All things Mindset

Attack of the bruised ego

Estimated 1 minute read

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…

#128
Attack of the bruised ego

An Iterative Approach to My Blog

Estimated 1 minute read

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…

#64
An Iterative Approach to My Blog

My First Week at CloudAfrica

Estimated 4 minute read

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…

#60
My First Week at CloudAfrica

Defusing Stressful Emotions

Estimated 3 minute read

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…

#58
Defusing Stressful Emotions

Rewire your brain (Part 8) - Conclusion

Estimated 3 minute read

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…

#57
Rewire your brain (Part 8) - Conclusion

Rewire your brain (Part 7) - Our habits

Estimated 4 minute read

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…

#56
Rewire your brain (Part 7) - Our habits

Rewire your brain (Part 6) - Neuroplasticity

Estimated 6 minute read

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…

#55
Rewire your brain (Part 6) - Neuroplasticity

Rewire your brain (Part 5) - The Satir Change Process Model

Estimated 5 minute read

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…

#54
Rewire your brain (Part 5) - The Satir Change Process Model

Rewire your brain (Part 4) - Childhood survival rules

Estimated 5 minute read

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…

#53
Rewire your brain (Part 4) - Childhood survival rules

Rewire your brain (Part 3) - Distress tolerance

Estimated 12 minute read

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 …

#52
Rewire your brain (Part 3) - Distress tolerance

Rewire your brain (Part 2) - Activate neuro pathways

Estimated 4 minute read

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…

#51
Rewire your brain (Part 2) - Activate neuro pathways

Rewire your brain (Part 1) - Introduction

Estimated 2 minute read

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…

#50
Rewire your brain (Part 1) - Introduction

Practice what you preach

Estimated 4 minute read

"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…

#49
Practice what you preach

Who are you and where are you going?

Estimated 5 minute read

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…

#48
Who are you and where are you going?

Know your limits

Estimated 3 minute read

"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…

#47
Know your limits

Change starts with you

Estimated 3 minute read

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…

#46
Change starts with you

Words define your reality

Estimated 5 minute read

"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…

#45
Words define your reality

Discovering yourself

Estimated 8 minute read

“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…

#44
Discovering yourself

The fear behind the scenes

Estimated 5 minute read

"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…

#43
The fear behind the scenes

Rubyfuza 2017 Conference

Estimated 15 minute read

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…

#42
Rubyfuza 2017 Conference

The imposter within

Estimated 8 minute read

“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 …

#41
The imposter within

Deliberate downtime

Estimated 6 minute read

"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…

#37
Deliberate downtime

Sustainable living

Estimated 6 minute read

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…

#36
Sustainable living

How I got my article published

Estimated 4 minute read

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.…

#35
How I got my article published

Coping with unknown outcomes

Estimated 1 minute read

"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…

#33
Coping with unknown outcomes

A mindful day of happiness

Estimated 3 minute read

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…

#32
A mindful day of happiness

The rainbow in our storm sprint

Estimated 3 minute read

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…

#31
The rainbow in our storm sprint

The ego barrier

Estimated 5 minute read

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…

#28
The ego barrier

What it means to be an expert

Estimated 2 minute read

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…

#27
What it means to be an expert

5 Soft skills every developer should know about

Estimated 1 minute read

"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…

#18
5 Soft skills every developer should know about

People do stupid sh*t

Estimated 4 minute read

"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 …

#17
People do stupid sh*t

Reignite the passion

Estimated 4 minute read

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…

#16
Reignite the passion

Escaping the social comfort zone

Estimated 3 minute read

"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…

#15
Escaping the social comfort zone

Dealing with change in teams

Estimated 3 minute read

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…

#14
Dealing with change in teams

People oriented software

Estimated 4 minute read

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…

#13
People oriented software

The “Perfect” Illusion

Estimated 5 minute read

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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