The most useless article ever!

41 Life Lessons you can relate to!

Aug 08, 2024

It’s possible you won’t learn anything new today. If you don’t want to read this edition, it’s totally fine. But if you trust my writings and have a quick 2 minutes to read, you may be able to relate to these lessons and reflect back on your life..

Today in this short and crisp edition, I've compiled several of my life and career learnings as one-liners that I use as guiding principles. These are organized into different sections, each representing various aspects of life.

👋 Hey there, I am Gourav. I write about Engineering, Productivity, Thought Leadership, and the Mysteries of the mind!
I am humbled by the love and support you all are showing for my Reflection Shorts.

Software Engineering

Code is the most fragile thing in the software industry. Tribal knowledge, when documented well, is gold.
You're not judged on your skills if your outcomes are solid. The reverse isn’t true.
Never feel bad for not knowing things at work. Every company has complicated systems; no one knows everything.
Feel bad only when you don’t put in the effort to understand.
Staff/Principal Engineers don’t know everything, but they know how to know what they don’t know.
Hundreds of things vie for your attention, but finding time for deep work is key to making meaningful progress.
Be proud of getting rid of unnecessary code, services, and clutter in your architecture. Eliminate liabilities wherever possible.
Appreciate the OGs for the work they did. Complaining won’t help—fixing stuff would.

Professional

It takes a lot of effort to build trust, but breaking it takes only a second.
Clear communication is underrated and misunderstood. Deeply understand how to effectively communicate to make a huge difference in your life.
Stay away from people who drain your energy.
You can’t please everyone with your design. Aim for consent, not consensus.

Tech Interviewing

Leetcode isn't bad. However, engineers suffer due to the complex interview environment created as a result of it.
The issue isn’t Leetcode vs. no Leetcode; it’s the same Leetcode questions at every candidate level.
For system design interviews, you don’t need to know everything. Basics can do wonders.
Being humble and saying “I don’t know” can get you hired more than pretending to be all-knowing and smart.
You can’t fake behavioral questions; an experienced interviewer will catch you out.

Joining a new company

People aren’t impressed by your past learnings alone. Adapting to a new company’s culture is what makes you likable.
Congratulating a new hire is like congratulating a chef for buying vegetables.

Life

Not every attempted hit results in scores, but it builds your muscle memory.
You might think successful people have it all sorted. Reality? They’re as confused as you are.
Don’t measure your value by someone’s judgment in one place; you might just be in the wrong place.
There’s no long-term success without first achieving short-term wins.
More information doesn’t necessarily make you wise; it can make you stressed.
Develop long-term habits with small, consistent efforts.
Execution is more important than awareness.
Your to-do list will never be empty. Focus on completing the 1-2 most important and urgent tasks each day.
You realize the real multitasking power after having kids.
Your current situation is a net result of luck, hard and smart work.

Content Creation

Identify yourself as a brand, and others will too.
Share deep, witty, and brutally honest thoughts and stories.
Readers love hearing about your failures more than your successes.
Leveraging social media for marketing is crucial, but creating valuable content is primary.
Your unique, brand-new idea is a myth; someone is probably already working on it. What makes it different is execution.

Money

Comparison is the thief of joy.
Never hesitate to invest in yourself.
Don’t overthink purchases. It’s okay to buy things that bring you pleasure but spend wisely. Money buys pleasure, not happiness.
Money can only solve money problems.
Get rid of high-penalty, high-interest debts.
Learn about investments, but be honest about whether you have time for active management.
Using a third party to manage your money isn’t a bad idea if you lack the time. Opportunity cost is real if you’re too busy or lazy.