Planing depends on deterministic view of the future. I used to plan (esp annual plans) until about 5 years. Now I scan for trends and prepare myself for different scenarios that can come in the future. Even if you get it approximately right, you stand apart.
For tech trends, I read Simon, Benedict Evans, Mary Meeker etc. Simon is in a better position make these predictions than anyone else having closely analyzed these trends over the last few years.
I am a software engineer and I have trained to think logically and structurally. In that processes, I have lost "taste". I don't have any design (user facing) capability. I bet in the near future, developing apps and hosting will become so easy that we will soon see "substack for apps" [1].
If I'm right, the thing that will set me still apart (I'm currently a CTO with 30 years of experience) will be taste and not engineering. Or putting it differently, taste + engineering will set me apart than just engineering.
I don't know what that will look like yet. But that is what I want to learn in 2026.
I have been blogging since 2003. My reasons,learning, and rewards and why I still blog:
- It is a personal blog = 1st audience is me. Best self-improvement investment I made
- I blog for my present self: I blog about what I read, what I'm thinking about a topic, what I learned etc. But also I blog for my future self: the trends I'm noticing, how I should prepare and I am preparing
- Since it is a personal blog, sometimes I blog about books I read, sermons I preach, technical notes. All mixed up.
- This year got about 40k YTD traffic, which is not bad for a personal blog. Highest traffic came for my post on openwebui.
Benefits I've seen:
- I am not selling anything or running ads. So there are no first order monetization
- Since I blog about topics that matter to me (career, tech trends), I already have a clear thinking on those topics. So when they come up for discussions, I am able to speak clearly and with depth. That has landed me in promotions, faster career growth, coaching opportunities, and more
- People share my blog post when certain topics come up for discussion. This has increased my influence and their respect towards me.
Having a daily routine. It helps you start your day well. But to have this routine, you need to get a lot of other stuff well too (ex: if you want to get up fresh, you need to go to bed on time. If you have to go to bed on time, you need to finish your work at least 30 min prior and so on). I wrote about my morning routine here: https://www.jjude.com/morning-routine/
As Ed Throp says, there are offense & defense mechanism to longevity (which includes mental health). He says,
> The goal is to have a long life that’s also a healthy, productive one. As opposed to being in assisted living somewhere.
defense: minimize chances of bad outcomes which includes regular check-ups
offense: exercise + diet
Would love to take this for a test if it is available for public use
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