I still remember March 2020

COVID had just hit the East Coast. I was stuck in my Brooklyn apartment. My roommate was on one side, and my girlfriend, now my wife, was on the other. No one could tell us what would happen next. The feeling wasn’t dramatic; it was small. Claustrophobic. You kept waiting for someone in charge to say something useful, and they kept not saying anything of use.

That’s what rapid, uncontrollable change actually feels like in your body. Not cinematic. Just grinding.

A lot of people in tech feel exactly that right now.

The anxiety is real. It’s also mostly misdirected

Every week brings a new AI model, a new framework, a new take on why your current skill set is already obsolete. The feed never stops, and each announcement arrives with the same subtext: this is the one you can’t afford to miss.

Most of that anxiety isn’t a skills problem. It’s an attention problem wearing a skills problem’s clothes.

Before you read anything an announcement, a demo, or a Substack—think about what you want to achieve. Not the answer that sounds strategic. The real one. It’s fine to follow the hype out of curiosity. Just do it with intention, not because the anxiety got there first.

History says the panic is always disproportionate

I was young when Webvan, a grocery delivery company, collapsed. They raised $394m +/- but spent it all before smartphones were common. To me, it was just a news story about crazy technology people.

I was working a grocery store register when 2008 financial crisis hit. No mortgage, no equity, mostly insulated. (I understand now that it was luck, not wisdom.)

The pattern from both collapses: real things were being built inside the noise. Most companies that failed did so due to poor execution. This included bad infrastructure, over-leveraged balance sheets, and flawed distribution. The underlying idea was often not the problem. Most of what was being built needed another decade to matter.

The same is true now. There are genuinely important capabilities being developed. But be conscious of who’s pushing the narrative. The AI labs, the investment firms, and the Twitter feeds that profit from your worries about what skills to learn next are not neutral. That doesn’t make the information useless.

It means read with your eyes open and most of it is just noise.

The real work is being skipped

Here’s what I keep seeing on loop: everyone’s showing the demo. Nobody’s showing the six months of scaffolding that came before it.

A lot of what’s being sold as production-ready AI is still science fiction with better marketing.

The basics of software development, like data modeling and test-driven development, are now more indispensable than ever. Knowing what goes wrong and where, or observability, matters more than ever. The speed of development just makes a poor architecture fail faster, leading to even bigger mistakes. Like most things, whether in silicon or building real things like bridges, a solid infrastructure and design matter more than ever.

Get your hands dirty. That’s not a metaphor for staying current. It’s the only reliable way to separate what’s real from what’s performing.

Hold both things at once.

The current anxiety is understandable. It’s also unnecessary or at least, it’s being fed by people with a stake in keeping you anxious.

The dot-com era gave us infrastructure we’re still running on. This one will too. Keep moving.

Articles and references that help me make sense of the world this week

• Pace of change — https://fulcrumpro.com/article/faster-than-ever-understanding-the-accelerating-pace-of-change

• AI executive order / state laws — https://www.paulhastings.com/insights/client-alerts/president-trump-signs-executive-order-challenging-state-ai-laws

• Cedric Chin / Common Cog on sensemaking — https://commoncog.com/how-to-make-sense-of-ai/

• 2-hour focus block —

A Life Engineered

2 Hours of Focus Will Put You in the Top 1%

Last year, I wrote 52 newsletters, started a podcast, published over 50 YouTube videos, created hundreds of pieces of content for social media, finished writing a book, and coached over two hundred engineers in my Top Tier program. I also have two young children at home…

Read more

16 days ago · 199 likes · 10 comments · Steve Huynh

• Webvan (Wikipedia) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webvan

• Microsoft Research / compounding teams —

I had an IKEA moment last month.

Not the kind where you stand in aisle 42, wondering why you came for a lamp but left with a kitchen table. Or where you question all your buying choices while pondering the meaning of life.

The kind where you realize the world just changed and you’re not sure if you’re on the right side of it.

I was building a data pipeline; something I’ve done hundreds of times. It used to take me a week of careful architecture, edge case handling, tests, and documentation. The kind of work that, if I’m honest, made me feel like a real engineer. I’d many spent years developing this technical skillset.

Recently I described what I needed to Claude.

One hour later, I finished it, probably because I didn’t have all the answers I needed to complete it in under 15 minutes.

Not a prototype. Not a rough draft. Done and pretty decent. I spent more time writing up the specifics and edge cases than fixing any code.

oh damn….

The Furniture Makers

Before IKEA, furniture was made by craftsmen.

They apprenticed for years. Learned to select wood, join corners, finish surfaces. A master furniture maker spent decades honing their skills.

But, then IKEA came along and said, “What if we just gave people the parts and an Allen wrench?”

The barrier wasn’t skill anymore. It was willingness to follow instructions.

IKEA didn’t kill furniture making. It split the market.

Mass-produced furniture became cheap and accessible. Custom furniture became more valuable. The craftsmen who survived weren’t the ones who could make a basic bookshelf faster. They were the ones who could make something IKEA couldn’t.

We’re Living Through an Industrial Revolution

This isn’t a metaphor anymore. It’s literal.

Chris Loy put it well: for most of its history, software has been closer to craft than manufacture—”costly, slow, and dominated by the need for skills and experience.” AI coding is changing that by making production “cheaper, faster, and increasingly disconnected from the expertise of humans.”

Read that last part again: disconnected from the expertise of humans.

AI handed everyone an Allen wrench for software. The basic stuff the CRUD apps, the data pipelines, the boilerplate code anyone can build it now. You don’t need a CS degree. You don’t need years of practice. You need a clear idea of what you want and the patience to try again. The key is iteration. Many people quit after 2-3 attempts, much like they do when reading an IKEA manual.

If your entire value was “I can write code,” you’re in trouble.

But that was never the whole job.

What has me concerned is that AI coding can be a trap.

It offers shortcuts to incomplete solutions at the expense of the understanding needed for sustainable development. You ship faster. You learn slower. The gap between what you built and what you understand widens with every prompt.

I’ve seeing junior & senior engineers create features in an afternoon. Then, they couldn’t debug them the next morning. The code worked. They had no idea why. When it broke and it always breaks they were stuck.

This is the industrial revolution’s dark side. Mass production disconnects the maker from the craft.

What the Craftsmen Actually Did

The best furniture makers weren’t simply good with their hands; they understood:

• What the customer actually needed (not what they asked for).

• How the user will use the piece over time

• Which corners could be cut and which couldn’t be cut?

• When to push back on a bad idea.

• How to fix something when it is broken.

The hands-on skill was table stakes. The judgment was the craft.

Same with engineering.

