121 Stories To Learn About Personal Growth

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16 Sept 2023

Let's learn about Personal Growth via these 121 free stories. They are ordered by most time reading created on HackerNoon. Visit the /Learn Repo to find the most read stories about any technology.

1. My Challenge to Excel Users: I Dare you to Learn How to Code

What if, instead of starting that next Excel spreadsheet, you tried your hand at trying to write some code to do the exact same thing?

2. How to Escape the Hedonic Treadmill

Remember this: Find meaning in what you do, and start with why. Pleasure will follow.

3. Beyond Fame and Parties: What top Engineers Really Want From a Startup

8 things that make engineers today say, “this place is for me!”

4. The Programmer's Most Vicious Enemy

Ask me what is the programmer's most vicious enemy and I will answer: his own ego. Let's see some examples.

5. How the Job Market Is Being Misrepresented to You

Here are some ways job seekers are misinformed about the job market.

6. Four Things to do Before and After You're Laid Off

One of the hardest things to deal with about a layoff is that it is unexpected for the person laid off. Take these steps to deal with it if /when it happens.

7. 3 Skills You Need to be a Great Software Engineer Besides Coding

When asked about their talent stack, most software developers reply with "writes code". To be a successful developer you need so much more than that.

8. Shaping Tomorrow’s Product Teams: Noonies Nominee Timoté Geimer

Read the backstory behind Timoté Geimer's career and the growth of dualoop, a product management consulting firm.

9. Why You Should Quit Social Media Permanently

Quitting social media permanently will improve your friends relationship, sense of identity, fear of politics, and maximize your attention span.

10. It All Begins With a Side Project

Growing up building

11. The 36 Highest Paying Cities for Management Consultants in the US

Here is everything you might want to know about what a management consultant does and how much someone can earn in the role.

12. Pressure Makes Better Programmers Faster

Over the course of my life, I’ve participated in more than 20 hackathons, so I might be a little biased on them, but on the other hand, I know a lot about how they can be useful.

13. How to Win in Every Negotiation

Lessons in Information Asymmetry

When I first moved to San Francisco, I didn’t have a car. Who needs a car in San Francisco? And the parking is like $350 per month so that is a hard no.

14. How To Embrace the Growth Mindset for Career Success

People with a growth mindset are constantly learning, refining their successes, and improving on their failures. The process is more important than the outcome.

15. The Matthew Principle of Accumulated Advantage and How the Poor Get Poorer

The Matthew Effect or Matthew Principle of accumulated advantage, is sometimes summarized by the adage "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer".

16. How to Reclaim Your Freedom and Take Back Control of Your Life

A sense of control in our life not only rids us of anxiety, it’s the single most critical factor in helping us stay productive at work.

17. How I Calmed My Nerves And Finally Overcame My Fear Of Public Speaking

A hundred talks later, I'm still terrified every time I go on stage. How did I ever get on stage, though? Well, here's a little trip down memory lane, the s

18. Cultivate Self-Compassion and Resilience by Doing Hard Things

How can one cultivate self-compassion and resilience by doing hard things?

19. DIY Simple CEO Dalip Celbeqiri On Work and Motivation [Interview]

I had the chance to talk to the Facebook Video Expert Dalip Celbeqiri who is the "go-to-person" when it comes to creative marketing. You can catch him behind the scenes, usually brainstorming and creating master plans for viral content. Dalip is one of the founders and CEO for the company Following Media Inc. His team runs the marketing for some of the biggest brands like “DIY Simple“. His team currently holds the 2nd place for “most views on a Facebook video” with more than 4.5 billion minutes viewed in a year; 100% organically.

20. Introducing S.A.M.: The Self-leadership Framework

TL;DR: A self-leader does everything that a leader should do, but for herself. She plans, motivates, listens, and cares for herself. She uses the S.A.M. framework to put her efforts into perspective by focussing on Skills, Attitude, and Mindfulness as the core of her self-leadership practice.

21. How To Train Your Brain To Be More Optimistic

When faced with adversity, most people feel indecisive, restless, and anxious about the future. It is what happens afterward that makes a difference.

22. Building a Software Engineer Career Without Compromising Balance

In this article, Daria Nesvitailo, shares thoughts on balanced growth, professional development methods, and what it means to be an engineering leader.

23. 82% of Verified TikTok Professionals in the U.S. are Looking for a New Job

Social media companies, which have long relied on their cool factor as trendy or best places to work, may have a talent-retention problem.

