Dear New Dev-
After 22 years of ‘production level’ experience in the real world, I’m writing to share three mantras that have led to more happiness and more success for us.
To be clear, these are DAILY mantras. Not weekly, not monthly, not annually. Daily.
They are;
- Surround yourself with people smarter than you
- Build community and give without expecting anything in return
- Listen to your gut, without exception.
Surround yourself every-damn-day with people who are smarter than you
You’ll never be, nor should you, be the smartest person in the room. Confucius reportedly wrote ‘if you are the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room’. Regardless of who wrote those words, they couldn’t be more true. Since high school, I’ve always known that I was smart, but I was also clear that I was not the best at everything and that everyone had something to help me learn or to help me become a better student or a better human.
I’m not suggesting you surround yourself with jerks with a ton of pretense who can’t stop talking about themselves and how smart they are, I’m suggesting that you learn to say ‘I don’t know’, ‘wow, that’s cool, tell me more’, and ‘yes, I could use some help’. Knowing that you will never have all the answers, that it’s okay to ask for help, and having an insatiable curiosity about engineering, life, music and anything that is important to you will get you far in life.
Build community and give without expecting anything in return
In 2006, going into the ‘Great Recession’ we sat in the back of the room at the Boulder-Denver New Tech Meetup and listened to Brad Feld talk about bringing people together and building community (in whatever area and subject that matters to you) with no expectation of anything in return. This idea of #GivingFirst was revolutionary to us thirteen years ago, and it’s been a life-changer for us. It’s a super simple yet elegant idea of walking into a room and asking how you can help someone solve their biggest challenges rather than where-do-they-work-or-what-kind-of-car-do-they-drive. We wrote a detailed article about this topic for CTO Lunches Magazine on page 29- give it a read. It’s truly been life-changing to help others and embrace that as a BUSINESS philosophy, not just a life philosophy. It will all come back to you, you just don’t know how or when, and that’s OK.
Listen to your gut, every day without exception
It sounds simple, but not everyone does it. Your intuition is always right, yet folks second-guess themselves, rethink things and question their own motivations. That’s all healthy, and yes, you should ‘sleep on it’, whatever ‘it’ is. Space gives clarity. In large decisions, I ALWAYS take at least 24 hours to think on what the right answer is for me, and to listen to my gut. It’s NEVER failed me and it will never fail you. I promise.
I hope you will consider even one of these three mantras. You won’t be disappointed.
– Dave
