We tell our kids to do their best all the time. So when did we stop doing ours? Do your best, and if your best isn’t up to par, look at what someone else’s best is and use that as your yardstick. We have enough slop floating around, and more growing by the minute. Doing your best isn’t a destination; it’s an ongoing journey.
Many years ago, we had a sign for who broke the last build. It was the earliest days of accountability, code reviews, and unit tests. Did you break it? Fix it. Did you break it? Your code must be running well. It was the earliest form of accountability in software development. As we progressed into the hype of the startup world, it also became a badge of honour that you were pushing the envelope, trying…
Want to know the answer to the problem you’ve been stumped on? Just try. Anything. Something. Try to see what works and what doesn’t. And then you’ll know the answer. Yes, AI can do it faster, but that’s not going to help you when you need to know. You tell your kids to try, so maybe follow that advice. Every problem with the unknown has always been figured out by trying, not watching.
I worked on an app one time called “Ignite”. I never truly got it; I thought it was too much at the time. But now I get where we were headed and what the plan was. And now is definitely the time to Ignite whatever you got in your back pocket.
You have tons of time. It’s how you are using your time that might not be what you’re fighting. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t relax and have fun. But it does mean you have a choice in what you do with your time. Don’t wait for people to give you your time; use it for yourself.