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Ben Greenberg
Ben Greenberg

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If I could go back in time and speak to myself 5 years ago, I would say...

If you could go back in time and approach the 5-year younger version of yourself, what would you tell yourself? Any words of advice? Some wise nuggets learned during the past five years? Something to definitely do? Something to definitely not do?

Top comments (30)

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yechielk profile image
Yechiel Kalmenson

Being a programmer is for you! It's not just for kids who've been hacking in the basement since they were 3. You can do it!

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bengreenberg profile image
Ben Greenberg

100% this comment!

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briwa profile image
briwa • Edited
  • Sit properly and maintain a good posture, you have only one vertebrae in your life and please take a good care of it. And also, your eyes. Get some sleep or see some greens to give them some rest.
  • Share more! Writing, public speaking, contributing to open sources. It's a whole lot better way to learn and improve than simply learn from your senior devs in your company (most of the time...), and also, you help the community to improve by sharing/contributing what you know.
  • Breathe. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the moment and spiraled down to depression, but it's mostly because you forgot to allow yourself to take a moment and breathe.

Shameless plug 😅: I've written something similar to this topic before:

...if you'd like to get into details on the advices, check out the article!

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marvelouswololo profile image
MarvelousWololo • Edited

chill. you're doing fine. no need to skip all those nights. keep steady and still. it's a long marathon not a 1km sprint. your family is proud of you. and there are people that love you. oh btw keep your studies plan.

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tylerlwsmith profile image
Tyler Smith

Throw out your couch. That thing was janky when you got it, and in four years time it's going to ruin your back for at least seven months... probably a lot longer. Existence will be painful if you don't get rid of your couch.

I'd also tell me that my back hurts.

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gustavofsantos profile image
Gustavo Santos

Stay more time with your family

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eliasmqz profile image
Anthony Marquez • Edited

I recently was diagnosed with some attention issues, which I finally took the step to figure out what was the cause at the behest of a loved one. I went to get that checked out and have been prescribed some medication for it. My I/O has completely changed like night and day, I am able to do things I thought weren’t possible for me.

Before the diagnosis I had a lot of trouble keeping attention at the things I loved to do like coding. I used to think that I wasn’t good, smart or dedicated enough to do this at my job. Imposter syndrome 101 was in full effect for me. I had even gotten into depression over the feeling of jot advancing or getting any better at simple topics. I had gotten pretty so far in my career on the basis of many red bulls and all nighters just to grasp required subjects.

After recognizing the issue and getting help I told my wife that “I now know what it’s like to feel normal”. If I could go back five years from now into the past, I would definitely open up and talk to someone about my struggles. This could’ve been prevented or at least mitigated a lot earlier in my life if I hadn’t been so stubborn, ignorant or more of my situation. While this may not apply for many, it did for me, and if it rings a bell for you either directly or indirectly with something else no shame in discussing this with a trusted loved on or a counselor.

p.s. excuse the formatting I’m writing from a phone in a shuttle back to the house.

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ivanjanko profile image
Ivan Jankovic

I think I might have a similar challenge.

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adam_cyclones profile image
Adam Crockett 🌀

Mostly I'd give myself a lesson or two in humility, then a briefing of future events: baby on the way, working at amazing place, WASM is going to be a thing, and the car you drive will not always be that thing.

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josegonz321 profile image
Jose Gonzalez

Forget JavaScript and stick with C#. You aren’t getting better pay if you switch (for the location you’re moving to).

Oh and enjoy your family.

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bengreenberg profile image
Ben Greenberg

Can definitely relate to the enjoy your family part!

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tonyorozcor profile image
Tony Orozco

Stop wasting time on .net and start learning react, angular and other new things..

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devkevyn profile image
devkevyn

Burnout is real! Dont overwork!

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haidv profile image
HaiDV

Hey man, don't learn any framework if you don't have any base knowledge. It will take time to be back. Do build everything from base, learn more networking, ethical hacking, cyber security, data structure, and algorithm and you 'll be good.

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mikefromru profile image
Mike

I would say to myself work night and day and do not waste time. I think I would to follow that advice.

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iam_timsmith profile image
Tim Smith

Don’t be an idiot. It changed my life. Whenever I’m about to do something, I think “would an idiot do this” and if they would, I don’t do that thing.

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neverendingqs profile image
Mark Tse

Your managers can only do so much if you don't take the lead on your career.

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sushantrahate profile image
Sushant Rahate

Just two things..
Don't dream big just keep doing what you love.
Be Sincere than Serious.