Going Pro

Take your career seriously.

I've encountered many engineers who don't. They only think about improving from 9 to 5 at their job (and I know some who don't think about improving at all). A few are even explicit about it. They say "Want me to get better at coding [or architecture or management]? Pay me to do it." Essentially, they are saying "I'll only learn while I'm 'on the clock'." While it is true you can learn while earning a paycheck, should you only learn while getting paid? Is this the right attitude to take toward your career?

I say no. Here is how I look at it. I will spend roughly one-third of my life doing "work." I want that time to be exciting, challenging, and satisfying; I won’t settle for "punching a clock" and counting the minutes until the weekend. On the contrary, I want a career that engages my mind so fully that I don't even notice that it's the weekend.

In his recent book Effective Egoism, author Don Watkins states it this way: "You have but one brief life, and the question you face is: What will you make of it? Will you go through the motions of living, and throw away your life doing what you're 'supposed' to do? Or will you set ambitious goals and do everything you can to make the most of your life? Will you betray your life--or honor it?"

This is what I mean by "going pro." It's taking your life seriously and becoming great, potentially even world-class

"No one owes you a great career, you need to earn it--and the process won't be easy"

What does it take to be world-class?

Being a professional takes effort. It takes time. It takes thought. And, if you don't choose to put in the effort/time/thought, you will not reach your professional potential.

Imagine if Yo-Yo Ma, Buddy Rich, or Eddie Van Halen took the same approach as our engineer (above) and said "I'm not going to get better at cello [or drums or guitar] unless I get paid." How successful do you think they'd be? Before they got good, who would have paid them for their time? Their talents were cultivated over years of exploration, experimentation, and practice, practice, practice.

Or consider the absurdity of someone like Lionel Messi, Roger Clemens, or Muhammad Ali saying "I'm not going to train unless I get paid." These world-class athletes spent thousands (tens of thousands) of hours on the pitch(or in the field or in the ring) before he went pro. Each of them would tell you that this preparation was critically necessary for him to become the star he is.

Can you do it all?

Could Yo-Yo Ma have become a professional ballet dancer and a world-class cellist? Could Lionel Messi have become a professional concert pianist and be the world's best football player¹? No. While I don't take the "Ten-Thousand-Hour Rule²" literally, there is something real captured in the phrase.

To achieve success, top success, for any endeavor that requires skill, you must invest time. And you only have so much time to spend. This requires you to choose how you spend your time. Should I go to a party with my friends or should I spend that time studying for my final exams? Should I read this new book on Software Architecture or play video games? You must choose. You cannot do it all. I think long and hard about what is in my long-term self-interest and place those values³ at the top of my "go-get-em" list.

I point this out because, to achieve greatness in one area, you will have to forgo greatness in another. You must choose where to invest your time. To be "the greatest"⁴ boxer, Muhammad Ali could not have been simultaneously studying for the Bar Exam. To be the world's best footballer, Messi could not pursue a PhD in nuclear physics. You cannot do it all.

The Craftsman Mindset

But it's not just time spent with the cello in your hands or a ball at your feet. It needs to be purposeful work specifically focused on the goal you are working toward. Tomorrow, it may be different. Next year, it almost certainly will be. This takes time, but the benefits come from carefully considering how you spend that time. The benefits come from thinking, from using your mind.

Cal Newport's 2012 book, So Good They Can't Ignore You, refers to this as the "craftsman mindset" and it separates the great from the mediocre. Cal says "There's something liberating about the craftsman mindset: It asks you to leave behind ... concerns about whether your job is 'just right,' and instead put your head down and plug away at getting really damn good. No one owes you a great career, it argues; you need to earn it--and the process won't be easy."⁵

This is why just putting in 10,000 hours may not help you achieve your goal. It has to be quality time focused on your particular challenges.

What Can You Do?

I'm writing this article primarily for those in software technology, although everything I say here applies to being the best musician, athlete, novelist, or parent. Ultimately, everything comes down to your choices and your mind.

Think

The first step to take is to stop for a minute and think. Ask yourself "Am I working with the right technologies?" "Am I learning the right things?" "Am I advancing my career?" Then ask yourself "What actions am I taking to achieve these goals?" Use these answers to shape your next steps.

Read

Add something small to your routine. Perhaps you can commit to finding one interesting technical article or blog post to read every day. Ask yourself "What was the last book on technology I read?" Try adding a goal to read a tech or leadership book every month. That's less than a chapter a day for most of them. This will give you more raw material to use as you think about your career.

Write

Put some thoughts down in writing. It can be a Moleskine notebook or a computer application (I'm writing this down with Obsidian⁶). The very act of thinking "This is so important, I should write it down" is crucial. You are starting to make choices, recognizing that some ideas are more valuable than others.

Repeat

Periodically, go back to the "Think" step and reflect. Think about where you are and where you want to be. Factor in all the knowledge you've gained and adjust your routine accordingly.

Summary

When someone says "Want me to be a better coder? Pay me to do it", he has just told you "I will never be great at coding." If you take your career seriously and want to be the best you can be, you cannot afford to take this attitude. Get good. Live your life to the fullest. Have fun.

Blog

Seth Orell