In this context, tools according to my understanding can be either material or metaphorical. There are several tools that I will need, some of which I already have, that I need to fulfill this blueprint of my life that I am building. I’ll start by listing the material tools, since those are the easy ones.
Almost everything I do is on a computer. I’m a software developer by trade, and my skills are useless without a computer to build things with. The computer needs to have a decent amount of power inside, otherwise I won’t have the ability to build things that require some horsepower to build and run on a machine during the development process. If it’s not powerful enough, it’ll be frustrating to work with and result in me being unhappy as well as limited by the tooling available to me. I despise the fact that sometimes I am limited by the tools at my disposal. I know that sometimes I can be producing at a significantly higher rate if only the tools I am using could keep up. The new laptops some of the software developers at work have been issued are an example of this – a lot of times they just flat out suck.
I am a mechanical keyboard enthusiast. I have more keyboards than I have fingers on one hand. This may be a little extreme, but they make me happy. Even if I only owned one keyboard, I would make sure to spend a decent chunk of change on it so I can enjoy using it. When someone asks me how I justify spending so much on a keyboard, I always compare it to a pair of shoes. A good pair of shoes will last you a long time and you are constantly using them. You wear them all day and you want to like the things that separate your feet from the ground. Keyboards are no different; I’m on front of a computer for at least 8 hours a day, so I’m going to make sure the tools I use to interface with it are enjoyable to use and something I like.
I have quite a few good mentors now. The lead developer on my team has been the best mentor I’ve had since I’ve started in this industry. I’ve learned so much from him being on his team, both technically and not. Just like everyone else though, he is not without his weaknesses. His technical strengths lie in the ability to make technical decisions and architecting solutions from a high level. My passion is for front-end development (or backend with JavaScript), so he doesn’t have much to offer me in that regard. That’s not to say the patterns and practices he knows and teaches don’t have value in that manner, but another mentor in that area would be very beneficial to me.
I’ve listened to several of my role models talk about how great being in a mastermind group is for them. A mastermind group is a group of like-minded people who get together for the purpose of mutual improvement, and nothing else really. Here, you can discuss and debate different topics, bounce ideas off of each other, and get feedback and support. I’d love to be a part of one of these because it would be nothing but beneficial. Being surrounded by people that have similar goals and interests has practically no downside.
This journaling endeavor is one part of this, but I should keep a physical journal with me so I can scribble down ideas as they come to me. Far too often I will think of something, say to myself “I’ll remember that later” and then never remember. I can only imagine how many great ideas I could have pursued if I had just remembered the things I told myself I would remember.
What about the metaphorical tools? There’s really only one that I can think of:
This is something that is a never ending effort. Ever since I read a quote about motivation and discipline, I’ve been practicing something (albeit poorly) for a few years. It had some explicit language, so I’ll summarize it a bit:
FORGET MOTIVATION
It’s fickle and unreliable and isn’t worth your time. Better to cultivate habits than rely on motivation. FORCE YOURSELF to do things. Force yourself to get out of bed and practice. FORCE YOURSELF to work. Motivation is fleeting and easy to rely on because it requires no concentrated effort to get. Motivation comes to you, you don’t even have to chase after it. HABITS ARE RELIABLE. MOTIVATION IS FLEETING. The question isn’t how to stay motivated, it’s how to train yourself to work without it.
Interestingly enough, this quote stuck out to me at first because of the boldness and jarring effect of the vulgar language the real one contained, but once I read through the whole thing it’s something that has stuck with me for years. Too many people say “I don’t have any motivation to get that done!” when motivation isn’t the thing that you need to get anything done. A recruit in the military doesn’t have motivation to get up at 4:30 in the morning to be screamed at and ridiculed by a drill sergeant, but they do have the discipline needed to get up out of bed and know that they are making themselves a better person as a whole. I lack the motivation to get out of bed at 6 AM to get ready for work, but I’m forcing myself to have the discipline to not hit snooze and get out of bed to start my day off right.
I’m not good at having discipline, but I am a heck of a lot better than I used to be. It’s something that, just like any skill, can be learned and bettered through practice. Having discipline around one activity will make it become a habit, and then there will be no need to rely on motivation.