Author: patmcg

You

Discomfort is Your Best Friend

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I really love the message in this article. It sounds severe, but discomfort is actually your best friend in life.

👉 You Will Not Grow Until You Learn to Tolerate Discomfort

I have found this to be more and more true the older I get, to the point where if things are very easy or comfortable for too long, it sort of terrifies me. It is the first sign of your downfall. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Embracing discomfort and seeing it as your friend allows you to shed fear and enjoy the feeling of progress. It lets you learn to play guitar or programming, it lets you take a chance with someone, it lets you find new ways to be happy and fit, it lets you be shed stale thinking.

When we are in pain, discomfort heightens and communicates. When we are making progress, discomfort peaks and recedes, and clarity washes over us.

PS I told my kid the other day that discomfort grows you, before I even read this article. She said that sounded like something I would read. 😂

Software Dev

Control Room

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Yes, we’re developers, and sometimes we prefer the command line. But simctl is a party cryptic way to control the iOS simulator on your Mac. This guy Paul Hudson has put together a nice Mac UI to tame the simulator.

👉 Control Room on GitHub

Thank you, Paul. 🤟 (And where do these people even find the time? 🤷🏻‍♂️). I love his can-do developer attitude, btw:

simctl is a great tool for controlling the iOS simulator, but I find it a little hard to use. So, I wrote Control Room.

Via iOS Dev Weekly.

You

Five Tips to Be Memorable in Social Settings (and Still Be Yourself)

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This is a great article for those of us who may be on the understated side and/or not a big fan of small talk.

👉 How to Be Memorable in Social Settings – Five tips to stand out in a positive way

These tips are great because:

  • They’re genuine and let you be yourself. In fact, they kind of help you be more you.
  • They make socializing more fun and interesting for you, not just others.
  • They are simple and practical.
  • They even work towards some of an introvert’s strengths, i.e. reading books.

Cheat sheet:

  1. Have interesting answers ready for common questions (where are you from, etc.)
  2. Dress for success, i.e. find your style
  3. Remember people’s names (damn this is hard!)
  4. Give people your undivided attention (easy)
  5. Read so you have stuff to talk about
You

Shitty First Drafts

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In a creative writing class I’m taking, our teacher pointed us to this great piece called “Shitty First Drafts”. It basically says what we all know but tend to forget: nobody ever just sits down and writes a great story on the first try.

👉 Shitty First Drafts by Anne Lamott

This approach frees you up to have fun with it (another topic from the class).

The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later.

Anne Lamott from Bird by Bird

As a side note, this “shitty first draft” approach applies just as well to other creative endeavors such as making music or software. The key is to not actually ship the shitty first draft (although the occasional great album seems to be an exception to this rule).

Disclaimer: this blog consists entirely of shitty first drafts. 🤷🏻‍♂️