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? Make adjustments, scale back and do what you can. 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...

Another year has arrived. Are you thrilled about it? Pessimistic? Just happy to see the previous one gone? Well, here we are at a new milestone, arbitrary as it might be in the scheme of things 1. All that potential seems magical. All those untapped days and hours ahead of us across yet another expanse of time. We look ahead with optimism and imagine what we can do this time around. Read more...