Jared Mehle, Author at Software for Good

Connect With Your Past Self

Jared Mehle — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 04:01:10 +0000

Time constantly advances forward. No matter where you are going or what your trajectory is, you came from somewhere.

This week, look back and reconnect with the person you were. If you don’t like the person you used to be, why is that? What things did you change about your life to become the person you are now?

Even if you’re OK with who you were all along, chances are you’ve evolved. Reflect on your past personas, the positives of each, and how you became the person you are today.

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Have a Bad Day, Then Have a Good Day

Jared Mehle — Tue, 30 May 2017 20:09:52 +0000

It happens to all of us. No matter how good your intentions and aspirations for the day, somewhere it sours. When you reach the end, you realize you’ve had a bad day.

Maybe this means you didn’t meet your exercise goal for the day or you didn’t adhere to your diet. It could be that you were trying to finish a feature before code freeze, but missed the deadline. Maybe you really messed up and deleted a database and can’t recover it.

No matter the stakes, you can go to bed, wake up tomorrow, and make it a good day. At the very least, you can start your day with a positive attitude and see what happens.

Get back to your exercise routine. Eat better than you did yesterday. Finish that next feature proficiently. Go over the steps that caused you to delete the database and begin a new routine that will ensure you don’t make the same mistake again.

It’s like Doc Brown said in Back to the Future: Part III, “Your future hasn’t been written yet. No one’s has. Your future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one.”

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We Did The Best We Could

Jared Mehle — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 19:51:41 +0000

Faced with tough times or injustice, we often comfort ourselves by saying that “we did the best we could” or “there was nothing more we could do”. We in Minnesota were recently shaken by the conclusion of a 27-year-long investigation into the disappearance of a child named Jacob Wetterling. American Public Media’s “In the Dark” podcast series investigates the shortcomings of law enforcement in solving this case and explores the question, “did they do everything they could?”

How are you doing? Are you doing everything you can to take care of what you need to do, at home or at work? This week, challenge yourself to reflect upon whether or not you can give more. Turn a critical eye to your performances and ask yourself where you can improve. You may find you can give a little more than what you have.

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Have a Backup (and make sure it works)

Jared Mehle — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:43:43 +0000

World Backup Day was last week, on March 31st.

Have a backup. In the world of software, losing work can range from mildly annoying to catastrophic. A backup can save you from that peril.

However, having a backup and finding out at the most critical time it is not viable is almost worse than having no backup at all. Verify your backups! This is often a forgotten step.

Backing up applies outside of software too. Have a backup plan for your meeting. Have a backup person to review your code. Have a backup lunch in the fridge in case your forget to pack your lunch.

This week make sure you have a backup plan and that the plan can be executed without fault.

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Reflect

Jared Mehle — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 17:53:10 +0000

We made it! Another revolution around the sun is almost complete. You’ve probably started to look forward to 2016 already and all that it will bring into your life. But don’t leave the last twelve months behind quite yet. Surely, there were at least a few accomplishments or notable memories you had. What went into those successes? Who was there to help you along the way? What can you take from those triumphs?

This week, look back at the past year and relish in your achievements.

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Fostering

Jared Mehle — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 18:58:16 +0000

Fostering is all about taking something in that isn’t yours and giving it a positive, nurturing environment. The end goal is to give it the love and care that it needs until it finds a ‘forever home’. Sometimes the things we foster are less than perfect, but with guidance, they can be transformed. This week, look for the projects, ideas, code snippets, or people that could flourish in the right environment and give them a home.

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Fly Under the Radar

Jared Mehle — Wed, 06 May 2015 20:00:11 +0000

It’s better to fly under the radar than be crushed by the weight of expectations.

Put your head down and let your work speak for itself.

Contribute without expecting an immediate return.

Focus on doing your best work and the rest will come.

This week, shake off your need for approval. The value of your work isn’t linked to the attention it garners, but the quality of product you produce.

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