24. Focus on These Skills If You're Worried About AI Taking Your Job

Three types of skills for software developers and designers worried about the mass adoption of AI

25. How to Get a Recruiter to Work Harder for You

Here’s the secret to getting a recruiter to work harder for you.

26. Forget Quiet Quitting, fatFIRE is the Newest Workplace Trend

All the talk about quiet quitting makes it seem like everyone hates their jobs and is just sleepwalking through the workday, but that’s not the case -here's why

27. Coding During Day, Writing During Night: Meet the Writer Branislav Đalić

Branislav Đalić, a software developer, as part of the Meet the Writer series tells us how he sources writing ideas and how uses creativity to prevent burnout.

28. The 10 Best Google Chrome Extensions to Help You Expand Your Knowledge

Ben Meer shows 10 Google Chrome extensions to help you expand your knowledge.

29. How I Overcame Imposter Syndrome While at Meta

My experience with Imposter Syndrome at Meta and how I overcame it

30. Using Comments to Grow Your Insta/Facebook Profile

Are you a small business or want to grow you personal brand with no ad cash? Here are 4 ways you can grow your Instagram account using the comment section.

31. How to Level Up Your Way to C-Suite

Have you ever thought that you have to develop pretty much the same skills if you want to become CMO, CCO, CPO, and basically Chief Anything Officer?

32. Don't Stop at Writing Code, Create Business Value

Knowing the business needs/problems can help engineers to grow faster. If you don’t know WHAT and WHY, you can’t think of HOW.

33. 15 Secrets Every Job Seeker Needs to Know

There are a lot of things that job seekers need to know in order to be successful in their search. However, there are some secrets that can be even more helpful

34. 10 Podcasts that Will Boost Your Growth in Business & Life

I have two degrees, one in engineering and one in marketing. But I've learned 10x more from listening to podcasts.

35. The Hidden Catch With Using Frameworks

Framework's ready-made functionality is great for app building, but often hides drawbacks. Find out why you need to switch to a problem-solving mindset.

36. Build a Second Brain and Conquer Your Cluttered Mind

Are we drowning in the chaos of too many thoughts and ideas? It seems as though our minds are constantly cluttered. How can we function regardless?

37. The Pros and Cons To Losing Yourself in a Problem

You find yourself fully committed to solving a problem, you think if I just do x then it's smooth sailings and it'll all be done. A couple hours pass and you've nailed x, but actually y and z seem pretty challenging, and now you have to fix x in order to make y and z as slick as possible.

38. How I Hacked My Schedule for Self Improvement

If you have ever read a self improvement article, a success story about starting a business, or an article about top reasons to be an entrepreneur, this may pr

39. How To Reduce Workplace Stress

Work is a big part of our life. Done well, it can be a source of joy. But when managed poorly, it can often lead to stress, anxiety, and dissatisfaction at work

40. I Quit My Job at the Age of 36 to Be Happy

Hi! my name is O. I am the founder of Goodnight Journal, where people come to write their own private and public journals. In this blog article, I want to share my own story about quitting my job and working on the app that I’m passionate about while traveling.

41. How to Prevent Burnout and Keep Your Organization on Track

As a result of significant events against me, I burned out in 2016. Here are the keys to overcoming (and potentially protecting staff/colleagues from) burnout.

42. How to Identify and Stick it to Decision Fatigue

A series of these small decisions scattered throughout our day may seem harmless in the moment, but are they really harmless?

43. Cultivating Healthy Workplace Culture: Listen. Decide. Act. Repeat

Your employees’ relationships with their work environment are just as meaningful as their home environment when it comes to mental health.

44. The Quiet Quitting Trend and Why You Should Not Follow It

According to Blind, white-collar tech professionals have lost 100,826 jobs so far this year. Here is how you can avoid getting laid off this time.

45. What I Learned From Ten 101 Courses During Lockdown

These are the 10 that have changed my life for the better

46. Google Employees Consider Other Jobs Following Company's Return-to-Office Plans

Google employees, dissatisfied with return-to-office plans, have begun to seek alternative employment should these plans be carried out.

47. 5 Practices to Shift from Scarcity to Abundance Mindset

Thinking with a scarcity mindset or abundance mindset isn’t limited to work, it extends to how you approach everything—friends, family, and other relationships.

48. The "Great Regret" and How to Avoid it when Switching Jobs

This article addresses things to take note of, before you switch jobs to avoid the "Great regret"

49. The Curse of Success

Failure may be the most important part of the human experience. So why not run towards it?

