Look at what theyre doing and see if theres anything in there that you can mirror, that you can emulate. So why did they get the promotion? Oh, its because they took on x amount of things in addition to their standard work. Oh, okay. Thats something I can do, right? Why are they, I know. Getting all the cool opportunities? Oh, its because after work, theyre going to network with this, or theyre constantly booking coffee chats with people once a week to just grow their network and get to know people. Just little things like that can really make a difference in your career. Hello, and welcome to the PY Bytes podcast, where we talk about Python career and mindset. We're your hosts. I'm Julian Sequeira. And I am Bob Baldeboz. If you're looking to improve your python, your career, and learn the mindset for success, this is the podcast for you. Let's get started. Hello and welcome back to the Pie Bites podcast. This is Bob, and I'm here with Julian. How's it going, man? Yeah, pretty good. We have a lot of work on our plates, haven't we? I'm so tired. Yeah, we do. But it's exciting work. I'm actually super thrilled. And we were late meeting tonight because I was so absorbed in the work. It got to about quarter past the hour, and I said, oh, we're supposed to meet to record the podcast. Whoops. So I apologize. Good old deep work, right? Exactly. Just flows. I was in it. I was in a position to flow, and you interrupted it. Where would the world be without Cal Newport? Shout out. Less productive. That's for sure. So what are we talking tonight? You're talking about tonight. Only compare yourself to your yesterday's self. Boom. I like that quote. I like that thought. I really like that one. It's kind of funny. Let me use your word. It's insidious. It's a plague. It's a plague. I won't compare it to the current situation in the world with the pandemic. So, look, the whole thing about comparing yourself, we all know we shouldn't do it. It's plain and simple. It's something, for those of you with kids listening, it's something you tell the kids all the time, right? Don't compare yourself to the other kids. Don't. Don't worry about what they're doing. You just focus on yourself. Yet we as adults find that very hard sometimes that. To take that advice, our own advice that we give our kids, and it's really problematic, can do a lot of damage to you. To your self esteem, to your career, to all manner of things in your life and result in quite a bit of unhappiness. And this is something, you know, Bob and I, over the past month or two, we've actually had conversations about this with different people, including people that have nothing to do with pie bytes, like family and friends and stuff. So we thought that's why we'd record about it. So what do you think, Bob? Yeah, I think it's a relevant topic and it can do you a lot of harm. And we're not perfect in that either. Right. We still fall in those traps ourselves. Oh yeah. But the, the key part is being able to catch yourself when you're doing that and pull yourself out of it before you allow things to get too far where you start actually feeling bad. Right. So let's, let's jump in with some examples. I think this topic is best explained or discussed with some examples. Did you, did you have one to go off first? Yeah. Let's bring in the scapegoat early in the discussion. And ta da. That's of course social media. This exacerbates the problem, for example, right? We're content creators, got a big following. We're fortunate, we're happy about that. But there are also other content providers and they all do great work and people have different followings and normally we dont really care because we have our unique community and we love the work that we do. But sometimes it happens that you come across other content, you think, wow, thats super polished. What a quality. What a big following. So I had that moment a few weeks ago, but the cool realization was that after five minutes of that, I felt like, well, were different. We have a different angle to our content. Hone in a lot on the delivery practice and legit, just in time learning, et cetera, et cetera. That is what makes us different and maybe more niche. So it's not really about the amount of followers, it's more like what is our message? Right. And I think we really found that unique voice and that's what really matters. Does that make sense? Yeah, complete sense. And I really appreciate you talking about something that you had. I didn't expect that. That's cool. And one point that you. One just made me that came to mind as you were talking is that there's a difference between comparing yourself and emulating what others are doing. So there is that concept of, you know, look at what successful people are doing and emulate it because they're clearly doing something right. That's not comparing, that's looking at the recipe for success and seeing what you can emulate. The whole comparing thing is roped in this negativity that you end up feeling, this sense that you're not good enough, this sense that why do they have it and I don't? And what am I doing wrong that they're doing right and all these sorts of things, you know, and just feeling bad about it. So I'm glad that you don't have that. And you've pulled yourself out quickly and said, you know, we're different. We don't need to compare. We're fine. We do things our way. And it's true. Completely agree. I think it's inherent when you put stuff out there, right? And the social media game, it's a game, right. And for good or for worse, we have to play that game, right, to get our content out there. But sometimes you have mixed feelings about it. It can be difficult. Yeah. All right. So, but look, you know what? One thing that you bring up that's a really good point is social media being the, being a problem. And I'm not talking about, you know, if you just sit there on Facebook and Instagram and things like that, but just anything in general that has to do with other people sharing online. It. It is very easy to look at other people's success or perceived success, you know, and sit there and think, oh, why doesn't my life look that? Or why am I not good enough? Why don't I have a job that good I've been doing in the industry for even longer than them, and they seem to have the greatest job on the planet. Look at all the travel they've got and all these things, right? Because when it comes to social media and Twitter and all these platforms and stuff, people only share the good stuff. And I'm probably repeating here, but repetition is important to drill these points in. You know, people share, they share the good stuff more than they share the frustrating and