Front End Design Conference – Elyse Holladay – I Have No Idea What I’m Doing

https://twitter.com/elyseholladay

http://elyseholladay.github.io/tigers/

• “The tigers don’t matter – There will always be tigers – Focus on the strawberries”
• Learning something new is incredibly difficult
• You know a lot of stuff you don’t know
• We are all bad programmers.  Even good programmers don’t think they are good.
• We are drowning in information, but this is normal.
• No One Knows What the F*** They’re Doing (or “The 3 Types of Knowledge”) – http://jangosteve.com/post/380926251/no-one-knows-what-theyre-doing
• Fake it till you make it.
• Six things to starting something new
  • Be lucky
    • Luck isn’t just luck but usually a lot of hard work
    • “Say “yes” and figure it out later”
    • Put yourself in opportunities that turn into luck
  • Set goals
    • Set real goals
    • Set small tasks to get your goal
    • Attainable, small tasks
    • If you don’t define your small goals, you will never reach your main goal
  • Work joyously
    • Love what you do
    • Find other people who also love it and follow them
    • Henry Miller’s 11 Commandments – http://www.listsofnote.com/2012/01/henry-millers-11-commandments.html
  • Share your doubt
    • “if only I could work like this everyday!” – Hurricane days where you get everything done
    • Be kind to yourself
  • Celebrate your wins
    • Habit loops
    • Be sure to high-five yourself
  • Help others
    • Helps you learn and helps others
    • Someone else may see you “riding a tiger” but you have no clue how you got there.
    • When you are teaching, don’t pretend to be an expert.  Explain how and why.
    • No feigning surprise (when someone doesn’t know something)
      • It doesn’t serve a purpose and puts other people down
    • No well-actually’s
      • People use it to grandstand
    • “The only better feeling than seeing someone succeed with your help… is not taking any of the credit”