books counts).
You aren’t betting on your project but on your skills. Like if you spend a year doing a thing, you’ll be a beast. And even if your thing doesn’t work out, you’ll be fine.
Email me (<my username>@gmail.com) if you need someone to help you plan it. I don’t have all the answers but I have some. This counts for anyone else reading this as well.
I left my job early in 2017, did an internship for a few months, moved to another country at the same time, lost the job I was supposed to get after the internship, came back to my home country, and got another job. I'd say I've done my "year off", looking for stability at the moment.
I like the idea though. The thing is, I'm not super self-motivated to work on programming. It's fun when I'm getting paid, but when I'm not getting paid I'd rather play outside. I'm a lot more interested in management-type stuff, running projects and working at a higher level. Any idea how to practice that on your own time? So far my best idea is to throw parties and activities for my friends, which is fun, but hard to put on a resume.
I know where you are coming from. Since quitting, I’ve been contributing to a lot of open source on github. It solves the resume problem. And strangely enough, these contributions turned into social events, I’ve met people working on this one project called audiokit that I contribute to.
Really good artists hate their work. They are their own worst critic. That's why they always improve. It's the poor artists that think their own work is great, better than everyone else.
The person you want to be should be better than the person you are today, but that also means it's unattainable.
I agree. I've concluded it's good to have this self-improvement mindset, even if you never get to where you want to be (because it's always changing), and you should accept that, because human society is built on that uncomfortable feeling that gets us to make things.
Just checked your blog. Are you really clear about the person you do want to be?
Are you moving to Denmark? BTW a former colleague of mine moved from UK to Copenhagen and absolutely loves the quality of life there. Funnily enough another colleague just emigrated to Canada!
I did go to Denmark, and already came back. I spent the whole time there being depressed and not adapting, and I freaked out and came home because I thought it would never improve. Coming home didn't help either. I'm doing cbt now and waiting to see a counselor. I want to get my head straight and return to Denmark.
- Self study cryptography, algorithms, linear algebra, machine learning
- Work on some side project either being a startup or open source project - this will take priority over self-studying if I can find the right thing to work on
- Get a treadmill so I can run every morning when it's too cold to go outside
- Hit savings goals for retirement and buying a home
Thanks! Yep, you can think of us like that. Our first prototype (launched in August 2016) was really just a shim layer on Lambda, but we’ve grown to much more in a really short amount of time. Developer response has been nothing short of amazing. Tens of thousands of developers and growing rapidly.
Our core thesis is we aim to turn remote function calls into first-class citizens of your development environment, with all that entails. We’ll have some very exciting news in the New Year about this, so definitely stay tuned!
Good way to hold yourself to that total: sign up for a meet as far out as you can. Or if you're competing in a fed that has an annual membership (USAPL or USPA, for instance) buy your membership now. Putting some money on the line makes me feel that yes, I am going to put my best effort in this one beautiful day in the future, and helps guide my training leading up to there.
1. Build a 2d side scroller.
2. Build the website currently codename saw.
3. Up my CS game.
4. Build a robot that will at least pickup one object.
5. It is time I buy that school bus to live in for a while.
11 years ago my resolution was to stop making resolutions. So I've got some great resolution ideas but am screwed because I never fail to deliver on a new years resolution.
263 comments
[ 4.6 ms ] story [ 298 ms ] threadhttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16043552
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16043669
Offered as food for thought from someone who has spent a lot of time suicidal. Maybe part 1 of your goal can negate part 2.
I wrote down resolutions before and never stuck to them. Beeminder is a gamechanger.
I don't find myself attractive at all (and I'm quite far from any western "beauty standard"). And even though I'm overweight, bald and definitely not rich, there's still people who find me attractive. Likewise, those I find attractive others don't.
It's a though spot to be if you are actively looking for a partner (whether through apps or real life), but just be yourself. I know it's cliché but it's the truth. From time to time you will get to know / match with people who do find you attractive.
Diet and exercise don't hurt either.
Less comment reading, more article reading.
Make some progress on my reading list (just kidding, it'll grow forever)
What are you planning on creating? /s
Maybe I'll start with posting on sites rather than just reading the comments :)
For a few examples I have in mind:
Instead of just playing games, try to create them. Theres the global game jam coming up. I'll make some time for it. And spend the first few weekends this year going over unity tutorials.
Instead of just using apps, hit the hackathons join the teams and try to make a few. Learn new frameworks and maybe even languages while doing so.
