Wrong way around! Stick with one thing and you’ll get good at it.
Ask HN: How to find what I am really good at?
51–60 of 280 posts
Re: Ask HN: How to find what I am really good at?
#52Separate comment: this question is framed with a fixed mindset and an unhealthy sense of what self-discovery is.l You "are" "good at" nothing. You are not a block of marble with David inside, something to be chipped away at until it is apparent for all to see. You are a ball of clay, malleable, reshapable and shapeless, fluid and formed, able to absorb new bits and grow into something wildly different, day by day if…
Thanks for the tip! Do you have any book suggestions from experience? Otherwise, I would randomly google and pick.
Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41721428-can-t-hurt-me)
Also see my sibling comment above.
Re: Ask HN: How to find what I am really good at?
#53Speaking only from personal experience. Take what you will. Sometimes, we overthink stuff. It is okay to be however you approach things. You don't need to be exactly (skilled/good/whatever) like the people you see. I found that, if I stopped thinking too much, and stopped worrying about a specific version of me I have in mind, I just _be_ and end up doing something spontaneous, and leads me to a state I did not origi…
Thanks a lot! It actually does, as up to the part of working as an SRE, it is quite similar to my life at the moment. Maybe you are right, and I should try something completely different, a complete jibe... Thanks I will definitely try this!
Re: Ask HN: How to find what I am really good at?
#54You don't "find what you are good at" - that is backwards. Instead, you do what you are interested in, and initially you are not good at it, and with enough time, effort, working at learning and practicing, you will become good at it.
Seconded. "Practice makes perfect" is an aphorism as old as the ages. I would like to add though that "being good at something" is not the path to enlightenment. Try "something you enjoy" instead, and you may be happier in the end. Given an initial epsilon of talent, the above adage posits that you will get better at it, and in my experience, motivation to do a task is central predictor of how good you will become at…
I've reached a point where I don't think you should be looking for something you enjoy. I don't particularly enjoy programming. I didn't start programming because I think it's fun. I do it because it's satisfying. I like understanding and solving difficult problems. I like doing research. I like writing. I like working with others. Programming was one of a huge number of possibilities that I could've pursued with these characteristics, but life pushed me in that direction and that's where I ended up. I get to do the things I like to do, but the things I like to do aren't necessarily "programming".
There is a fundamental shift of perspective that I think is necessary for people to find work that will fulfill them. More important is to look at what things you enjoy, and then figuring out what exactly appeals to you, really understanding yourself and how you tick, and how that can be applied elsewhere.
I spent much of my childhood gaming (CS, Battlefield, Starcraft, Warcraft 3, Deus Ex, C&C RA2, Dune 2, etc.). It was fun, sure, and going by "look for something you enjoy", maybe I should've become a pro-gamer. But if I look at how I actually spent my time, there are much different conclusions to be drawn about what I like. I liked being in a team with a collective goal. I liked the communication (and arguing). I liked solving situational challenges. I liked being challenged. I liked researching strategies, techniques, and everything around metagaming (countless hours "wasted" on TeamLiquid). I liked learning new things and incrementally improving my skills. I liked documenting and explaining things. It's 100% clear how that translated in a career context, but at first glance, shooting people in CS was just "fun".
Re: Ask HN: How to find what I am really good at?
#55Sticking to one thing is overrated :) “I believe in bumbling around long enough to not give up at things. And eventually success comes your way, because you tried to fail in every possible way, the only way that’s left is the one successful way, and always, for entrepreneurs, seems to come last." - Vinod Khosla, cofounder, SUN Microsystems Just a couple of feel good books disguised as pop science to quickly read thro…
Here's a fantastic talk that describes a way to structure one's approach to this explore/exploit tradeoff that draws on research in areas like search algorithms, cognitive science, etc.
Re: Ask HN: How to find what I am really good at?
