Career advice, or something like it

Summary

Career advice, or something like it Cynicism is bad. If I could offer you a single piece of career advice, it’s this: avoid negativity echo chambers. Every organization and industry has watering holes where the whiners hang out. The cynical. The jaded. These spots feel attractive. Everybody has something they can complain about, and complaining is fun. These places are inviting and inclusive: as long as you’re whining, or complaining, or cynical, you’re in. If you’re positive, optimistic, or ambitious, you’re out. Avoid these places. That doesn’t mean you need to be 100% up-beat all the time, or be a pushover, or never complain. Those things are normal human behavior. But strongly avoid communities that make complaining the core of their identity. My personal limit is about 20%. I’ll stop engaging with communities when 20% of the content is negative. Nobody but you can decide how much you care about your career. Or how much you like your employer, colleagues, or industry. Not everything is in your control, even in a field like software engineering where autonomy and flexibility are widely available. I recommend you choose one of two paths. If you want to move your career or industry forward, focus on the positive parts of your role, and spend energy making things better. Alternatively, if you don’t want to advance your career, spend the right amount of energy to stay where you are. Then, instead of joining that whiny waterhole, go home and mow the lawn, play with your dog, take a walk in the woods with your kids, or whatever you enjoy. These complaining places aren’t just bad for your career, they’re bad for your mental and physical health too. Avoid them even if the content resonates with you. Especially if the content resonates with you. Positive echo chambers can be bad too, but I’ve run into very few of those during my career. What I can say with certainty, though, is that none of the people I look up to in this industry are spending their time in #everything-su...