don’t be like Leonardo

Nokia made too many phones.

Apple made one.

They won.

Yahoo was doing News, Social Media, and Search. Google did only Search.

They won.

Leonardo Da Vinci was a true genius.

But he constantly switched topics. From painting to medicine, on to mathematics.

His biggest regret on his deathbed?

Not having finished his projects.

If history taught us a lesson is that you either focus or you fail.

At the same time, most developers have a huge problem with focus. They jump from topic to topic mastering none. Form React to Kubernetes, from Kubernetes to Go. And then back to React.

That’s because focus is not easy at all.

It is the hardest thing.

Every single day you are being bombarded with messages designed to make you feel like you are missing out.

From job postings that require skills, not even a full team of developers can fulfill.

From the developers around you telling you to check that new library.

To YouTubers, bloggers, and social media influencers telling you that you must jump on this or that technology ASAP or you will be left behind.

No matter how determined you are, it will be hard to stay focused.

This is why, one of the most important skills you have to learn as a developer is the skill of saying “NO”.

One trend I’ve through the years is, that the more Senior a developer is, the more no’s they say.

This doesn’t mean you are close-minded. On the contrary, you can be extremely open-minded.

When other developers approach you, you are open to listening.

But not open to commiting.

And won’t change your course of action just because some shiny object popped up. You just ignore it and move forward.

The challenge here is that most developers don’t have a clear course of action. They don’t have clear long-term and short-term goals.

This happens for many reasons.

But mostly because you know what you don’t know. From a first-person perspective is hard to understand your full potential, your strengths, weaknesses, and your technical gaps.

That’s why mentoring works so well.

And that’s why many developers choose to work with us. They want a trusted advisor to help them pave out the best path to mastery for them. To help them focus.

Sounds interesting?

Well, today is the last day I am taking calls.

There are probably 2 or 3 spots left. If you want to chat with me better do it now. <https://www.theseniordev.com/apply>

And when in doubt, remember Nokia, Yahoo, and Leonardo Da Vinci. Don’t be like them.

You can succeed with a lot less talent.

If you just… focus.

-Take care, Dragos

P.S. Talking about eating your own cake… I’ve been emailing some of you for years now and I still do. The same weekly email, just a bit better. What would happen if I did email one day, Instagram the next, and TikTok the day after? I would probably have sucked at all of them. And I would not be here today writing you.

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