self.promises - Challenging my lazy self to do wonderful things

Sometimes it seems that my mind is almost like a lazy (or non-strict) programming language: problems that are not forced by a deadline, expectations from the outside or something similar, are not going to be solved by me.

I am lazy. In a way, that is probably good because it allows me to cope with things (I can't do all the things after all), but it also is the wrong mindset. While I do need to be aware of the problems I am facing and my own weaknesses, I want to live more with a knowledge that I will do better. I think it's crucial to sustain the motivation and to do really wonderful things because if you don't believe that you can do better you probably won't.

But that post regarding motivation, expectations and a "curious mind" is not this post. It will come, however, as will a few other things.

Instead, this post is a promise, a month-long challenge to myself, kind of like a manifesto. What follows is a list of things that I want to work on until the 30th of April starting from now.

I will:

• write a long overdue letter to a friend
• write about what I learned and how I feel I am progressing
• finish reading Clean Code and Apprenticeship Patterns and write about them
• write a shopping list program in Clojure + ClojureScript
• better separate entertainment and education/coding/thinking
• try out "real" test driven development as often as I can, for example:
  • Java language understanding tests
  • a rewrite of an important algorithm at my internship
• think more before coding
• notice when I am distracted, unfocused or stuck
• go to at least one local meetup

These are the things for now. They are probably not concrete enough, but they matter a lot to me. I can measure what I am doing about them and I will document how it is working for me, what worked and what didn't.

I believe that in a month, I will be a different person, I want to be. It doesn't have to be a complete makeover, but rather subtleties that changed based on reflection and thinking about who I am and not just letting myself float.

See you soon.