Instead of listening to podcasts, write a couple on topics I'm working on or in proximity to (Not just tech, but political activism im my case). Record a few. See what the feedback is like.
Instead of just voting, get involved in political parties (I already do this I must admit), get out campainging and creating new support.
Instead of just passively using open source libraries, have a skim through the issues and see if theres anything I can spend an hour or two helping with. Even if it's just documentation or tests.
The main point of it all is, even if it's bad or goes nowhere, I've found at least trying to create rather than just passively read/play/consume tends to have positive outcomes, even if that's just learning new things, getting new contacts, or getting new ideas to try further down the road. Hence, the resolution: More creating, less consuming.
I like this idea! Primarily because for the longest of time, I have felt that passively consuming content wasn't helping to make the world a better place.
Instead, if only each of us contributed genuine, well-thought-out comments, it would be much more meaningful. A friend once said to me, "the meat of things for HN posts are in the comments" (paraphrased)
Can't agree more.
Does voting count as consumption? You aren't really consuming anything, but rather exercising a right. (OK, I guess you consume the physical ballots, but I have a feeling that wasn't your point.)
That said, getting more involved in political parties is definitely a commendable goal.
Which shows it is a nice principle since anybody can fill it in the way they like.
I plan good consumption, some laziness to free mind, more good body stretch and some good creation in cooperation with others.
I have a personal theory that unhappiness is due to too much consumption, not enough personal creation. Even if it just a sketchnote or a doodle... that is enough.
> Nobody tells this to people who are beginners. I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this.
> We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It’s only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.
-Ira Glass
Video version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2wLP0izeJE
https://youtu.be/E1oZhEIrer4
In the same way, we probably all have thousands of bad programs/scripts/classes in us. Code 'em out.
[1] I've also seen this attributed to others and phrased differently
>Create, not Consume
Even tried making a poster out of it.
> But honestly, I've been thinking back, trying to remember the last time I felt like I was really in control and being the person I wanted to be.
That was 5 years ago and I now realize I've felt like that almost the whole time, with brief breaks. My goal is to treat this as a real problem and solve it.
You aren’t betting on your project but on your skills. Like if you spend a year doing a thing, you’ll be a beast. And even if your thing doesn’t work out, you’ll be fine.
Email me (<my username>@gmail.com) if you need someone to help you plan it. I don’t have all the answers but I have some. This counts for anyone else reading this as well.
I like the idea though. The thing is, I'm not super self-motivated to work on programming. It's fun when I'm getting paid, but when I'm not getting paid I'd rather play outside. I'm a lot more interested in management-type stuff, running projects and working at a higher level. Any idea how to practice that on your own time? So far my best idea is to throw parties and activities for my friends, which is fun, but hard to put on a resume.
The person you want to be should be better than the person you are today, but that also means it's unattainable.
Related video (it's a bit weird, but stick through it, it's a good one): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWkq7btSQvs
Are you moving to Denmark? BTW a former colleague of mine moved from UK to Copenhagen and absolutely loves the quality of life there. Funnily enough another colleague just emigrated to Canada!
Release an Open Source Project and develop it for a year.
Turn my comments into blog posts instead of just comments.
But most important to have fun!
I would like to get a 4k display and have it partition itself into a different set of aspect ratios but I'm not sure that is possible.
- Run and exercise at least 3 times a week
- Delta-debug how to get into flow state as many time and as fast as possible
- Work on some side project either being a startup or open source project - this will take priority over self-studying if I can find the right thing to work on
- Get a treadmill so I can run every morning when it's too cold to go outside
- Hit savings goals for retirement and buying a home
- Spend some time abroad
- Do a combination train/biking/camping trip
- no gadget purchases (I have enough)
- 1,000lbs combined 1RM on Squat, Bench, Deadlift
- Run two half-marathons
- Spend more time with my girlfriend and my dog
Hold me to it, HackerNews.
[1] https://stdlib.com/
Our core thesis is we aim to turn remote function calls into first-class citizens of your development environment, with all that entails. We’ll have some very exciting news in the New Year about this, so definitely stay tuned!
Best of luck big homie!
#2 Work on my book
#3 Grow all my own food
#4 Sell everything (already in motion)
#5 Backpack in Europe for 90 days: Switzerland, Germany, Scandinavia
Optional:
#6 Interview at a bunch of places abroad
#7 Work in a language I enjoy (Clojure, Erlang, ect ect)