Three Words for 2016
I am picking my three words for 2016. The task sounded so easy, it’s just three words after all. For me it wasn’t. While I didn’t devote long sessions to think about it, I took a lot of micro moments to mull over it. Here they are.
Thank
As in say “thank you” more often and don’t think people owe me. How many times I found something done and I thought it was just owed? Many. When I come back from conferences my wife comes to pick me up at the train station. I think I never said thanks for that. Sure, maybe it’s “normal” that somebody you are close to comes to pick you up when you are back from a trip. Whoever comes, I’ll say “thank you”, just because they don’t have to. What about something we all benefit from, like open source software. I run scripts that pull in libraries, frameworks, operative systems. Some were written a long time ago, some others conceived by people not with us anymore. I build on top of these tools. Not only I didn’t say a lot of thanks, but I complained when they didn’t work as expected. Nobody owes me or you, any of that code and tools. And I feel that a “thank you” in this blog post is not enough at all. So I mulling over a few concepts to build something that fosters saying “thanks” to the authors of open source software.
Build
I confess that this is to feed my inner beast. I believe I couldn’t live without this word. This is the word that is gonna be with me for a long time. If I don’t build I am not happy. If I don’t make something I don’t feel well. It’s probably a disease, I just don’t know its name :) As for the why:
- The joy of helping somebody to save time, stress or both.
- The thrill of shipping something.
- The fulfilment when I can say “I made this”
I look at the walls, doors and windows in my house and I am proud to say I painted them. I look at the trees in my garden and I feel good when I think I planted and watered them with the help of my kids. The cabinet below our TV? I made it with my father. We designed it, we built it, we painted it. I enjoyed every second of it. And I don’t even watch TV :) Last year I built AppVersion and Podrover, which I am launching soon. I enjoyed every single piece of code pushed to the production servers, in spite of the [issues that you need to monitor when you run services]. I have big plans for 2016. Nothing specific to declare. I just know I can’t ignore the inner beast that pushes me to make and ship.
Celebrate
This is to lock myself in. I picked this word because I usually don’t celebrate. Maybe it’s related the inner beast above, so angry to move to the next thing instead of recognizing achievements. It has also to do with my obsession against ceremonies. But sometimes a ceremony is a perfect fit. Some of my friends go out for dinner after shipping an app. A simple dinner, not a bachelor party with fireworks, but still a perfect occasion to celebrate and reflect on a milestone. It’s not about what you do to celebrate. It could even be popping a beer with your spouse in the living room. It’s about taking the time to stop and say:
- Thank you for supporting me through this hectic times
- I have achieved this
- I want you to be part of it and celebrate with me
And I should not forget to be ready to take the time when my partner/friend wants to celebrate his/her achievements. It’s as much important, if not more.
This is the first time I adopt this strategy to pick just three words to live by during the year. I am excited about it. And you? What are your three words?