If you had a time machine, what would you tell your younger self?

Three things:
a)Don't be like the rabbit from The Rabbit & The Turtle - moral story. If you are good at something, that doesn't mean that you should work little, on the contrary, you should work harder than anyone. Discipline beats talent. Just because right now the people in your environment are not competition for you. It doesn't mean that there is no one better than you.
b)Never tell lies.
c)Always listen to everyone like they know something you don't.

1. Discipline weights more than smarts in the equation of success.
2. Rewards come in steps: sometimes you have to work really hard while making no apparent progress for a long time. Don't give up.
3. Unfortunately, school is full of it. Your teachers/educators are more ignorant and insignificant than you think. Focus on learning, read more, ignore everything else.

I'd tell me older self that I can program for fun and it's not that big a deal if there are things I don't understand. I don't need to get discouraged if I'm struggling with something, there's plenty more out there!

I would tell young me that the business minor that I got would be really important, and I should do more work in those classes. Also, more importantly, I’d tell myself that my opinions are valid and to express them more. It took me a long time to figure that out, but, once I did, I started liking work more and my career improved.

"Buy a bunch of bitcoin"! haha

Besides that, I'd tell my younger self "to not worry about it, everything will be ok".

I'll probably say the same thing if my future self came to me right now. :)

1. A degree isn't a silver bullet. You will always need to self teach.
2. NEVER give out your references before the offer stage of the hiring process.
3. If a recruiter can't be bothered to give you all of the critical details about a role via email (salary/rate range, location or remote, job description with at least approximate tech stack, end client name if working with a staffing agency), don't give them the satisfaction of a 20+ minute intro call in the middle of your work day. Don't reward gatekeeping.
   • Re: client name - if they worry about you applying directly, they should realize that they haven't made the case for you letting them do it for you.
4. The impression a potential employer makes during the hiring process is likely the best you're going to see from them. If they have you jumping through pointless hoops already, move on.
5. Pay vs. culture is a false dichotomy. How they value you is a reflection of their culture. Know your worth.

I'd tell my past self to take a break from coding and not miss out on some of the happiest moments in life. Sure, you'll learn lots of things in the future but everything will come to you at the right time...

This is one of those posts that triggers me to go on a massive diatribe of all the things I found were wrong, several mistakes I made and all the ways that my younger self (or anyone in that situation) could use to avoid the pitfalls and save himself years on his journey.

But on one comment it wouldn't be worth the time. I'd rather pack it all up and turn it into something that can be more accessible to a wider range of people.

I would tell my younger self that he should start learning programming ASAP to get ahead of everyone else. Then I would give him a path to follow and the languages and frameworks to learn as soon as they become available.

Then I would give him some winning lottery ticket numbers for the next 10 years and tell him to read and learn everything he can so that he will become Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos combined 😎

I would have tell my younger version:

1. Don't run from life, It will happen sooner or later.
2. Follow your dreams, don't quit them. (although I started following my dreams again but kinda wasted 3 years).
3. Don't sell those 100 Bitcoins you have.
4. Don't mess with your laptop hardware (it will cost you 2 peak years of your life)
5. Love Yourself.
6. Share your knowledge and create awareness, don't be stubborn.