The code was never the hard part. The hard parts are:

• Figuring out what to build in the first place.

• Knowing when the “simple” solution will become a nightmare at any scale.

• Debugging systems that do not have clear error messages.

• Communicating technical trade-offs to people who don’t speak your language.

• Staying calm when everything is on fire, etc.

AI can write code, but it cannot do the craftsmanship part of it yet.

The Self-Taught Advantage

Here’s where this gets personal.

I don’t have a CS degree. I taught myself everything. I learned Ruby on Rails from YouTube tutorials. I picked up data engineering through late nights and Stack Overflow. Leadership came from making costly mistakes.

For years, I thought this was a disadvantage. I was always catching up to the “real” engineers. The ones who knew the theory. The ones who could whiteboard algorithms without sweating.

But now I’m watching something interesting happen.

The engineers who learned from a curriculum are struggling. They were trained to follow a playbook. When the playbook changes every six months, that training becomes a constraint.

The engineers who taught themselves? They’re thriving.

Because self-taught engineers never had a playbook.

We learned how to learn. We got comfortable not knowing. We built the skill that actually matters now: figuring things out when no one can tell you the answer.

What Kind of Plant Are You?

I read a recent article where a Silicon Valley veteran completely reframed the “AI bubble” question. They argued that we should be thinking of this moment as a wildfire, not a bubble.

This metaphor landed with me.

Wildfires don’t just destroy they’re essential to ecosystem health. They clear the thick underbrush that chokes out new growth. They return nutrients to the soil and create conditions for the next forest generation to thrive.

Some plants are built for fire. Certain pine cones only release their seeds after being scorched. Some species have deep root systems that survive the burn and sprout back stronger.

Other plants just burn.

AI is the wildfire. The question isn’t whether it’s coming; it’s what kind of plant you are.

So what I’m Doing Differently?

I stopped trying to be faster at the things AI can do.

Instead, I’m doubling down on the things it can’t:

1. Judgment calls

AI can generate ten solutions to a problem. It can’t tell you which one will still work in two years. It’s about pattern recognition gained from experience. You learn this by fixing things that broke. I really focus on my systems thinking.

2. Translation

Most business problems aren’t technical problems. They’re communication problems wearing technical clothing. I spend more time now understanding what people actually need than writing code.

3. Leadership under uncertainty

I mentor many individual engineers now. Half of them are scared AI will take their jobs. The other half think AI will solve all their problems. Neither is true. My job is to help them find the middle ground use the tools without losing the understanding.

4. Learning in public

I’ve been coding in BAML (a language for building AI agents) for over a year. Most people haven’t heard of it. By the time it’s mainstream, I’ll have a year of pattern recognition they don’t. I also don’t mind learning the hard stuff—like Rust. I start by manually coding it, then use AI to accelerate my learning.

The New Division

The furniture market didn’t disappear after IKEA. It split:

• Mass market: cheap, accessible, good enough

• Custom market: expensive, differentiated, irreplaceable

Software engineering is splitting the same way:

• Commodity work: AI-generated, cheap, fast, “good enough”

• Craft work: human judgment, expensive, slow, essential

The wildfire is clearing the underbrush. The commodity work the basic CRUD apps, the boilerplate, the stuff anyone can prompt into existence that’s burning away. What’s left is the work that requires judgment, context, experience.

The question isn’t whether you can code. It’s whether you can do the things that can’t be automated.

What This Means for You

If you’re a self-taught engineer feeling behind: you’re not.

The skills that made you feel like an imposter like quick learning, problem-solving without help, and adapting to new rules—are the ones that count now.

Engineers with top-notch credentials are discovering what you already know: the playbook won’t help when the game changes.

If you’re early in your career: stop trying to memorize algorithms.

Learn how to learn. Get comfortable with not knowing. Practice explaining technical concepts to non-technical people. Build things that might fail. And when you use AI to ship faster, make sure you understand what you shipped. The shortcut is a trap if you can’t debug what it built.

The best engineers I know aren’t the ones who write the most code. They’re the ones who know when not to write code at all.

The Craftsmen Who Survived

IKEA has been around for over 80 years. Furniture craftsmen still exist.

But they’re not the ones who kept making basic bookshelves. They’re the ones who leaned into what mass production couldn’t replicate: custom work, complex problems, human judgment.

The software engineers who thrive in the AI era will do the same.

Not by competing with AI on speed.

By doing what AI can’t do at all.

The wildfire is coming. Some of us will burn. Some of us will sprout back stronger.

What kind of plant are you?

This is the first in a series about the self-taught advantage in the AI era. If you’re building a career without a traditional CS background, you’re not behind. You might be ahead reach out if you have any questions or want to tell me how wrong I am.

Articles that inspired this post
The rise of industrial software

CEO Dinner Insights

The AI Wildfire Is Coming. It's Going to Be Very Painful and Incredibly Healthy.

The Fire Season…

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5 months ago · 1487 likes · 108 comments · Dion Lim

How We Run Our Family Like a Business (And Stay Sane Doing It)

It’s Sunday morning, 9 AM. My wife and I sit down with our Notion workspace open between us, two sleeping babies in bassinets nearby. “Okay,” she says, “we need to plan our older daughter’s birthday party in December, discuss S-corp tax strategy, and book our flight to Canada for February.” I scroll through my task list helplessly.

This is our reality: four kids (ages 4, 2, and two 2-month-old twins), a dog, full-time jobs, and a side business, we run together. I recently started at an exciting startup where I’m coding, architecting, and building out a new team. My mind runs at 110% constantly. Meanwhile, my family life is exploding in mostly good ways, though my body reminds me daily about those my neglected body and past powerlifting injuries.

The Weekly Family Meeting

We’ve developed a system that keeps us from drowning. Inspired by Emily Oster’s The Family Firm, we run a structured weekly meeting with a clear agenda: urgent items first, then planned discussion topics, research topics, and assigned tasks. We review the upcoming week—kid drop-offs, conference travel. We check credit card balances, plan Christmas gifts, review subscriptions, and maintain a running list of research topics like pre-K and kindergarten options and vacation destinations.

The key insight? Tasks without dates don’t get done.

When we need to issue our sons’ passports for our England trip, we don’t just add it to a list—we assign it to Christina with a specific due date. When soccer season ends for our 4 and 2-year-olds, we schedule time to research new activities. We’re considering martial arts next

Beyond Weekly: The Full System

We’ve built layers of review: weekly meetings, monthly check-ins, quarterly family reviews, and an annual planning session. This isn’t corporate bureaucracy—it’s survival. Time doesn’t just materialize. With a wedding to attend in June, our business to run, and countless daily decisions, everything goes on the calendar.