exhausting stuff. So, you know, for everyone who sits there and travels is always getting a trip. For example, I know a lot of people. One of the discussions I had was a bit of, I wouldn't say jealousy, maybe just jealousy that someone was traveling a lot, that they had a friend that was traveling a lot. They got to see the world. They were doing this and all sorts of stuff. And this person, this friend of mine didn't, and that can be tough. But the reality is that person who's traveling, there's also a huge downside to that. They probably, in many cases when you and drill into these things, they probably work way more hours than anyone would care to work. The exhaustion of the travel, the time away from friends and family, not having a place to feel like you're home is because you're constantly on the move. There's all these different pieces and I'm just spitballing here and coming up with potential downsides. Right. But the point is you shouldn't get that far. You should more look at your own situation and say, look, I don't even care that this person's traveling. Rather, this is why I'm happy and this is why I am grateful for what I have and for what I'm doing. And I'm not even going to play this game of comparing. Instead, I'm going to congratulate this person and say, hey, I hope you have a safe trip. Hey, enjoy the trip, have a wonderful time. Send me some photos. I would love to see what it is that you get up to there. You know, be honestly happy for them and things will just feel so much better and they'll be. You'll build relationships and all sorts of things like that. But that's just the standard social media approach. Bob, when it comes to other experiences that we've come across, have you seen a lot of career sort of comparing? Yeah, totally. At the workplace, there's definitely heavy competition going on at times, so. Yeah, that's unfortunate but true. I think you had an example for us, right? Yeah. Yeah. Are you stuck in endless commutes? Have you ever dreamed about being able to work anywhere, control your schedule, give back to society, become an open source contributor, or become a successful developer, doubling your salary? Well, it's time to look at the PDM program and it's time to actually build something that's going to help you get the future that you're looking for. The people that we've worked with in the PDM program have achieved some incredible things, including starting their own own SaaS business with their own application. Imagine that. That could be you building your own application, selling it, making your own income. We've had people more than double their salary. I'm not making that up. I'll say it again, double their salary. After completing our program and applying for developer jobs, these are the sorts of things that you can actually achieve through ten weeks of dedicated life coaching in the PDM program. So here's the challenge. If you are actually serious about taking your future into your own hands and not letting someone else control that for you, click the link below and get on a call with myself or Bob. That's right. We want to talk with you about your goals and how you can use Python to leverage your career. So book a call below. And we cannot wait to talk with you soon. So. And you bang on. It comes to things like promotion, it comes to things like pay rises, it comes to things like job opportunities and. And those sorts of things, right? And there's this. I've touched on both of these already. One, you just can't do that because at the end of the day, just be grateful for what you do have. Be jealous, don't compare. Don't be frustrated that other people seem to get things that you don't and so on and so forth. Right. Just learn to be happy with what you do have. And it sounds a bit preachy to say that I get it. I don't apologize, because it's just, it's something that we say to our friends and family and kids, and it's advice that we give other people, but we never take it. So be happy with what you do have. And then this leads to the second point that I mentioned before about emulating success. So instead of being frustrated and jealous that so and so got the promotion, or so and so seems to have all the cool job opportunities. Maybe look at it. Maybe look at it from a different perspective. Look at what they have, look at what they're doing. Sorry, not what they have. Look at what they're doing and see if there's anything in there that you can mirror, that you can emulate. So why did they get the promotion? Oh, it's because they took on x amount of things in addition to their standard work. Oh, okay. That's something I can do, right? Why are they. I know. Getting all the cool opportunities? Oh, it's because after work, they're going to network with this, or they're constantly booking coffee chats with people once a week to just grow their network and get to know people. Just little things like that can really make a difference in your career. And that's. Those are things that some of the people who tend to get more opportunities do. That's what they tend to do. And that's just me again, spitballing and picking a situation that I've come across with other people personally before. And when we broke it down, these are the things that were happening. But whatever your situation is, if this is something you go through, where you're comparing, you know, give it a. Take a step out. Like the seven habits of highly effective people, step out of yourself. Look at your situation from the corner of the room as if you were looking down at yourself and just say, okay, completely neutral view here, no emotion. Let's break it down and have a look and focus more on yourself than them. There's my two cent book, or twenty cents at this point. I love the points that you bring up. Basically compare yourself to yourself, like where you were yesterday, right. And how you improved. That gives a lot of perspective. It's also like sub comparisons are just like apples and oranges, right? You will never be so good in a certain thing, but you have other qualities, other properties, rather attributes, right. That, that other person might not have. So it's all a balance. And usually with these comparisons we think in absolutes, right. The other thing, I really liked emulating what you said. I definitely, in my early days as a programmer, looked up to certain programmers. And if I now see where I'm at now, then I can certainly see the influence and the things I emulated that got me some success. For example, strong Unix skills, being fast at Vim. Certain things that I recognize now that I was looking up to people ten years ago, right. And I emulated that effectively. So