50. Giving My First Talk

I am one of you who had stage fear, self-doubt, and hesitation when it comes to public speaking? In this blog, I will be sharing the journey of My First Talk

51. 6 Ways To Deal With Toxic People

Negative people are everywhere and learning how to deal with them will go a long way into helping you improve your life and remove stress in the process.

52. How To Be Responsible For Your Own Growth

We all want to have a good relationship with our managers, work on impactful projects that help us advance our career, want to be highly regarded in our line of work and be trusted and respected by others. But, how often do we take charge of our own growth?

53. 4 Common Types of Critics, and How To Handle Their "Feedback"

Doling out advice, hurling negative comments, passing mean remarks - we have all done it. Given an opportunity, it’s easy to assume the role of an expert and tell others how wrong they are, why their product isn’t good enough, why their idea will never work, how they should behave, what they should do. Why seek permission when we feel right in our criticism?

54. Are You Contributing to a Toxic Work Environment Without Realizing It?

Some of the most toxic managers I have worked with had no clue they were contributing to a toxic work environment. Otherwise pleasant to talk to, these managers seemed to genuinely care about their people. However, what appeared on the outside was not in tune with what went inside their teams. Their good intentions didn’t always translate into the right action.

55. Top 4 Soft Skills Every New Engineer Should Learn

Engineers must have a combination of both technical skills and soft skills. Here are the top 5 soft skills for engineers.

56. The facts Ma'am. Just the facts

It probably makes sense to write about where I come from for my first HN story. My next post will be where I'm and we're going.

57. 8 Steps to Build Your Technical Staff's People Skills to Avoid Cyberattacks

As an industry, we need to work together more effectively, communicate clearly, and solve problems with less conflict. In short, we need stronger people skills.

58. I’m an ENTP - Now what?

I know for a while that I “categorise” as an ENTP(-A). It struck me how accurate this describes my personality. An ENTP is known to be a debater who thrives on the process of shredding arguments and comes with an extreme objective/rational way of thinking.

59. 14 Small Productivity Principles You Can Start Practicing Today

Early in my career, I placed a lot of focus on doing more in less time. I thought I was being productive. The reality was I was simply scrambling from one task to the next without clarity on whether my work was effective or how I could do better. I focused on the end goal, the result I wanted to achieve without really caring about the process to get there.

60. The Growth of Internet of Things: Effective Technology Opportunities

Objectives of IoT: understand the strategy, regulate processes, correct device management protocols, collect & analyze information, protecting it, and store.

61. Beginners can make Money from Video Content Creation- Here's How

Master how to make money with videos online with this practical guide for beginners! Monetize your video creation skills and earn extra income for your business

62. Assessing Personal Career and Progress

Taking a pause from something that we do in order to keep track of something that is needed some attention is very important.

63. Escaping the Shadow of the Freelance Flag

The classification process based on freelance flags is brutal and biased.

64. 'You are a Scientist in Your Own Lab': How to Set Your Goals

Everyone likes to achieve success at work, but very few take the time to define what “success” means to them.

65. How the Japanese Concept Wabi-Sabi can Shape Our Worldview

Wabi-sabi teaches that it takes a conscious effort to slow down and cultivate our minds to cherish the beauty of old, weathered, incomplete or unfinished.

66. Principles of Effective Goal Setting

In most organisations, big picture thinking comes off as a seasonal flavour often appearing every few months. Mental gymnastics that goes with determining the “why” - meaning or purpose of goals, promise of a better future, and the excitement of doing something new definitely gets the creative juices flowing. Though not for all, most people in the organisation find this phase highly energising and exhilarating. But does this motivation last long?

67. If You Want To Achieve A Goal Show Up Prepared

It is important to realize that we have the ability to manufacture our own fate when we want to. - Eric Haney, Delta Force operator

68. 16 Valuable Lessons From My Career Transition To Product Management

In October 2019 with the mentorship of a dear friend, I made the decision to become a Product Manager starting with a PM certification course and the knowledge that I would have to start my career afresh and work my way up from the lowest rank on the totem. This is what I’ve done. I transitioned from my usual Executive Assistant role which was great but not very challenging creatively.

69. Letting Go And Owning Up: Strategies For Learning From Mistakes

We are programmed at an early age to think that mistakes are bad. Don’t make a mistake, you won’t get good grades. Choose the right career, there’s no going back. Make up your mind, there won’t be a second chance. You will regret this decision later. What were you really thinking? All this well-meaning advice rings loud and clear in our heads, conveying a simple message - stay away from mistakes.

