As all of India and Indians everywhere head into Diwali, I'd like to take a moment to talk about Laxmi, the Goddess of Wealth - who is celebrated on the day of Lakshmi Puja. Prosperity seems to be the theme of Diwali as we also celebrate Dhanteras. It's considered auspicious to buy gold and make some investment on the Mahurat session of the stock exchanges.
Dhanteras is what we do our Diwali cleaning for, setting up the vibes of the home for a new year -- for a new set of astrological and astronomical configurations that it would be best to receive with a fresh slate. I would suggest that this is also a great time for everyone to put their internal house in order. I hope you're taking some time for yourself this Diwali to really think through where you want to go in your career. A clear idea of what you want is worth 30 IQ points or one college tier. So few people show intent in their job search that when it is apparent it is irresistible. So this Diwali, take some time to imagine your perfect role and if you're junior, your perfect boss and then go find them. I will help you in your search as that is my mission - to connect deserving engineers with the correct mentors. Make no mistake, the leaders of our field are looking for you. All you have to do is to be looking for them as well.
Laxmi Puja is where we celebrate Laxmi and the best way to celebrate Laxmi is not to ask for prosperity in the future but to give thanks for all the prosperity that She has already bestowed upon us. This gratitude is most pleasing to Laxmi and I'd just like to remind you that you are already wealthy beyond belief. For example, can you imagine the amount of resources it takes to make an operating system? It's mind boggling. And yet all of us have an operating system that is ours. It's the same for programming languages. All of this wealth is just available to anyone who can learn how to use it. I know that this Laxmi Puja I will be giving thanks for all of these gifts bestowed so unconditionally on me. And I will give thanks for this throughout the year by becoming better at them, by studying them seriously, by helping to make them better. And it is precisely this attitude that separates the elites from everyone else. Nothing else - not your education, not your employment history -- it is this attitude of saadhna.
At the one extreme you find youtubers suggesting you to spam open source repos with documentation updates so you can check a box. At the other end you have people toiling in obscurity for years making contributions as a part of their saadhna, their devotion, their natural response of gratitude that comes with recognising the gifts that we have all been given so freely. This is the end of the spectrum that pleases Laxmi.
This Diwali, make the choice to get your house in order -- launch that website, write some blogs and commit to the habit, spend some time thinking about who you want to work for -- and give thanks for the opportunity to make a career in programming -- the infinite game.
I wish you all a very happy Diwali and a prosperous New Year.
Dhanteras is what we do our Diwali cleaning for, setting up the vibes of the home for a new year -- for a new set of astrological and astronomical configurations that it would be best to receive with a fresh slate. I would suggest that this is also a great time for everyone to put their internal house in order. I hope you're taking some time for yourself this Diwali to really think through where you want to go in your career. A clear idea of what you want is worth 30 IQ points or one college tier. So few people show intent in their job search that when it is apparent it is irresistible. So this Diwali, take some time to imagine your perfect role and if you're junior, your perfect boss and then go find them. I will help you in your search as that is my mission - to connect deserving engineers with the correct mentors. Make no mistake, the leaders of our field are looking for you. All you have to do is to be looking for them as well.
Laxmi Puja is where we celebrate Laxmi and the best way to celebrate Laxmi is not to ask for prosperity in the future but to give thanks for all the prosperity that She has already bestowed upon us. This gratitude is most pleasing to Laxmi and I'd just like to remind you that you are already wealthy beyond belief. For example, can you imagine the amount of resources it takes to make an operating system? It's mind boggling. And yet all of us have an operating system that is ours. It's the same for programming languages. All of this wealth is just available to anyone who can learn how to use it. I know that this Laxmi Puja I will be giving thanks for all of these gifts bestowed so unconditionally on me. And I will give thanks for this throughout the year by becoming better at them, by studying them seriously, by helping to make them better. And it is precisely this attitude that separates the elites from everyone else. Nothing else - not your education, not your employment history -- it is this attitude of saadhna.
At the one extreme you find youtubers suggesting you to spam open source repos with documentation updates so you can check a box. At the other end you have people toiling in obscurity for years making contributions as a part of their saadhna, their devotion, their natural response of gratitude that comes with recognising the gifts that we have all been given so freely. This is the end of the spectrum that pleases Laxmi.
This Diwali, make the choice to get your house in order -- launch that website, write some blogs and commit to the habit, spend some time thinking about who you want to work for -- and give thanks for the opportunity to make a career in programming -- the infinite game.
I wish you all a very happy Diwali and a prosperous New Year.