Someone pointed out to me the other day that I am a bit of “an old fart” in the .NET development space. At first, I was about to protest and insist that I wasn’t that old. Then it occurred to me that I have been using .NET since the first public beta, which came out in 2001 (if I recall correctly, which I may not, because I’m old). That said, as I think back over my career and the loads of developers who eventually got out of the industry, I wistfully contemplated giving some advice to the folks just getting started. The reasons for it are many. First, I want to see more people succeed. Second, I’ve watched loads of people fail (or worse, not rise to the full level of their potential), including screwing up via self-sabotage. Here, then, are some things that I’ve noticed that might serve as “lifehacks” for making your climb through your career a little easier as well as making your survival more likely.

I don’t normally post on Fridays, but I’m doing so today in honor of a very special birthday. Today, my paternal grandfather would have turned 100 years old had cancer not taken him from us 21 years ago, and as I’ve reflected on things he taught me so many years ago, I realized that perhaps the best way to memorialize that would be to share some things. I’m writing a bit freeform, so I hope this doesn’t turn into a eulogy (I can’t do the man justice).