Even cooking gets planned. I handle most meals because I’m quick at it and find it meditative.

Some Sunday nights, I’ll bulk cook three meals at once. That goes on the calendar too.

The Tools That Make It Possible

We chose Notion after testing many productivity tools. The others worked, but they didn’t help my family collaborate. Notion solves this by giving us a shared workspace - this isn’t a pitch just what we do and use.

We schedule what matters, and if it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t exist. We use many calendars: one shared, one for our au pair, and individual ones for work and personal tasks.

It’s complicated, but Notion Calendar has changed everything. It’s simple, links to our task manager, and automates time-blocking. Now we can schedule tasks from our family Notion, making it easier to run our family firm.

The Actionable System:

1. Put dates on everything that matter — Tasks without deadlines don’t get done. When something needs to happen, assign it to a person with a specific due date.

2. Keep a running list of discussion points—Instead of tackling heavy topics at 11 PM on a Wednesday and losing sleep or sneaking a quick discussion on taxes in a meeting bio break, maintain a list of time-sensitive and non-time-sensitive discussion points to address in your weekly meetings.

3. Schedule weekly family meetings — Set a recurring time (like Sunday mornings) to review the week ahead, assign responsibilities, and tackle planning together.

4. Use a structured agenda — Start with urgent items, then move to planned topics, research needs, and task assignments. End with a review of the upcoming week. This keeps meetings focused and productive.

5. Build review layers — Weekly meetings handle the immediate, but monthly check-ins, quarterly reviews, and annual planning sessions to catch the bigger picture and ensure that items get put on our running discussion list that move us towards larger goals.

6. Calendar everything that matters — If it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t exist. This includes meal prep, kid activities, travel planning, and even research time for trips, purchases etc.

7. Keep it fun — Weekly meetings don’t have to be a drag. Mix up the location, take it as a walking meeting when the weather’s nice, or make it a coffee date at your favorite spot which we do

If you’re drowning in family chaos, give this a shot.

Start small. S

tay consistent.

Until next time - Tim Frazer

P.S

I’ve got chicken and rice to prep, two babies to feed, and meetings to prep for.

Sound familiar? Like many parents, I’ve mastered quick fixes. Need dinner? Use a DoorDash coupon. Writing help? Try ChatGPT. Want a home office? Get IKEA furniture, fast. But lately, I've been wondering:

When does "good enough" become a trap that holds us back from real growth?

have I traded convenience for real culinary knowledge or hat feeling of just this one time?

This trade-off shows up everywhere in our busy lives. When we use AI to draft emails, are we developing our communication skills? Are we teaching our kids problem-solving when we help with homework using quick online solutions? Or are we just getting through the evening? When we choose quick-assembly furniture instead of learning woodworking, we miss out. Sure, that example is extreme, but I love creating with my hands. What hidden talents might we discover?

Look, I get it. With job demands, family duties, and constant notifications, we can't master everything. Sometimes functional solutions are exactly what we need. The reality of modern life demands some shortcuts.

Here's what actually works (I've tested this with my own family):

• Choose ONE area for deep learning each quarter. it's cooking, coding, or creative writing - recently, it’s me recommitting to push out some kind of deeper writing at least once a month.

• Use convenience tools strategically for everything else. I’m going to get door-dash/meal kits only a few times a week.

• Make learning a family activity. Turn that IKEA furniture assembly into a lesson about tools and engineering for your kids.

The key takeaway? Stop feeling guilty about using convenience tools. Use them in a calculated manner to create space for true mastery in the areas that matter most to you. You don't need to master everything; you need to be intentional about where you invest your limited time and energy.

Think of it like your phone's battery - you can't always run every app at full power. Choose what deserves your full charge, and let the rest run in low-power mode.

I liken this to practical work: " Effective reasoning emphasises affordable loss.” It's about learning to get something done but being willing to accept the trade-offs.

Until next time

The job market is tough, and unless you create unique opportunities, it can feel like a battle to achieve your desired career and self-respect that a new role may fill.

Personal Background & Challenges

As a self-taught engineer, my path has been unconventional but enriching. My lack of a prestigious education has sometimes hurt my career, but it has also made me resilient. My homeschooling background caused some issues, like test anxiety, which can hurt my performance in interviews. Despite these obstacles, I've secured high-paying, challenging jobs. But the journey still brings new challenges.

Work-Life Balance & Real-World Challenges

To achieve the career growth we seek, we often face significant challenges. I interview almost every month; this keeps me fresh and lets me understand my current market value. In one interview this year, I felt underprepared, struggling to balance long work hours with managing young children. I had assumed that practising a few key areas would suffice, but the experience taught me otherwise. While hard work and sleepless nights are essential, they don't guarantee success.

Active Feedback Seeking

Recognizing the importance of growth, I've begun actively seeking feedback after interviews. While this isn't a common practice in the industry, it's often possible to obtain by following up. Typically, this feedback is provided over the phone rather than in writing, so I will take shorthand notes.

After participating in several hiring rounds, I gained valuable insights that helped me make meaningful adjustments. Although I didn't agree with all the feedback, I came to appreciate how different perspectives—shaped by various experiences and the roles I applied for—offer valuable insights. These diverse viewpoints help me identify areas for self-improvement.

Current Status & Future Goals

Interviews are a growth opportunity, and I will share the feedback on this latest one with you.

For example;

1. "When solving a problem, start with the big picture. Then, ask more questions when diagramming. You solved the problem but it took too long." - interviewer.

   1. Learning 1. Okay, so there are a few things here. First, I should have asked more questions about the problem. I got nervous, so I started solving it before I clearly understood the issue.

   2. Learning 2. Start at the top and work your way down rather than from the bottom up.

In retrospect, this seems straightforward, but I took my notes from the feedback and improved my thinking. Some feedback was more personal. I swore once, which I'm working on. Another time, I felt the engineer needed to be corrected. It took a lot of work to get them to see my solution, and I felt that my communication could have been clear and concise.

Practical Steps for Handling Feedback

Through this journey this past year, I've developed a systematic approach to processing feedback:

1. Express gratitude and document the feedback received. This is important.

2. Analyze feedback objectively. Separate emotions from actionable insights. This is the hard part.

3. Create specific action items for improvement; for example, I solved a problem by starting with the details rather than at the high level.

4. Set realistic timelines for implementing changes.

Track progress and adjust strategies as needed.

My career journey has taught me that feedback, while sometimes challenging to receive, is a tool for growth. It's not just about hearing the feedback - it's about creating a systematic approach to processing and acting on it. While my path as a self-taught engineer presents unique challenges, each piece of feedback brings me closer to my career goals.

