Growth isn’t innate or genetic. It’s a set of habits you practice when nobody is watching — especially when things are messy, unclear, or uncomfortable.
1. Don’t ask for permission
Don’t wait for invites or approval to improve things — start.
Don’t ask your manager if you can write the RFC — write it.
Don’t wait for an architecture meeting — propose a solution and put it in front of the team.
Initiative is a skill. Use it often.
2. Navigate around obstacles
When something blocks you, ask: “How do I go around this?”
Don’t wait for “the cleanup sprint.” Document the mess, identify the risks, and propose a plan.
Progress usually comes from the person willing to move despite imperfect conditions.
3. Keep receipts — for you, not for your manager
Don’t complain about the lack of feedback. Build your own evidence.
Keep a running document and update it weekly:
- wins and impact
- bugs fixed and incidents avoided
- decisions made and tradeoffs considered
- projects shipped and outcomes
Add links where possible (PRs, docs, dashboards, incident reports).
Not for bragging — for proof and leverage. When promotion time comes, don’t rely on memory. Show the data.
※ Also: document your work so others can learn from it. Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) help transmit context. When people leave without documentation, knowledge leaves with them.
4. Embrace the beginner’s mindset
You don’t need to know everything before doing anything — and you don’t need to pretend you do.
Say: “I don’t know yet, but I’ll figure it out.” Ask for help early, then learn fast. Treat every problem like a learning opportunity.
※ A simple practice: every week, pick one new thing — a design pattern, a business concept, a tool — and spend a few hours understanding it. Not mastering it. Just building familiarity. Repeat.
5. Compete against yourself
Your real competition is who you were six months ago:
- Are you better than you were?
- Are you closer to your goals?
Every three months, write down what improved, what didn’t, and what you’ll change next.
6. Set boundaries
Audit your environment. Reduce time with “anchors” who constantly complain, blame, or interrupt. Protect your attention — it’s a precious resource.
Make room for:
- uninterrupted focus time — do the hard work without context switching.
- silence — let your brain think without input.
- deliberate practice — improve a specific skill on purpose, not by accident.
- recovery — recharge so you stay sharp and performant.
You can’t grow if you’re always being pulled into noise.
7. Take ownership of problems
Stop blaming others for everything that’s broken. Ownership doesn’t mean doing it alone — it means choosing a response.
※ A useful reframe: start complaints with “I haven’t figured out how to…” That shift turns frustration into action and invites collaboration. Teams solve more when people speak in problems and next steps.
8. Learn the business
Don’t focus only on the tech stack. Great engineers understand how the company makes money — and where it loses it.
When you know the business model, you design systems that protect revenue, reduce cost, and improve outcomes that matter. That’s how your work becomes obviously valuable.
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