Share your knowledge one way or the other. And as you're doing it, you're going to learn a lot more. If you're thinking of a newsletter or something similar, start teaching and sharing what you know and what you're observing. This could be a newsletter, this could be a YouTube video, this could be going to meetup.
Leaving big tech to build the #1 technology newsletter
November 17, 2022
Featuring: Gergely Orosz (Writer, The Pragmatic Engineer Newsletter)
7 quotes · 5 insights
Watch Full EpisodeCreating content accelerates your career - but only if you love it
Time off is productive, not lazy
You need to create time for that spark to come. One of my goals for next few years is to not spend 50 hours a week on a newsletter, but spend 20, and then maybe take a few weeks off and have that spark come. Because the reality is, this newsletter only came because I gave myself six months of unpaid time.
Build in public - authenticity beats expertise
Share your knowledge one way or the other. And as you're doing it, you're going to learn a lot more. If you're thinking of a newsletter or something similar, start teaching and sharing what you know and what you're observing. This could be a newsletter, this could be a YouTube video, this could be going to meetup.
Constraints create productivity
If you start writing, and you do it regularly, two things will happen. First of all, you're going to write for yourself and you keep improving, you'll be a better writer. That's for sure. If you're lucky or if you're right about stuff, you might start to attract people who think similarly.
I set a timer of 20 minutes, and then I say, 'All right, no distractions.' I have a script where I just kill all LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, whatever sites. And then in the first few minutes I'm grumbling, but about five minutes in, there's a switch, and I'm now actually heads down and doing it.
Accountability creates achievement
If you're going to go out and start a new business, if you put in ways that you have to do certain things, put in constraints for the things that you need to do, and then you're going to do that. Without that, when you're on your own, when you're entrepreneur, I found myself upset at myself for just wasting my day. But I fixed it by telling people, 'You're going to get this every week,' and now I have to do it.
If you want to write a book, the easiest way is go to a publisher and sign a contract, not because of the money. In software engineering, you're not going to get much - $5,000 or something like that. But it's the pressure. You absolutely should go to a publisher or have some external... Someone to hold you accountable, and then you'll get it done.