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Embracing Discomfort: Stoic Principles for Advancing Your Career as a Software Engineer

Harnessing Ancient Wisdom to Thrive in the Modern Tech World

Patrick Karsh
4 min readMay 15, 2024

In the fast-paced world of software engineering, discomfort is a constant companion. Bugs, tight deadlines, and the ever-evolving landscape of technology are par for the course. However, by embracing Stoic principles, you can transform these challenges into opportunities for growth and career advancement. Here’s how to do it:

Understand the Nature of Discomfort

Recognize its inevitability: Bugs, tight deadlines, and rapidly changing technologies are inherent in the field of software engineering. Accepting this reality is the first step towards embracing discomfort.

View it as a teacher: Every coding challenge, debugging session, or new technology stack presents an opportunity to learn and grow as a software engineer. Approach these situations with curiosity and a desire to improve.

Control What You Can, Accept What You Cannot

Focus on your actions and reactions: While you can’t control project requirements or unexpected issues, you can control your response. Break down problems into manageable tasks and address them…

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Patrick Karsh
Patrick Karsh

Written by Patrick Karsh

NYC-based Ruby on Rails and Javascript Engineer leveraging AI to explore Engineering. https://linktr.ee/patrickkarsh

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