Issue 5

Welcome to 2023.

Yesterday, while writing my 2022 review, it got me thinking about my 2023 resolutions. The first day of the year is the pristine start for changes. As so they say. If you go to any media outlet, you will see plenty of tips and tricks to start and stick to your resolution. All this is quite foolish and juvenile.

The biggest drive for meaningful change is born right after a dark period. Being dumped by a girlfriend, a family member dying, being fired from a job, or being close to death. Anything that forces us to reevaluate our behaviour, our posture towards others and generally speaking how we live. It’s an uncanny force from within that pushes outwards. Starting a new revolution around the sun is probably not it. But if you are into resolutions, please don’t let my words discourage you. At the end of the day, I am a random person on the internet. What the hell do I know anyway?

The catalyst for change was my deep discontentment with Twitter. I can’t quite put my finger on what the exact problem is. But the return on investment had become negative. I was a worse person for being there. I was angrier, more agitated, and honestly feeling that most people are morons. When they aren’t. The problem was with me. I was writing these thought provoking tweets for the status signalling. A never-ending, worthless game. For several weeks I asked myself what was the gain? What was I really getting out of it? And the answer is now obvious. I reached the apex on the 27th of November. An ordinary day and surely not as flashy as 1st of January. And from then on I started doing all the things I wanted to do anyway: purposeful reading and writing.

So… What exactly are my resolutions for 2023? None. I have a single important race on the 13th of May. My focus is getting ready for it. That means a lot of running, strength training and losing around 5kg. There’s a bunch of things that go into it, and for that I could generate some resolutions, but for what? I know what needs to be done. I will also continue to write and read more. I have a substack newsletter which I will continue to publish. If I get more subscribers, that’s great! If not, that’s okay as well. I am very selfish about my motives to put words on the canvas.

This week was quite productive. So let’s dive into those:

On Managing Upwards - A skill that is not discussed enough, but that’s expected after a certain seniority level. I shared some condensed thoughts on the topic.

Manager as a Buffer - I discuss an expectation of every manager out there. I touched external and internal points of pressure.

CV specific examples - My goal was to spend more presenting examples, but I left with a single one. The general rule is simple: don’t write generic descriptions. Be specific and if possible with measurements!

20,000 hours as a Software Engineer - This is my most read post. I reckon it resonates with many that read my experience as a Software Engineer. Having a click-bait title also works.

Asking for help - Simple: if you need help, hit me up.

2022 - My year in review. I mostly discussed my job at Vital and how things are going in that department. I also talk about my running and what I read in 2022.

Until next time.