I would if answers came with age
Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
301–310 of 433 posts
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#302Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel like I could’ve written exactly this myself. The first point is the hardest. It affects every aspect of my life and I have no idea how to really tackle it. This is the first year where I feel the need to take drastic action to achieve some kind of improvement. What’s your plan? How is it working?
I would not even know how to call my so-called "technique" if somebody else did not do it for me: awareness. What I do I would today call "reconciliation" or "making peace". Let me explain. On the one hand, I start recognizing in a colder, more methodical and mathematical manner, what things I did screw up in my life and why. I drill down and understand what emotions, unmet needs and un-addressed trauma led to these…
Thanks for your open introspection and wisdom. I learned something from reading it, and wish you well.
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#303I would like to improve: 1. storytelling, I think this is still a valuable skill. 2. improve my teaching skills and create better courses. 3. improve my writing skills.
I've started re-writing things I like, like passages from books, poems, or even comments. Perhaps too early to say whether it's been effective, but this is called "copywork" and was apparently a common part of education for writers and journalists in the past.
I've been doing it mostly in French since it doubles as language practice. For years I've been at an intermediate level (B2), where reading, writing, listening, and even speaking hasn't improved my skill at all. When you can glean anything (from context) and communicate anything (awkwardly), there's a lot less pressure for things to "stick". I think this is the main advantage kids have with their neuroplasticity, since it'll stick regardless.
So, I've wanted a deliberate way to practice the language that I'd actually stick to and truly learn from. Rewriting things I find interesting has been fun, and I can pick different sources each day: formal or informal, Canadian French or Metropolitan, literary or prose, etc. A variation on this is the "Scriptorium technique" [1], where instead of just copying while reading, you repeat a sentence out loud, then write it out while saying it out loud, and then repeat what you wrote and check it against the original. I like this.
Even for English, it should build up those neural pathways and help you write more like the writers you love, in theory.
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#304I want to learn two languages in 2026: * CW (also known as Morse code) - I'm not able to have an amateur radio station at home, so I have to work portable/QRP. Given current band conditions, CW is one easy option to make contacts * Learn a "low level" programming language, likely C - I never had any kind of formal CS education and kind of fell into the field, initially doing web development and then data engineering.…
I always wanted a reason to learn C, but couldn't figure out a good project for it. I ended up learning TempleOS' HolyC as my introduction to low-level programming, funnily enough.
If you're familiar with web programming and data engineering, WebAssembly might be a good way to get into low-level programming. I've written a few web extensions in Rust, compiled down to WASM, and lots of low-level languages have WASM targets now.
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#305I want to learn how to swim. I never took lessons as a kid, and, while I can get from one edge of the pool to the other, I want to feel completely comfortable. Even if I don't pick up swimming as a workout, I like that it will open up new activities through different watersports.
I swam a lot as a kid as my mother was a lifeguard and instructor. Despite that, I was never amazing at it, probably because I was lean and had no buoyancy, but I loved it a lot.
I swam for the first time in years a few months ago, and was surprised how exhausted I was after 30 minutes of treading water! I work out and go on frequent long runs, but I was totally spent from that. I too would love to get into it again, it's definitely a great exercise.
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#306Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel like I could’ve written exactly this myself. The first point is the hardest. It affects every aspect of my life and I have no idea how to really tackle it. This is the first year where I feel the need to take drastic action to achieve some kind of improvement. What’s your plan? How is it working?
Seconded. I am also curious to what your ADHD plan is.
Adult diagnosis last year for me, bring gentle with myself for past mistakes is part of my plan. I’m also trying adderall under medical supervision, so I can strengthen the habits and systems with a little extra help.
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#307Earlier quoted context omitted.
Stock trading can be quite lucrative if it's a good match. Have a look at Qullamaggie on YouTube. > Edit, I say this as someone that has been learning to trade the last 6 months. To be completely transparent I've actually overall lost money doing this, but have also brought my account back up from having halved to almost break even a couple times now and can definitely see the possibility of doing very well. If I was…
Stock "trading" is statistically against the odds. "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" was published nearly 50 years ago and remains generally true. No YouTuber or perfect instruction following would make you 100% likely to be profitable. The most profitable (and effort efficient way) is to routinely invest in a broad basket of stocks over a long period. Ie Voo and Hold.
How about options trading?
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#308Earlier quoted context omitted.
Stock trading can be quite lucrative if it's a good match. Have a look at Qullamaggie on YouTube. > Edit, I say this as someone that has been learning to trade the last 6 months. To be completely transparent I've actually overall lost money doing this, but have also brought my account back up from having halved to almost break even a couple times now and can definitely see the possibility of doing very well. If I was…
Stock "trading" is statistically against the odds. "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" was published nearly 50 years ago and remains generally true. No YouTuber or perfect instruction following would make you 100% likely to be profitable. The most profitable (and effort efficient way) is to routinely invest in a broad basket of stocks over a long period. Ie Voo and Hold.
Yes generally speaking, statistically most people will not beat the index.
Does it follow then that no-one is beating the index consistently?
Of course there are people who are not a statistic. Maybe not everyone is made for it, but that doesn't mean noone is out there beating the market.
Maybe its hard if you're a hedge fund, but I'm talking about individuals with relatively small accounts.
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#309[dead]
Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?
#310- MANDATORY: Re-learn focus. I will not self-diagnose but I exhibit ADHD symptoms and I started actively fighting them back (they mostly come from the phone). I am not going to just deny myself access to apps on schedule -- my brain never clicked schedule, not even once in my life -- but through a persistent and sustainable self-change from deep within. It's slow but it's beginning to work. - MANDATORY: Get more inti…
> MANDATORY: Get more intimate with my Neovim. I've always kind of half-arsed my editors / IDEs, I always found it annoying to become a deep expert. This must change; surface-level skills rob you of productivity. I'm actually not that convinced of these productivity gains in the context of IDE tricks. The cost of learning + tool-lock seems steep compared to the actual productivity gains. I'm switching fairly regularl…
I'm in the same boat as the parent with helix. I like to think that its not about being able to type x chars more per second but rather doing some clever tricks sometimes with your IDE just because they safe you from boring work and is lots of fun. For example repeating the same action with macros across multiple files is so helpful and maybe only needed once a month or so, but oh boy, when you pull it off it is so fun and rewarding!