Commit to competence in this coming year \ stacker news ~Fitness

Commit to competence in this coming year world.hey.com/dhh/commit-to-competence-in-this-coming-year-feb7d7c5

2387 sats \ 11 comments \ @jeffg 2 Jan Fitness

The new year is a great time to reflect not only on what you want to achieve but also how you want to achieve it.

110 sats \ 4 replies \ @south_korea_ln 2 Jan

The trouble with a lot of these aspirations, though, is that they require the formation of new habits and carving out new chunks of time in an already busy day. That’s not impossible, of course, but it’s hard.

But the one activity most people already have a huge block of the day carved out is at work. That’s a solid eight hours for the majority of people with a regular job. Forty hours a week. About two thousand a year. Imagine if you spent just 10% of that dedicated to actually getting better at what you do.

[...]

So with programming, I try to make it a point of frequently taking the longer route. First, I don’t just want the thing I’m working on to merely work. I mean, that’s step one, but we can’t stop there. As the saying goes: make it work, make it right, make it fast. And then, let me add one more: Make it beautiful.

I agree with this. Was just talking with my wife on how for her it's very hard to do incremental improvements. She wants and needs results right away. But often, it's the little efforts along the way that can pay off in the long run.

The way that @k00b seems to work on SN is by focusing on the little details and seems to agree with the above mantra. Not trying to ship too fast, testing and testing again, ironing out the details to get the most engaging platform I've experienced in a long while... with the belief that this will pay off in the long run.

52 sats \ 2 replies \ @k00b 2 Jan

Not trying to ship too fast

To be honest, I'd love to ship faster.

testing and testing again, ironing out the details

We do seem to prefer shipping a minimally viable thing, gathering feedback, then rinsing and repeating. Nothing will vaporize a developer's soul like working extremely hard on something nobody wants. Just like no habit will form if you need to do it perfectly from the get go.

571 sats \ 1 reply \ @south_korea_ln 2 Jan

Sorry I made the wrong assumptions. I'd just like to emphasize then that if this is an MVP, it is a damn good one, and I can't wait to see what the product will look like in 1 year. You seem to have found just the right balance at the level of many parameters. Even introducing the territories seems to be going relatively smoothly (at least, as soon from the outside), although we're both probably wondering what it will look like in 1 year. Tl;dr: keep up the good work.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @k00b 2 Jan

Oh no worries! You didn't make the wrong assumptions. I was just adding some detail.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @jeffg OP 3 Jan

This is something that I think we all struggle with. Slower feedback loops and delayed gratification are really hard. Especially when you're working on something that you're not sure is going to work out (like a new business, etc).

It's probably the thing I want to work on most this year is that I need to enjoy the process and the learning, even if the outcome turns out not to be good.

110 sats \ 2 replies \ @cryotosensei 2 Jan

Great article, really, but what if you don’t really wanna your job to be the be-all and end-all of things? I mean, I love teaching, but it is so multifaceted that just finishing the 1001 tasks associated with the many hats teachers wear consumes so much of my spirit. When I have some pockets of free time, I rather hone my writing craft at Stacker News haha

61 sats \ 1 reply \ @bataroot 2 Jan

The quest for competence is not just about a job. It's more a mindset that can be applied to anything we consider meaningful...

15 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 2 Jan

True. Lets strive for excellence this year xP

100 sats \ 1 reply \ @fred 3 Jan

My resolution this year is simple - Be myself

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @lunanto 3 Jan

Best resolution for the year

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @brave 3 Jan

I would want to get more on my fitness routine this year and be dedicated to everyday exercise