References

Wes Kao's Newsletter

Stop learning to give feedback. Learn to receive it.

👋 Hey, it’s Wes. Welcome to my weekly newsletter on managing up, career growth, and standing out as a high-performer. Check out my new live course: Executive Communication & Influence for Senior ICs and Managers…

Read more

2 years ago · 90 likes · 20 comments · Wes Kao

As a data engineer/architect/director, I aim to create simple, efficient, and scalable data pipelines and architectures. “Simple is Better“. However, with the abundance of tools and abstractions in today's data ecosystem, achieving true simplicity can be challenging.

For instance, when designing a data lake architecture, using the latest technologies like Delta Lake, Iceberg ( my current favourite), or Hudi for all use cases is tempting. However, sometimes a simple partitioned parquet structure might suffice for many datasets, reducing complexity and maintenance overhead with a well-thought-out AWS S3 structure—it can be a pretty solid combo.

s3://your-data-lake-bucket/
├── raw/
│   ├── source1/
│   │   ├── YYYY/
│   │   │   ├── MM/
│   │   │   │   ├── DD/
│   │   │   │   │   └── data_files...

We have powerful tools like Airflow, Spark, and dbt that abstract away much of the complexity. While these tools are good, understanding their underlying mechanisms to avoid creating a 'black box' architecture that's difficult to debug and optimize - so resist adding this complexity until there is a real need; Simple is Better.

DataEngineer.io Newsletter

The Hard Truth About Bad Data Models

Data models describe businesses and reveal patterns that would otherwise go unnoticed. The power here is the promise of not flying in the dark. The problem is many people build planes with one wing, planes without fuel, or planes without a pilot…

Read more

2 years ago · 10 likes · Zach Wilson

Elegant design and nimble data structures prevent future headaches.

Quality work brings rewards, such as the satisfaction of a job well done.

That is all for today -

Highlights

☕ I read the most in the afternoon

💌 I subscribed to 11 new Substacks

📽️ I watched 23 minutes of video

❤️ I liked 15 posts

💬 I left 1 comment on posts

📜 I scrolled 6 meters in Notes

🕵️ I discovered 7 new posts via Notes

Top Substacks

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Learn About End-To-End Data Flows (Data Engineering, MLOps, and Data Science)

Top post this summer: Why Your Data Stack Won't Last - And How To Build Data Infrastructure That Will

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Grow faster in your software engineering career with weekly actionable tips you can use right away.

Top post this summer: Managing up: 3 things I wish I realized sooner

Level Up by Ethan Evans by Ethan Evans

Level Up is your source for career growth solutions and community by retired Amazon Vice President, Ethan Evans. Paid membership grants access to all newsletter issues, member-only events, and a private leadership networking community.

Top post this summer: How to deal with Manipulative Executives

Share your own Summer Recap

You can see your own summer recap in the Substack app. I’d love to see what you’ve been reading.

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Why connections IRL > Digital

Let's explore the power of networking and why LinkedIn represents a form of "soft networking." While LinkedIn is a powerful platform, it can sometimes lack depth. I enjoy transforming these superficial connections into more profound, more meaningful relationships. Some of my best connections have come from LinkedIn, which is reminiscent of Facebook's heyday. For example, I was reading SQL patterns by someone I respect, Ergest Xheblati (Minimum Viable SQL Patterns | Business Operations Nerd), and I noticed a few bugs in his examples, likely caused by changes in the data sources he based some of his examples on. I reached out to him with my comments on his book—which I think is great but needed these points fixed. This led to a conversation with him and an introduction to another startup I was helping, which has spawned further conversations and networking opportunities and hopefuly work together in the future. These kinds of connections have led to book-writing conversations with publishers, collaborations, job opportunities, and business growth.

Yet, for me, building genuine relationships usually requires meeting in person—I know, it makes me sound old. It could be at a bar, coffee shop, or over dinner. The act of showing up and engaging face-to-face truly cements these connections. That's why I dedicate time to networking face-to-face from the realm of LinkedIn, converting this soft network into a true network.

Your LinkedIn profile is like an online business card. It's usually the first thing people see when they find you online or through a Google search. It's crucial to make it professional and engaging. If you don't define your story, someone else will—and that's not ideal.

As of today, LinkedIn stands as the foremost social network for professionals, a crazy 1~ billion active users.

Here are the three main reasons to invest in it:

• Networking- is fundamental in a remote world. It lets you connect with peers and exchange opinions in a "professional" online environment. This is even more important for development. You can expand your network and find new job opportunities by joining discussions and online events. Networking well on LinkedIn has boosted my career. So, it is now an essential tool, although it can be fickle for someone who writes and posts daily.

• Learning — LinkedIn offers a wealth of interesting content for personal and professional growth, depending on who you choose to follow; for example Nicola Ballotta ( Hybrid Hacker), Cedric Chin ( Commoncog.com - best business writing on the web) , Jordan Cutler (High Growth Engineer Newsletter) and hundreds more.

• Jobs — you can find job opportunities and hire talent yourself; but applying directly is mostly a waste of time these days (see networking below)

Here's a little backstory about my origins: My parents homeschooled me, which resulted in a more isolated childhood than most. Growing up on a small Canadian island, I was an extroverted Dungeons & Dragons fan with a ponytail who enjoyed Warhammer and video games. This environment restricted my interactions to mostly white, male individuals. It limited my exposure to diverse opinions.

Landing my first job at a local grocery store at 14 was a pivotal moment. Interacting with customers and coworkers was challenging at first, but it pushed me further out of my comfort zone over time. This experience marked the beginning of my journey to break out of my shell.

I landed this position through a friend's referral for an interview. It became my first real job, a significant step up from the odd jobs I'd done at a computer store (where my small hands came in handy) and my babysitting gigs. This grocery store job represented my first consistent paycheck. It's amusing to note that neither linkedin.com nor even thefacebook.com existed at this point—talk about feeling old.

This early job experience laid the foundation for my future networking skills. Although I didn't realize it at the time, each customer interaction was preparing me for the professional connections I would make later in life. The transition from my first steps in the job market to the world of work was just the beginning of my journey in building relationships.

As I progressed in my career, I realized the importance of building connections. I started small, attending local meetups and industry events. Each interaction, despite my initial discomfort, contributed to the growth of my confidence. Over time, I discovered that I enjoyed meeting new people and hearing their stories. What began as a necessary skill for career growth transformed into a genuine interest in connecting with others.

I now seek networking opportunities. I organize events and mentor others on building professional relationships. It's a far cry from the introverted teenager I once was, but it's a journey for which I'm grateful.

