All things Mindset
Attack of the bruised ego
Take feedback as objectively as possible. Don't be married to your ideas and code. Instead explore, learn, be curious and continuously grow by learning from those around you. Maintain clear, open channels of communication. It will defuse tension and…
An Iterative Approach to My Blog
I was leaving the corporate world behind and needed to rebrand. I had a hard deadline. I had a new job, a new domain and new hosting, I needed a new blog. I could have rebranded my old blog but I didn't take that approach. In retrospect, it wouldn't…
My First Week at CloudAfrica
Stay tuned if you are interested to know what I learned, did and achieved in the past week. Maybe something I did could be of interest to you. Only time will tell. Read on. Monday I started the week by saying my goodbyes to the lovely people at Mult…
Defusing Stressful Emotions
Mark Twain said, "I am an old man and I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened." It’s unsustainable to experience many days feeling exhausted, uninspired and anxious. I believe the biggest contributing factor is superficia…
Rewire your brain (Part 8) - Conclusion
Page 172 of the book Rewire: Changing Your Brain to Break Bad Habits, Overcome Addictions, Conquer Self-Destructive Behavior written by psychotherapist Richard O’Connor says that whatever we pay attention to determines how our brain grows. This post…
Rewire your brain (Part 7) - Our habits
Germany Kent says that it's a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack. In the part 6, Neuroplasticity, we looked at how the chemicals of the brain ca…
Rewire your brain (Part 6) - Neuroplasticity
Lara Boyd challenges us by asking how do we learn? And why does some of us learn things more easily than others? In the part 5, The Satir Change Process Model, we looked at how the model can help transform unhealthy behaviors to more positive behavi…
Rewire your brain (Part 5) - The Satir Change Process Model
Virginia Satir says that we can learn something new anytime we believe we can. Therefore we can learn to cope with what we are dealing with by readjusting the way we think. In the part 4, Survival Rules, we look at how we can identify childhood surv…
Rewire your brain (Part 4) - Childhood survival rules
Virginia Satir says that you have learned what you have learned very well. It has helped you survive. In Part 3, Distress Tolerance, we learned how to "Distract. Relax. Cope." We identify negative coping mechanisms and avoid self-destructive behavio…
Rewire your brain (Part 3) - Distress tolerance
Oliver Goldsmith says that the mind is ever ingenious in making its own distress. In Part 2 we looked at how we can activate five neuro pathways in order to create new neural networks in the brain. This technique helps us rewire the brain to change …
Rewire your brain (Part 2) - Activate neuro pathways
Dr. Hilary Stokes says that we have trillions of brain cells, resulting in thousands (if not millions) of strings of lights (chemical reactions) correlating with our habits in all areas of our life. In part one, the introduction, we looked at why we…
Rewire your brain (Part 1) - Introduction
John Medina said, "what you do and learn in life physically changes what your brain looks like - it literally rewires it." You are learning something new everyday. Whether it be a new skill, new way of doing something, discovering something you have…
Practice what you preach
"Your beliefs don't make you a better person, our behavior does." I have a far way to go on my journey. My journey of self-discovery and healing. It's a life-long journey and sometimes it's a real battle. Yes, it becomes absolutely exhausting. I str…
Who are you and where are you going?
