Our first newsletter of the year is usually super rah rah and inspirational. Imma skip all that:

New Year’s → New budgets → New jobs

The coffers are full and hiring managers want to fill out their teams fast.

Make a list of companies you want to work with, find recruiters at each of those companies, and email them a note introducing yourself. 3 emails a day is a good goal.

Somewhat happily employed

In 2018 you were an X, who wrote code to do Y, and achieved Z.

In 2019, you’re still an X and chances are, your product & code still do Y. If you do everything the same for another 365 days, Z won’t change either.

Shake things up by establishing some S.M.A.R.T new goals (specific, measurable, action-oriented, relevant, and time-bound).

You don’t have to plan out the whole year, but you can set goals for this week, month, and quarter.

Eager to make a change

Establishing new habits and breaking old ones is hard. It takes around 2 months to retrain your brain.

Start small, work towards achievable milestones, and track your progress. You’re more likely to follow through and less likely to rage quit.

Autodidacts & bounty hunters

Hackathons—Need I say more?