Overwhelmed by the idea of networking

I understand. In the tech field, we often lean towards introversion. We spend long periods staring at screens, connected to our music, or focused on solving problems. Yet, most white-collar work is innately human. We haven't figured out how to outsource or solve our problems without talking to another person, and I hope we never have to outsource human connection.

When networking, I like to focus on what I want from a conversation: a genuine connection.

1. Daily Goal of Connecting with 5+ people each day. This will grow your network and expose you to new ideas and people.

2. Engage and Interact: Don't be a spectator. Engage with others. Comment, share your insights, and join the conversations. Let your expertise shine, and let others recognize you as a valuable contributor.

3. Share Your Progress: Are you working on an exciting personal project, such as a Substack or a new app? Don't hesitate to share your daily progress. Sharing your journey shows your skills and passion. It attracts like-minded people who could become valuable connections.

4. Collaborate and Connect: If you find insightful information or posts from others in your field, respond with your thoughts. Meaningful conversations are a great way to connect and collaborate.

5. Authenticity is fundamental to networking. Approach networking by being yourself and focusing on helping others. Share helpful resources, give constructive feedback, and support their goals.

Hearing "So, what do you do?" repeatedly at networking events can quickly become tiresome, potentially driving you to leave early or you drive them away. Don't fall into the trap of asking such mundane questions. Instead, try expanding your conversation deeper, even when on linkedin to connect with the person you're talking to genuinely. For instance, you might ask;
"What aspects of your work gets you fired up?”.

I'm curious about what they find most attractive in their daily lives. Often, they share stories about their kids, pets, and adventures—from long hikes to ice climbing and rock climbing; living in India to study yoga with a guru because learning from the source seemed better than spending the same amount of money on attending a yoga teacher training ( this is me)

You might discover something exciting about the person you thought was just another data nerd. Perhaps they're an artist. If so, ask them what kind of art they create, what drives them, and what makes them tick. I always enjoy exploring these aspects of people.

A common misconception about LinkedIn is that it's solely for professional networking. While it certainly serves that purpose, LinkedIn offers much more. It's a platform where people can discuss a wide range of topics and maintain connections and reconnect.

Unlike Instagram or Facebook, where you might not connect with many coworkers, LinkedIn provides a space to engage with past and present colleagues. It's particularly useful for staying in touch with people you've enjoyed working with.

LinkedIn allows you to maintain a professional rapport even if your relationship doesn't extend to personal matters like family or vacations. It's an ideal platform for this type of focused, career-oriented interaction.

However, the true power lies in converting this soft network into something more meaningful, so please, if you take away anything from this article; get out there and network. You never know how your next connection will pan out; also, put your goddamn phone down when you are talking to someone.

Resources

Refactoring

An Engineer's Guide to Linkedin 💼

Luca here! After the one on salary reviews, which got a fantastic reception, this is another article written together with Nicola, on one of the topics he is an absolute authority on: using Linkedin…

Read more

2 years ago · 35 likes · Luca Rossi and Nicola Ballotta

https://hbr.org/2022/11/a-better-approach-to-networking

https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/dunning-kruger-effect

Sometimes, we find ourselves in a new job or role, or even as new parents and think, "Does anyone realize I have no idea what I'm doing?"

As a self-taught professional and new parent, I often experience this feeling. Imposter syndrome is universal, but it doesn't have to be paralyzing.

I won't claim I've figured it out; I doubt most people have. What I have figured out is how to ride the wave of self-doubt.

A solid foundation is critical for success in handling this uncertainty. This foundation isn't just about skills—it's about mental resilience and support systems that help move you forward when you are starting to 🐌.

Please remember that "faking it" and imposter syndrome are related but distinct. If left unaddressed, imposter syndrome can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. You might avoid pursuing opportunities and project a false image to others, inadvertently shaping their opinions of you. This can lead you to fall prey to a mindset that isn't grounded in reality. On the other hand, "faking it" means leaning into something even when you don't necessarily know everything yet.

While working at an ape-named e-commerce company, I was hired to be a Ruby on Rails developer. I had never coded in Ruby or been a full-time software engineer at that point. I had some JavaScript development and integration work as an app developer trying to get enterprise software to talk to warehouses. I also developed modifications for the video game in my youth. Yet, I had never worked on full-blown production software like this before. I was terrified.

So, when I moved from Vancouver, Canada (recently divorced—read: stressed and lost) to New York, I rented a short-term apartment, figuring I'd last at most 90 days. So I proceeded to “fake it” and madly took every online tutorial I could find, seized every chance to learn from my co-workers, devoured every book I could, and absorbed anything about Ruby or Rails that might be helpful.

I "faked it" until I wasn't anymore; I became a Ruby on Rails developer. I won't say I was remarkable at it. While there, I joined the data team to work on fancy stuff like machine learning and big data. I began the "fake it" cycle again a year or so later and never looked back.

I want to cover something I read recently on Refactoring → go read it and something I want to address as I think it’s relevant and worth repeating here.

The Dunning-Kruger (overconfidence effect) is often conflated with impostor syndrome. However, these are two very different phenomena.

Dunning-Kruger Effect

The Dunning-Kruger effect is a bias. It causes people with limited knowledge to overestimate their abilities in a specific area.

• People with low ability in a particular area overestimate their competence.

• It stems from a lack of self-awareness and metacognitive skills.

• It can lead to poor decision-making, resistance to feedback, and overconfidence.

• It's most common in people who are new to a skill or domain.

Imposter Syndrome

On the other hand, Imposter syndrome is characterized by persistent self-doubt and feelings of fraudulence despite evidence of competence and success.

• High-achieving individuals underestimate their abilities and accomplishments.

• People feel like they are "faking it" or don't deserve their success.

• It can lead to anxiety, self-doubt, and reluctance to take on new challenges.

• It's common among successful professionals and academics.

Key Differences

1. Self-perception: Dunning-Kruger leads to overestimation of abilities, while impostor syndrome causes underestimation.

2. Competence level: Dunning-Kruger typically affects those with lower competence, while impostor syndrome often plagues high achievers.

3. Self-awareness: Those experiencing Dunning-Kruger lack self-awareness, while those with impostor syndrome are often hyper-aware and self-critical.

4. Impact on performance: Dunning-Kruger may lead to taking on tasks beyond one's capabilities, while impostor syndrome can result in hesitation to embrace new challenges.

5. Response to feedback: People experiencing Dunning-Kruger tend to resist feedback, while those with impostor syndrome are usually receptive to criticism.

