What is on Your Mind?

You did a good job to hit the nail on the head and this is the problem of the vast majority of techies, especially the younger generation(s). That is why it is important to use a project-based approach so you will pick the technologies and tools and go from start to finish. In general, I am very blessed and I do not have this problem (the shiny object problem) and can and I am razor focused when working on a project, but I realize this is in the " minority report" and most people suffer from "chase the shiny object" lifestyle.

This is a tough one, and I can only say that there are a lot of people just like you. I meet them ALL the time. For example, over the years so many people want to work with me on building some new tech. They have all this great passion for helping out and working on a project until they come to realize how much work it really is, how much they must learn, and how much concentration and focus it takes.

Recently someone came to me eager to learn and, not even a few days in teaching them step-by-step, they started chasing a very different "shiny object" . They got all passionate about this new shiny object, informed me they were going to dive into that new shiny object, then they stopped working on our project and found another shiny object within a few days or a week or two at most. It's normal for people to do this and you must get yourself grounded by finishing what you start.

Also, at least two people were working with me in 2017 and 2018 and we were discussing the technical approach (two different major coding projects) and in each case they kept moving from shiny object to shiny object, talking this and that technology and after many months, in two complete separate scenarios, neither had written a single line of useful, working production code. I had written thousands of lines of working code. They has written zero lines. Oh well, that's par for the course. Like I have implied, it's easy to "talk the walk" but "walking the talk" is a totally different ballgame.

Anyway, I need to get back to writing code and so I'll keep this reply short. Let me leave you with this thought.

I used to "ride the top of the wave" surfing from one new tech wave to the next, with near perfect timing. Then, I took off work and stopped coding for about 4 years (I forgot how many exactly, maybe it was three, and did a lot of travel, scuba diving and "playboy'ing around: ) and getting back up to speed was really painful. I was way behind; but now (after nearly two years after getting heavily back into it) I'm nearly back on top of the wave again and it feels great.

When you are riding the top of the tech waves, smoothly moving from one big tech wave to another, it is a great feeling. But, as you point out, it is not easy and requires a lot of work and dedication. You must be in the "water" to stay on top of the "wave".

Don't try to be "the best" just be the best you can be, yourself and do not worry about what others say. Most people just talk and criticize others and are resistant to change and are envious of others. I know this for a fact and yes, it saddens me that people are like this, but we can't change human nature nor control how others think. We can only control what we think and do, and so do not worry about dogma, belief systems, and other "mind prisons" and mental traps, which there are many.

You have a galaxy of 100 billion stars between your ears and while the world is poisoned with distractions and people trying to manipulate your mind for their benefits (advertising, dogma, belief system, influence, etc.) you can and do have a lot of control over those 100 billion neurons, despite all the distractions and pollution in the social and cognitive spaces..


Go for it!

Thank you so much for the response.

Puts a lot of things in perspective coming from someone who's seen it firsthand.

I think from here on out, I need to focus on my responsibilities in the office. I work
with a lot of solid tech here, from AIX, Solaris and eventually RHEL.

I'm really weak in networking as it didn't appeal to my younger self but, working
with systems it's crucial skill. I will have to dedicate time to learning networking
and fine tune my unix administration skills. We have lots of tools and services
which tie all systems together, somehow.

For now, all side projects and ventures will have to be put on hold because
with only 24hours in a day, I cannot dedicate it all just to learning. I have to
experiences the joys of being a human. One thing that I stopped, following tech
content about new tech... This helps me to focus only on what matters now.

Thanks again for your advise.