Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#11

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Oct 03, 2016, 7:41 PM UTC

dsiegel2275 wrote: post #6

40 million lines of code is a lot of code to have written. Is this number exaggerated a bit? Exaggerated a lot? Just doing the math: to code that much in sixteen years (assuming a start of age 10) would require writing 6,800 LOC, every single day.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#12

Post by FrancoDiaz » Mon, Oct 03, 2016, 7:41 PM UTC

My dad has always told me that doing taxes is a pain in the ass, that I shouldn’t get into making money that fast. (I’m really pissed off with this one, I’d go back in time and fix it)

Huh, what?

But you're still young at 26 with lots of experience. I didn't even really start my "real" career until about that age.

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#13

Post by llvllatrix » Mon, Oct 03, 2016, 7:42 PM UTC

We have a similar lineage. The process is simple; pick a reasonable objective, work hard, modify your plan when necessary and be stubborn about it.

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#14

Post by teen » Mon, Oct 03, 2016, 7:42 PM UTC

youre only 26 why are you flipping out about money you could have made. has your life been that miserable? no? then why does the money matter?

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#15

Post by mrcabada » Mon, Oct 03, 2016, 7:43 PM UTC

oolongCat wrote: post #5

There are 40 things listed in OP's site. And he claims to have written 40M loc. So approximately 1 mil loc per program, (or 2.5M loc per year)? Honestly can someone write that many lines of code?

Wrong math, my bad. Remove a zero.

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#16

Post by plandis » Mon, Oct 03, 2016, 7:44 PM UTC

Keep trying. Apply to more than 5 companies. What about internships? Perhaps some of those companies where you might have a connection can help out?

Don't take this the wrong way, but the attitude you give off in your writing comes off as kind of entitled. I'm honestly not sure that I would want to work with you. Even after you get a job you will still fail from time to time. I think what matters more is what you take away from failure and the only thing your writing says is: "Woe is me! The world is cruel".

Perhaps taking a critical look at why you were not hired will help you to learn how to correct any perceived deficits those companies say in you? Also network! Even if you live in the middle of nowhere IRC/Google Groups are a great way to talk to like minded people.

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#17

Post by swiftisthebest » Mon, Oct 03, 2016, 7:45 PM UTC

A modern business owner is closer to a programmer than you realize. I automated almost all of my daily business tasks and now get to spend most of my days just coding new features and accruing income passively.

You can pay an accountant. They're not that expensive.

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#18

Post by Deimorz » Mon, Oct 03, 2016, 7:45 PM UTC

mrcabada wrote: post #9

dsiegel2275 wrote: post #6

40 million lines of code is a lot of code to have written. Is this number exaggerated a bit? Exaggerated a lot? Just doing the math: to code that much in sixteen years (assuming a start of age 10) would require writing 6,800 LOC, every single day.

Yes, remove a 0 to that 40. Did the maths wrong. Fixed.

Averaging 680 lines every single day is still much, much too high.

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#19

Post by j45 » Mon, Oct 03, 2016, 7:46 PM UTC

Learning to lead yourself and doing what you know is right and understanding how you add value and what your value is the most important skills I have worked to learn.

Motivation is the wrong thing to go after. Discipline is the key. Building discipline to do the things that are needed will beat motivation every time.

It's always nice to have external support, but the best support you can build and keep is from the relationship you have with yourself.

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#20

Post by jmt_ » Mon, Oct 03, 2016, 7:46 PM UTC

aasarava wrote: post #7

For me the most eye-opening lesson about the business world was the realization that you are not an entrepreneur just because you can build something. You become an entrepreneur when you build something that people are willing to pay for. You may be good at writing software, but are you writing software that solves a problem for anyone? If not, you're going to be hard-pressed to find external validation. You don't sa…

I've come to realize the same thing. Like the author, I've been programming since I was an early teen and that was pretty much all I did for years. I would love to break into the software market but realized that I only think like an engineer and not so much like a business man. I've been mainly interested in the design, implementation, and theory of software rather than thinking of what software that people would and have had a tough time thinking in the business mindset. Do you, or other HN readers, have any resources that they would recommend for engineering minded people to better understand what goes into building a business? Just started reading Zero to One and am enjoying it so far.