First recognize and acknowledge it

It's important to acknowledge these feelings, not suppress them. Acknowledging them helps with imposter syndrome and "faking it." It's common. I often feel like a fraud despite my successes. I attribute my success to luck, not my abilities. I hold myself to unattainable expectations, inducing a debilitating fear of defeat.

So challenge your inner critic who wants to crawl out and shame you. Write it down, tell someone, or say, "Hey brain, I know you're messing with me. I have better things to do, so fuck off." That's my favourite.

Seek support and mentorship

• Stop, pause, and talk to someone. I prefer calling 📲 hearing another human voice is key part for me. Reaching out to friends or acquaintances out of the blue is a lifeline I rely on. Seeking an external perspective can be invaluable when we're too close to our challenges to find solutions.

• Reach out to a mentor, colleague, or friend for a fresh take; text, slack group, or reach out however feels best to you ( I mentor on adplist.org and linkedin.com). Sharing your situation with someone sparks insight uncovers new solutions, and reinforces human connection, reminding yourself you're not alone.

Practice Self-Care

I've also found the following strategies to be the most effective in helping me thrive as a self-taught professional in hybrid and remote working environments these past years.

• Therapy: Navigating divorce, a worldwide pandemic, inflation, and today's politics is no f*cking joke. Finding a trained professional has been one of the biggest unlocks for me. Also, just like with a good coach, don't be afraid to "quit" or try several therapists until you find one that works for you.

• Direction: Goal setting shouldn't be complicated; it helps chart your course.

• Support: A diverse group of friends offering varied perspectives—in tech and beyond, with different identities and orientations—to stretch your thinking and broaden your horizons.

• Movement: I find exercise necessary; I try walking at least a few miles daily and going to the gym. We are designed to move, and when I worked in the office, I almost always had at least one walking meeting a day. Get outside - a short walk can do you wonders of breaking up your brain.

• Time boxing and using your calendar: I time box all the time. When I did the altMBA many years ago, I frequently found that setting hard deadlines prevented me from avoiding delivery. Also, if you don't put a task on your calendar, have you really decided to do it? https://www.nirandfar.com/todo-vs-schedule-builder/

Celebrate Your Successes

We are all figuring it out as we go. I once told my therapist ”Don't add horsepower to your boat; remove resistance”. This idea isn’t new, and you can probably find something like it in the millions of self-help books and articles I’ve read over the years, but it is about being more focused on what you are actually trying to do and doing that.

To improve at something, you must reduce distractions. These include meetings, appointments, new projects, and Netflix binges. Often, we are too busy "learning" or just doing things for the sake of doing them. Streamline your priorities to emphasize what is significant.

I'm imperfect. As I write this, my iPhone is on "Do Not Disturb" mode across the room, yet it keeps somehow making its way back to my desk.

We're all pretending until we build the structure that turns that fake confidence into real expertise. The secret isn't in never faking it—it's in creating a solid foundation to support you. At the same time, you figure out the real deal, transforming your faking into fundamental skills and removing the feelings of others.

A few articles I’ve read recently inspired me around this subject.

Thinking your way out of imposter syndrome | Valerie Young

How To Beat Imposter Syndrome | Ali Abdaal

Obvious to you. Amazing to others. | Derek Sivers

I'm still here, deep in thought. Several pieces brew slowly, defying quick completion. My writing mirrors my current reflections, not fleeting hacks: patience, dear readers. The coming weeks promise fresh insights pulled from my brain cells and conversations.

* Measuring data maturity the no bullsh*t practical way; I’ve read probably a dozen books, articles, and courses at this point and found most of them using overtly complex measurement tools, and frankly, I think it can be reduced to a good sauce.

* What is a data strategy? - getting stuff moving in your organization.
I’m interviewing around a dozen people who work in Data worldwide and will condense these interviews.

* Using LLM to help you model data - and rubber-ducking your problems.

I will be back soon with more content; thank you for your patience.

Tim

I frequently have multiple roles: mentorships, senior leadership, dad, startup advisor, etc.

I’m a pretty hardcore individual obsessed with solving problems, leading and working on gnarly problems, and making money isn't bad either.

In the future, I will cover practical learning. I will challenge myself to go from an essential skill like VIM (aha) to practical data strategies. I find the subjects fascinating.

Shut down and leave your work.

I’ll be honest: I sleep less than I would like. While I don’t subscribe to hustler culture, there is no way around it. To produce a lot, you work a lot. I know, shocking. Sure, you can hack with AI tools and processes. But, in the end, it’s about using your time and energy as well as possible. And that starts with no.

I’ll be honest: I’m not perfect at this as a natural-born people pleaser, and it’s taken me years, but it’s required to be an effective leader.

Saying no enables you to prioritize your well-being and essential goals. Taking time off isn't a break from work; it's a necessary step toward maintaining long-term productivity and happiness.

When you take time off, you give your mind and body the chance to recharge. Rest brings fresh views and new energy. These are crucial for facing challenges and achieving goals. Without enough breaks, you risk burnout. It's wrecking your effectiveness and enthusiasm over time.

Step away from work. It does help you gain clarity. It allows you to reflect on your priorities and reassess your strategies. Often, the best ideas come when you're not trying to solve a problem. Instead, you're letting your mind wander also helps in numerous other ways.

So, the next time you find yourself overwhelmed with responsibilities, remember the power of saying no. Embrace the opportunity to rest, reflect, and rejuvenate.

Your future self will thank you, and for me, my kids and all the people I consider friends.

Embrace life, and go on a trip.

Scott Galloway's writing in Algebra of Wealth inspired me “It’s okay to say, I’ve changed, this isn’t my goal anymore”

Lately, I've been rethinking my career priorities after exiting my last role. A growing sense of unease prompted this. I worried that my technical skills were stagnating. As a director, I've enjoyed managing and leading teams, but I've realised that my passion for management needs a refresh on top of being a relatively new dad and working at startups can be an emotional rollercoaster; in one of my previous roles, I had 5 managers in 2 years; this meant as a leader, I had to adapt to these person expectations constantly; some I hit off the park, some managers couldn’t give a fig about data engineering or care to understand it and somewhere just too busy. Sometimes, it felt natural; sometimes, it felt like paddling with a single paddle, mostly in circles.

I long for a place to seamlessly blend my technical skills with leadership, although I’m starting to feel that I’m more like Dorthy from The Wizard of Oz.

Rather than direct management, I've focused on my work's technical and leadership aspects. I'm looking more into data architecture with a new challenge, and I have done this several times in my roles. I lead a demanding project, which has renewed my sense of purpose. I love digging into challenging problems. My client is huge in finance—it deals in many billions. So, it's fun to learn and stretch this part of my brain.