#56Separate comment: this question is framed with a fixed mindset and an unhealthy sense of what self-discovery is.l You "are" "good at" nothing. You are not a block of marble with David inside, something to be chipped away at until it is apparent for all to see. You are a ball of clay, malleable, reshapable and shapeless, fluid and formed, able to absorb new bits and grow into something wildly different, day by day if…
While I agree with the statements in your answer, they are not the whole story.
If the complete answer to "How to find what I am good at?" would be "You are a malleable ball of clay", then what? Go for whatever seems tempting? Go for becoming a rockstar? You might answer "If that is what you really want". Then we are back to OP's question. The shiny rockstar career might seem tempting for a few months or years. And then frustration kicks in like for 90% of wannabe rockstars.
The question what path is the right one for a person is still legit.
Re: Ask HN: How to find what I am really good at?
#57Do you ever find yourself wondering why people find it so hard to do a particular thing that seems, to you, trivial - possibly to the point of frustration? Alternatively, do you sometimes get confused when people praise your work on something that you think of as not having taken any real effort to produce? Is there any particular domain or skill where you occasionally hear people (e.g. coworkers) discussing their realizations or achievements, and you think to yourself, "oh, but is that not obvious?" or "hunh, I thought everyone knew that"?
If any of those apply, that's something you're good at, even if it doesn't feel it. Sometimes being good at something just means feeling like something isn't a challenge for you, when it is a challenge for most other people around you.
Re: Ask HN: How to find what I am really good at?
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seconded. "Practice makes perfect" is an aphorism as old as the ages. I would like to add though that "being good at something" is not the path to enlightenment. Try "something you enjoy" instead, and you may be happier in the end. Given an initial epsilon of talent, the above adage posits that you will get better at it, and in my experience, motivation to do a task is central predictor of how good you will become at…
I've reached a point where I don't think you should be looking for something you enjoy. I don't particularly enjoy programming. I didn't start programming because I think it's fun. I do it because it's satisfying. I like understanding and solving difficult problems. I like doing research. I like writing. I like working with others. Programming was one of a huge number of possibilities that I could've pursued with the…
I have a hard time thinking of an activity that I find satisfying but don't enjoy.
Re: Ask HN: How to find what I am really good at?
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seconded. "Practice makes perfect" is an aphorism as old as the ages. I would like to add though that "being good at something" is not the path to enlightenment. Try "something you enjoy" instead, and you may be happier in the end. Given an initial epsilon of talent, the above adage posits that you will get better at it, and in my experience, motivation to do a task is central predictor of how good you will become at…
I disagree with "practice makes perfect". You can keep practising something badly and you'll only get better at doing it badly. This can be seen everywhere. Second language speakers who have no interest in studying the language will continue to sound very non-native after decades of daily use. Musicians build bad habits that hold them back and take a long time to "unlearn". Programmers continue using the same old too…
I don't buy your second language users example because I don't think that "use" necessarily equals "practice". It's usually easier to make major gains at the beginning of the learning journey, and things naturally plateau after a while, unless you put in more effort. Simply speaking the learned language at the level you have already reached will hardly improve your mastership (although I think it will minimally), you need to actually try to improve - which, to me, is the what practicing means.
Re: Ask HN: How to find what I am really good at?
#60Separate comment: this question is framed with a fixed mindset and an unhealthy sense of what self-discovery is.l You "are" "good at" nothing. You are not a block of marble with David inside, something to be chipped away at until it is apparent for all to see. You are a ball of clay, malleable, reshapable and shapeless, fluid and formed, able to absorb new bits and grow into something wildly different, day by day if…
That is a blatantly false answer. Of course, there is an ongoing debate about nature vs. nurture, which means that the genetic makeup of the individual strongly influences the individual's life. Look at musicality, look at sociopathy, look at general intelligence - all areas where genes exert their influence (as an example).
So yes, you can try to grow around your talents, and develop strengths there. But by the same token, you should not try to grow in areas that you are not cut out for. No amount of whishful thinking or practice will turn me into a top-notch musician or singer, for example, as the genetic component is missing.