nice. That's cool, man. I like that. I'm glad you got that out of it. And you know what, to, to your point about comparing to yourself, that's what you were saying at the very start, right? To, to wrap this up, compare yourself to your yesterday's self, only compared to yesterday self. And, you know, pretty self explanatory. Just look at where you're at yesterday. Have you made any progress? That's it. If you haven't, is that a problem? It may not be a problem. You may have taken the day off. That's okay, you know, in which case you progress in a different way. You're much more relaxed. But when you compare to yesterday's self, that takes all, it gives you all the control it takes. There's no more ambiguity, there's no more unfairness of things being unfair and out of your control. And you have no say. You have a say in what you do every day. You have that choice. So comparing to yesterday itself really allows you to have that control and that motivation that, hey, I can make a change tomorrow, even if it's tiny, like, uh, like me tomorrow, going to do a workout instead of complaining that I'm too sore from yesterday's work. Yeah. So yeah, I think that wraps the discussion about comparisons. Um, without going into dunder methods, um, what are you reading? Boo. Let me take a second to just cut your slack with your mindset. This time next week we'll be back with thunder method. Yeah, you're on your own for that one. All right, so what am I reading? What am I reading? I picked up a book. It is called the insider's guide to culture change, and it's something that someone at work recommended for me to read, and we're actually doing it. This is really cool. It's like an accountability buddy thing. Every week we a meeting where we have to read a chapter and each one of us will sort of write down the dot points for each chapter and then share what we learned. So it's a really cool idea to do that. But, yeah, I started reading the first chapter and I couldn't even tell you any detail about what the book is all about. But I'm really already enjoying the content from perspective of, oh, this is cool and relevant right now when it comes to, you know, changing the culture of a company, a team, and so on and so forth. So I'm a fan. Interesting. That sounds like a good read. Yeah, yeah. Look, I've got a few of these to read and I'll share more as I dive into it. But what about you? What do you read also? Like, that you do the note taking thing as a team. Seems like a great practice almost, right? Yeah, exactly. And it's accountability in the sense that the other day I was like, oh, crap, I haven't started the book. And so I started reading it, but then the baby took it away from me and started reading it instead. So there you go. Starting young, but. All right. Well, what about you before we wrap it up? Yeah, I'm reading quiet. Susan Cain. Quiet, quiet. Funny, because I realized I'm actually more of an introvert versus you extrovert. Really? Really. Thank you. I was surprised because I do have extroverted elements, but, yeah. So that book just came up over and over again in PDM, outside of PDM. So, yeah, I decided reading it and I recognize a lot, and it's very interesting to kind of understand better how introverts and extroverts operate. Of course, talking about absolutes, right. You're not like an introvert or extrovert in an absolute sense, but there are definitely certain patterns those characters fall into in good or bad sense. Right. So, yeah, super insightful read to understand it and better know yourself and also better understand others. Yeah. Hide. Yeah. Cool, man. I like it. I'll have to come over and borrow a copy and borrow your copy rather than buy my own. It's one of those books that you really like. Self reflection and learning and awareness, we often mention. And this is one of those books that really raises self awareness, at least for me and fathers that I've recommended to me. So it makes you look inwards. Yeah, that's cool. And I like that, that you're already finding out that stuff, like the whole introverted piece. And, you know, when you told me that the other day, I was definitely surprised because I've never thought of you as an introvert. Right. Because when you and I hang out, it's very much extra. But it doesn't come down to just the conversations you have. It comes down to, you know, what you prefer. So if your choice might be, hey, you know what? I'd rather sit inside and read a book versus me, who's like, no, get me the heck out of this house and out with my mates somewhere. You know, there's. There's the flip, but when it comes to you and I just sit here, we could sit here for 6 hours and just chat and. Yeah, it's not a representative, Sam. And that's a great point. That. That actually triggered the whole me geeking out on this, like, was talking with somebody. And the actual question that triggered this to find out whether you're an introvert or extrovert. And that's interesting, maybe for the audience as well. It's like, how do you recharge? How do you prefer to spend your free time to get energy and. Yeah, I mean, I like social gatherings and stuff and hanging, but then I realized, well, I prefer hanging out one on one with people, but I also prefer reading a book. Like, I really want that solo time. And there you go. That sent me down the rabbit hole. Yeah, that's really good. We could probably talk about this for ages because now that I think about it, you're making me reflect. I've been playing online games on Saturday nights with a bunch of guys from. There's some of my mates. And that to me, was my version of unwinding because I just wanted to hang out with some people and we couldn't during COVID That's where this tradition came up. But 19. Anyway, I'll stop you up. Thank you, everyone, for listening. As always, we appreciate you being here. And if you have anything that you'd like to hear us talk about or have anything that you'd like to come and talk on the podcast about, oh, that'd be cool. Definitely let us know. Just shoot us through an email or ping us Twitter or slack or whatever else we appreciate. Yeah, we do a lot of mindset here, but we definitely won't shy away from technical topics as well. Thanks everybody for listening, and we'll be back next week with a fresh new episode. Happy Easter. Happy Easter. We hope you enjoyed this episode. To hear more from us, go to Pibyte, France. That is Pibit es friends, and receive a free gift just for being a friend of the show and to join our thriving slack community of Python programmers, go to Pibytes community. That's Pibit es forward slash community. We hope to see you there and catch you in the next episode.