Reassessing my career path and striving for continual improvement is crucial for me. I've always been driven to excel and rank myself among the top professionals in my field. I've understood that this demands my transformation, change, and stretching myself.

Management is undergoing rapid transformation ( see massive cuts). I must adapt to these changes to stay relevant, so my goals must change.

I’ve been doing some gnarly data modelling and system design for clients recently. This has reignited my passion for technical strategy, and I want to dedicate more time to this area. I've been reminded recently that career paths are rarely straight, and I've bounced around quite a few over the years.

It's okay to change goals as I grow and learn.

This new chapter in my career is not about giving up my management experience. It's about combining it with my technical skills. This will make me more well-rounded. By doing so, I'm confident that I'll stay competitive in my field and unlock new opportunities for growth and development.

To help me do this, I’ve recently been doing Josh Watzkin MIQ to help me focus on myself and the million things going on in my monkey brain.

1 – Find your MIQ. At the end of your day, reflect on what the ONE most important question is for you to answer in your life right now. What’s the question that, if answered, would create the most significant positive impact in your life? At any moment, only ONE question is essential for us to solve. Identifying it is half of the battle.

2—Write your MIQ down. I do this on my notion page, but you can use anything like paper; I do this when I’m too lazy to find my phone.

3—Stop thinking about the question. Once you’ve written it down, you invite your mind to let go of wrestling with the challenge for the rest of the day. Do your best to stay present for the rest of your day's activities.

4 – After a night’s sleep, free-write your question first thing in the morning ( morning pages). Your mind is the sharpest and most precise. Do a brain dump after your subconscious has connected the dots about your MIQ. I often find a challenge that once felt intimidating, scary, or complex but now feels more simple and accessible to face.

5—Use your journaling to make a decision. If a decision needs to be made, use your journaling to inform it. Trust your gut. Most of the time, you can pick a path right then and there, and overthinking rarely does you any good.

Resources

Why not try MIQ's most important question; Journaling to Get Clarity on Your Most Vexing Challenges - Josh Watzkin

Tim Ferris Interviewing Josh Waitzkin: a great listen about cramming 2 months of learning into 1 day and what MIQ is and how important it is.

I love learning. It keeps me moving forward even when overwhelmed by the subject matter or life’s demands. As I progress in my tech career, I find it helpful to delve into complex subjects. Data and business strategies are now at the top of my mind.

Recently, I’ve been teaching myself how to create and use Wardley maps (a way of strategic thinking). A director of engineering at my last company introduced me to this method. It was exciting. It helped me find gaps and missed chances. It helped me see when designing data systems and planning future data projects.

Before we dive deep, let's review how I learn when time is limited.

Balancing Learning with Life

I have a young family with two kids under three. I also have house renovations, a startup/consulting life, and many other obligations. I've had to use my time as best as possible. Continual learning while mid-career with a family has been the most challenging yet rewarding learning curve. So, most of what I write will be through this lens. This is due to the demanding constraints of time available.

Learning Strategies

I love to learn in several ways, depending on the outcomes I need or desire. Sometimes, you need to know something specific for your career (e.g., Wardley maps) or your family (e.g., cooking for infants and toddlers). I like learning experiences that help both personal and professional sides. It's a dual win.

I understand and retain knowledge best when it is applied practically. Most of my mentors and classes emphasize practical use. For example, if you read a book on managing money but never practice it, why did you read it?

A Learning Approach

Here’s my template for breaking down learning, especially if I’m trying to retain it:

1. Define Your Goal 🎯

- Why are you choosing to use your time to learn this? Ensure it’s worth your time, and consider the "why" before you dive in.

2. Create a Timeline or Target 📆

- This will likely move around, but you should try to force yourself to finish within a set timeframe.

3. Define Done ✅

- Is it a presentation, public speaking, or learning a new instrument? For example, I started competing within months of training when learning Olympic lifting and powerlifting and got a job programming months after learning some PHP (WordPress days).

4. Gather Resources

- Collect several resources depending on how deep you want to go. I usually open a Notion page or a .txt file for notes.

5. Leverage Technology and Community

Use tools like Perplexity AI to source information and YouTube for tutorials the most these days. I also love finding and talking to friends and experts in the field, leveraging platforms like LinkedIn. Intelligent people love sharing knowledge, often costing nothing more than a coffee ☕️.

Example: Learning Wardley Maps

A Wardley Map, developed by Simon Wardle, visually represents a company's environment. It illustrates how various activities evolve in response to supply-and-demand competition. The map highlights the value chain stages, which consist of the tasks needed to meet a user's needs. Each map can reflect different user perspectives, providing a comprehensive view of how activities interact and progress within the business context.

Goal: Understand how to use Wardley maps to create a mental model representing the basics of a strategic situation to make sense of it and act with purpose.

Timeline: One month to produce several Wardley maps, given my limited weekly time.

Done: Complete at least one Wardley map and have the ability to explain what a Wardley map is and its use in an article.

Applying What You've Learned

Once you have your goals, timeline, and resources, start by reading and taking detailed notes. Your first attempts at creating Wardley maps may be disorganized, but that’s okay. Experience shows that learning often comes best from struggles and failures rather than immediate success.

Share your work and get feedback as you learn. This iterative process of creating, sharing, and refining is key to mastering new concepts and skills.

I can’t say I’m 100% convinced that Wardley maps will solve everything or even many things, but they are a tool for thinking and forming new mental models of the world.

Resources:

- Introduction to Wardley Mapping

- Miro Blog on Wardley Maps

- IT Revolution Article on Wardley Mapping

- Wardley Maps Community GitHub

- YouTube tutorials → The Easiest Way to Do Wardley Mapping in 10 minutes

- Courses on learning Wardley mapping

Every birthday, I check in with myself and review my current activities, how the year went, and what I think about where I am today and where I'm going. I do a year-in-review.

My approach to goal setting and personal growth is rooted in intentional living. While I recognise the influence of external factors and chance, living with purpose sets you on the right path, even if it doesn't guarantee reaching your destination. This mindset has enabled me to make significant career changes rapidly.

After working for over two years at a behaviour change company and leading the data team there, I learned quite a lot about setting goals and changing one's perception of oneself.

I began to refine and adjust my thoughts about changing my habits, which are the foundation of my goals.

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

Remember, a core part of being self-taught is having a solid direction, so you should have a next step 👣

How have I altered my mindset, and how have I progressed towards my goals?

I conduct a "This is Age (X)" review using Notion & paper. Although I update the format yearly, I've been doing this in some form or variation for over a decade. Even if it's a day or two late ( see life and family)

First, I review what remains true today and what I consider a success by reviewing my photos, calendar, and previous year's goals. This review process typically takes a few hours as I assess what worked and what didn't.

