You don’t learn from it. You didn’t give it your best effort. You don’t follow-through on what you planned to do instead. You believe it was (and still is) out of your control. You chose comfort in the short-term over fulfillment in the long-term. You listen to others instead of the voice inside. You don’t try to do better next time. You let fear stop you. You don’t frame it properly. Read more...

My 18-year old son asks open-ended, life advice questions via text message. These frequently do not have short answers. He recently asked if he should invest his entire life savings in the stock market. I advised against that and said we’d talk later because it’s better not to do long financial discussions via text. After further deliberation, I decided that maybe that wasn’t the case and set myself the challenge of composing ten pieces of money advice that would each fit in less than 140 characters. Read more...

We all have plans. Goals we want to accomplish. Things we need to do. There are times when our energy and motivation are low. In our heads we know what it is that needs doing, and yet that task, that work, seems too daunting. This is normal. Do something to make forward progress. Too tired for that full workout? Get up and get moving anyway. Have less time than necessary? Read more...

I’ve heard it said that you should live your life with no regrets. This is bullshit. We’re going to have regrets. We’re going to get things wrong and wish we could have done it differently. We’re going to wish we had said something. Not said something. Said it differently. Held out a hand instead of walking away. Walked away instead of following. Said a kind word. Put away the anger and the ego. Read more...

Building software is ultimately about three high-level goals. The first, and arguably most important, solve problems. Second, manage complexity. Third, enable change. If the work you are doing isn’t getting to the heart of one of these pillars, it’s possible you are focused on the wrong thing. Sometimes, we churn unnecessarily on the nonessential. At points like this, we need to take a step back and evaluate. Is this really the best use of our time? Read more...