Are you happy where you are?
Hello there!
I hope you had a great weekend. I had a pretty chill one. We had some visits, and we played board games for a few hours.
This week's topic has been on my mind for several weeks now, and I've been trying to listen to people to understand better other points of view and think about them against my point of view.
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For the last couple of weeks, I've talked with several folks about where they are and want to be, not only regarding job prospects and careers but also about complacency, stability, and desires.
These conversations come against the backdrop of hiring, holding interviews, mentoring, being mentored, and pursuing dreams.
Is our pursuit intentional?
My parents didn't raise me in a way that I desire to be number one and competitive against other folks. Only recently, I realized the "abundance" mindset instilled in me, where we could all be our best versions, and there's room for everyone. I want to be better than yesterday, but not because "I beat everyone else."
But I've spoken with multiple people who seem to think that not wanting to be the manager, director, CTO, getting your undergrad, master, etc., is pretty much not doing anything.
Is it wrong to have a 9 to 5, where you can disconnect and live with your family? Is it wrong to be content with your current position and not look for a promotion now? Is it wrong to desire to be VP of engineering? Is it wrong to have a high-paying job that doesn't leave you tired to pursue your passion?
These desires don't mean that circumstances won't change or that our needs and wants are stagnant. Life happens, and we must deal with it, evolve and learn.
There's also nothing wrong with wanting to be CTO or Sr Director, but most of the time, these promotions are more of external factors beyond our control. So, we have to be mindful of these constraints. We don't want to be riding a high-speed train without being able to control it! We want to remain present and self-aware.
Internally driven
Over the past few years, I've been introspecting about my career and what I want for myself.
I want a larger scope and ownership over my work and fair compensation. But more than that, I want my growth to come from within. I want to learn things that my curiosity tells me to pursue. I want to improve my craft and be better at it than yesterday.
I also want to improve my mentoring and sponsoring skills to help others discover their why and where that could take them. I love hearing about other people's journeys!
Do what makes you happy.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to be number 1 or 4 as long as you're aware and enjoying that. Sometimes, we feel dissatisfied with where we are but need more self-awareness to understand why, or maybe we know deep down but don't want to hear the answer.
Being well, being happy (and being fairly compensated) is something we all deserve.
Are you happy where you are? I am, but I'm also looking for more avenues for growth, taking my goals and making them real by walking backward and setting milestones for myself with actions I can control.
Your turn!
Let me know how you feel about where you are! Have you given it any thought? Have you never thought about it? Please feel free to reply to this email.
Happy coding!
Things I discovered in the past week
- The Modernization Imperative: Shifting left is for suckers. Shift Down instead talks about why we're at a point where we don't want to "shift left" as much and instead start "shifting down," down meaning the platforms that support developers.
- Developers are bad at estimating in at least three ways. Coté's newsletter is a random assortment of thoughts. Still, I felt the title and the ideas presented were interesting. I saw ways I've failed to estimate and seen others fail at estimations.
- Will this enlarge me or diminish me?
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