Then, I outline my goals for the next year, three years, and five-plus years.

Do my goals and direction still align with what and where I'm going now from one year ago?

How I break down my areas of focus

• 1~ Year: focus on immediate, concrete goals like learning a new skill, starting a business, or getting stronger.

• 3~ Years: Consider medium-term goals, such as getting a promotion, saving for a big purchase, achieving a fitness milestone, like for me competing in powerlifting.

• 5~ Years: aim for long-term, big-picture goals like finding a career you're passionate about, starting a family, or travelling the world.

How I break this down even further

• Annual recap (highlights, challenges, lessons learned)

• Future goals (personal, career, health)

• Actionable steps (to achieve goals)

• Wins and accomplishments (celebrate your successes!)

• Obstacles and learnings (be honest and reflect)

What does this look like doing a year in review?

Previous year in review

Some extracts of my yearly review…

Annual Recap

My 2nd child was born in the summer of 2023 - a beautiful baby that I love so much 💘. They also sleep very well, which is a bonus ( ed - this was a lie, as I soon found out). I enjoyed seeing my in-laws in Philadelphia and spending time with them in our new-to-us house, built in the late 1800s. We had the opportunity to work on some projects, fix some things, and show them some of the renovations we had designed ourselves and some that we had done for ourselves, but we sourced and did a lot; I also fixed a broken pipe with my father in law, that was a mess. We also got to explore the city with their grandkids, which was memorable for everyone with their grandkids.

Other highlights include a bike accident in which my daughter and I ended up in the ER. I also had trips to Dublin, London, Italy, Canada, and Seattle and took cooking classes in Italy with my children and wife!

I wrote an operating manual that I plan to revise every year at the end of the year as I reflect on my working style.

Looking back at the past 12 months, I reflect on my goals and what I did or did not accomplish. More importantly, I consider whether these goals still matter to me.

This is to review my year through photos and calendars and take notes of significant events. My memory isn't always reliable, and this process aids reflection and remembrance. You'll notice that many trivial things don't make it to the record. Daily annoyances often become inconsequential in the grand scheme of things - which is good!

For example, this is a review I did about one of my goals and one of my failed goals.

Personal Goals

What: Practice building a second brain

What happened: I took this course in 2021 and it was terrific. However, it was around when my daughter was born, so paying attention and practice took a lot of work. I've setup my second brain in Notion. I was using Roam but found over time that it became a massive pile of nothing. So I moved over/back to Notion. I was going to use something open-source but didn't have the batteries, so I forked over the money and have been happy. There is much room for improvement as it relates to the methods I learned, but I've started. This year, I aim to start making more reminders and getting this muscle going more.
Is it a win?: Yes 🥇

The next goal was an absolute failure last year—it was too vague and probably impossible to achieve.

What: No major health issues while 38, what happened: Got hit by a car, damaged something in my back, lifting weights, trying to get ready for a powerlifting competition and more Cold/COVID/Flu/other? Than I care to remember and a sinus infection all within months of each other.

Is it a win?: No ❌

However, this setback has taught me valuable lessons about balance and self-care, which I will incorporate into my future goals.

Reflecting on these successes and challenges, here's what I plan to change moving forward:

I make each objective measurable to track my progress effectively.

Takeaways:

From reviewing goals, my takeaway is that it's a chance for introspection. It's a chance to hold up a mirror to your goals and dreams. By checking your progress, you can find areas that need change. Then, you can make choices to stay on track. This process helps you gain personal accountability. It ensures your actions match your values and objectives. The review process should make you squirm. It should prompt you to face your weaknesses. If it doesn't, you're not doing it right.

1. Own Your Background: In interviews, I rarely disclose that I'm self-taught unless prompted. My unique path from being homeschooled to being Director of Data Engineering in a New York City startup highlights my ability to keep learning without traditional schooling. Using every part of your personal story to highlight your strengths is essential. I learned this while taking the altMBA that Seth Godin and Wes Kao created ( if you get a chance, you should take it - it will push you to ship stuff and not idolize perfection)

2. Seek Inspiration from Trailblazers: Identify and study non-traditional leaders who resonate with your aspirations. For instance, Tadao Ando, a self-taught Japanese architect, inspired me with his unconventional use of concrete. His journey bolstered my confidence in forging my path. Find your Tadao Ando; we all need someone who inspires us.

3. Confront Self-Doubt Head-On: Self-doubt is common among self-taught individuals. I counter this by maintaining a log of completed projects and successes and, more importantly, failures. Each entry is a testament to my growth and capability. Start a success log today; it will serve as your anchor in moments of uncertainty. I like to use the mental model of Identity → Process → Outcome.

[Identity] I am a software engineer.

[Process] I will write code for 30 minutes every day. Showing up is 90% of the work.

[Outcome] I will create a working piece of software to show X.

4. Implement Identity-Based Habits: Transition from aspiring to being by acting the part. I started my engineering career not by landing a big job at first but by building a simple website for a friend. It didn’t matter that the project was small; what mattered was it paid, and that payment symbolized my professional value. Take on small projects that reinforce your professional identity; volunteer, but find someone or thing that holds you accountable. We all have projects that could be a thing, but we get stuck or fail once we hit our first or even second roadblock. Failure is part of learning.

5. Document and Reflect Regularly: Every week, I write down my accomplishments, no matter how small, and review them over coffee. I recently told my wife and kids what I feel most proud about: things I have learned or failed to understand. This is even more important as I get older—not to brag, but to learn to celebrate. This routine helps keep my progress and goals in focus.

Make it a habit to document and think about your achievements often. For example, this is the first post on my substack. I have nothing to teach or offer, but I'm sure that's my lizard brain—it's time to set up my new mental model.

Identity writer.

6. Curate a Learning Toolbox: Equip yourself with resources that enhance your learning. Here are a few I’ve found invaluable:

• Farnam Street's Mental Models
  I used this as a reference point as Shane Parrish, frequently writes and talks about mental models.

• Decision by Design by Farnam Street
  I did this course over a year ago, and I loved how sometimes weird or hard-to-follow mental models made sense with practice and trying to apply to your life.

• Ness Labs on Mental Models
  Good reference and other thinking on mental models

• James Clear on Mental Models
  Changing your habits, one small step at a time

Take Action: Identity → Process → Outcome

This approach isn’t just theoretical; it’s a practical blueprint for continuous improvement and success. Start with your identity, engage in processes that reinforce this identity, and achieve outcomes that reflect your growth.

Embrace this cycle, refine it, and watch how it transforms your landscape.