Nathaniel Hawthorne says that happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. I've been plagued for years for trying to find purpose in life. This desperat…
Know your limits
"Know your limits, know when to give, know when to demand, know when to say no, know when enough is enough" Face your fears, get out of your comfort-zone, do something that you won't normally do. Yes, this is maybe great advice until it becomes debi…
Change starts with you
Mahatma Gandhi says to start changing yourself if you want to change the life around you. "Change starts with you"... how cliché Clarice. Thanks for that one. Okay, I really feel I need to deep dive into this topic to make my intentions clear. It is…
Words define your reality
"Words are free. It's how you use them, that may cost you." - KushandWizdom How often do you listen to yourself when you speak? Not just hear your own voice but actually listen to the words that you use. Do you carefully choose the words you use? Th…
Discovering yourself
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” ― Aristotle Sometimes I struggle to consciously understand my actions. This makes it hard for me to find out why I react the way I do in certain situations. In some cases I am proud of how I act but…
The fear behind the scenes
"The reason why we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind the scenes with everyone else's highlight reel," Steven Furtick Think of someone successful in the industry who you admire. This person doesn't have to be well known, but t…
Rubyfuza 2017 Conference
I spoke at Rubyfuza 2017 in Cape Town about how Imposter Syndrome impacts my day-to-day decisions and confidence, affects growth by limiting opportunities and makes me feel unworthy. I wanted to share my experience & perspective of feeling like a fr…
The imposter within
“Did I do anything wrong today,” he said, “or has the world always been like this and I've been too wrapped up in myself to notice?” ― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Just over a month ago I: started doubting myself; felt like I …
Deliberate downtime
"Do you really squeeze more productivity out of yourself by powering through your weariness?", Caroline Webb To make good decisions you need your mind to be fresh. If you keep grinding through tasks, your brain gets tired and can go on auto-pilot. T…
Sustainable living
The aim is simple. I wish to boost my overall sense of wellbeing by living a more fulfilling life day-to-day. I decided it was time to consciously unpack why I feel overwhelmed: The city feels rushed. The negative effects of traffic while people are…
How I got my article published
I am proud to announce that my article got published on A List Apart giving me the chance to share my career experiences with the community. My article — "Finding Opportunities in the Mistakes We Make" got published on A List Apart on 2 August 2016.…
Coping with unknown outcomes
"I am an old man and I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened." by Mark Twain As software developers we have a lot of things that build unnecessary stress and anxiety in each day of our profession - just to mention a few a…
A mindful day of happiness
Everything I did today was done with intent and slower than usual. I was mindful. Today I had complete control of my day and my emotions because I was mindful. I walked mindfully. I spoke mindfully. I thought mindfully. I listened mindfully. I stood…
The rainbow in our storm sprint
Communication is essential to minimize stress and get the support a team needs to be successful. We are seven days into our two week sprint and our burndown is flat-lining. Until today, this sprint felt like a terrible storm that would never clear u…
The ego barrier
Be the change you want to see even if it doesn't change anything right away. An ego is a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance. It can be detrimental to a person and those around them if received negatively. I'm sure you've experienced th…
What it means to be an expert
Accelerate your learning by sharing what you learn with others while you are learning it. Experts aren't people who know absolutely everything in their field of expertise. Take GPs for example, they provide educated guesses based on textbook learnin…
5 Soft skills every developer should know about
"We only grow when we are doing things that makes us uncomfortable." by John Sonmez I have been following John Sonmez for a while now. He has personally guided and motivated me during the conception of my blog. I never really focused on my people sk…
People do stupid sh*t
"If you don’t fail it’s because you did not risk enough, and if you didn’t risk enough it’s because you didn’t put your whole self out there." by Carlos Barrabes People do stupid things. It's guaranteed and there's no way to control it. That's what …
Reignite the passion
Do you remember how excited you were when you wrote your first program? It's easy to forget when you've been in the real-world for a long time. Sometimes we just need to reignite that passion that we once felt and spread the feeling throughout our t…
Escaping the social comfort zone
"I think that we grow when we are outside our comfort zone. If it's not breaking you down, it's not building you up." quoted by Scott Hanselman The comfort zone. What a wonderful place. It's so safe to be in. You're familiar with the surroundings, i…
Dealing with change in teams
It's sad when people leave because bonds are formed but we can't stay in the same environment and position forever. I had a bad experience. I once joined a team that had pressure from all angles. Fixed deadlines, unexpected and sometimes last minute…
People oriented software
The art of making software for people with people. Today the words "people oriented software" materialized in my mind. It's not a new (I Googled it) but it is new to me. As a software developer I naturally felt obligated to write about code and tech…
The “Perfect” Illusion
Are you chasing after unicorns - perfect things that may not exist? Perfection is a subjective perspective. I dive into this "illusion" and how it has affected me. Media often creates a perception of everything being "perfect". Billboards, magazines…
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