70. The Irony of Pluralistic Ignorance: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things

Pluralistic ignorance is a psychological state in which we believe that our private thoughts, and feelings, are different from those of others.

71. 10 Companies to Bet the Future of Your Career On

If you’re interested in great rewards, a career with a heavy tilt toward stock-based compensation could be right for you, depending on your risk tolerance.

72. Your Old Employer Might be Your Best Bet for a New Job

The coworker that just left the company may be back, and they might return sooner than expected.

73. What Leaders Can do to Encourage Learning and Development

An organization's success depends not only on current capabilities but on the team's ability to grow and adapt. And this is facilitated by its leaders.

74. Lessons on Thinking: Learn from James Clear, Scott Young, Shane Parrish and More

The idea of understanding and practicing how to best live our lives has ignited the greatest minds for centuries.

75. 'Why Do You Want This Job?' How to Avoid the Interview Trap

Compared to other brain teaser questions, the relatively common "why do you want this job?" is the best one take advantage of if handled correctly.

76. Is Faking It Till You Make It Useful Advice?

77. Focus on the Small Victories, Instead of Those Ambitious Goals

Do you celebrate big victories, audacious goals, and major milestones? You must. We all do. But, what happens after a big goal is met?

78. Mastering Workplace Communication: 4 Body Language Mistakes and How to Fix Them

We speak more through our bodies than our words. The posture we assume, expression on our face, hand gestures and our eye movement conveys far more than we would like to expose.

79. 17 Highest-Paying Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area for Software Engineers

A list with 17 of the highest paying cities for Software Engineers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Curate by reports from the verified professionals at Blind.

80. 5 Emotionally Intelligent Habits For Handling Frustrating Situations In The Workplace

By engaging in a growth mindset, you can move from complaining about frustration to finding a solution. You have the power to choose your mindset.

81. You, Work, Input, Output and Value; A Complex Relationship

You determine your VALUE

82. The IRS is Coming: Why You Shouldn't Pay Crypto Taxes

Preparing for income taxes and understanding what happens with your cryptocurrency in the process.

83. Explore How to Harness Delayed Gratification For a Mountain of Success

These are all qualities you would expect from a successful person, and they are.

84. Mergers, Acquisitions and New Markets…

“There was no such thing as a fair fight. All vulnerabilities must be exploited.” — Cary Caffrey

85. 7 Steps to Keep Commitments at Work and Induce Growth

86. How Communication Skills Help Software Engineers Succeed

In reality, software engineers are not necessarily the worst communicators. However, there are a number of reasons why this bias toward engineers exists.

87. Cerebral Seduction: How To Stop Flirting With New Ideas

Tired of chasing shiny ideas? Commit. Ditch conventional advice and embrace your weird*ss self to start actually doing things.

88. Hacking Your Motivation

I didn't grow up being excited for my mornings. All I remember is that I dreaded waking up. Then I found coffee, my best friend for years. It managed to wake me up and get me going.

89. A Redefinition of Strength: Reframe Your Flaws as Your Superpowers

“Trying their best.” [...] Feeling like they aren’t living up to their potential, dreading the journey that the internet told them they are supposed to enjoy.

90. 8 Common Career Limiting Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs

Career Limiting Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs

91. Passion is the Answer to Loving Your Work

92. How to Manage Your Anger at Work

Handling emotions at work

93. Hack Your Way to Knowledge and Growth with a Mentor

Mentorship is a great way to hack your way to knowledge & speed up your career progression without cutting corners or having to make your own costly mistakes.

94. Self Awareness: The Key to Mental Health and Workplace Success

Self awareness may be the new key to both workplace success and mental health. Here's how self awareness training can improve productivity, empathy, diversity.

95. The Cringiest Part of a Writer’s Job

A mental model to help you accept criticism as a freelance writer.

96. The Surprise Outcome of Measuring Our Pull Requests Process

What does measuring pull requests have to do with a boat adrift and me forgetting to call a friend on his birthday? The simple act of tracking metrics led to a team engaged in the process and resulted in an incredible improvement in business operations.

97. Meet the Twins That Are Launching the First Comic-Based Learning Experience on the Market

Twins are launching the first comic-based learning experience on the market - Improvement Comics - Learn key ideas about self-improvement via weekly comics.

98. The Noonification: How to Escape the Hedonic Treadmill (2/24/2023)

2/24/2023: Top 5 stories on the Hackernoon homepage!

99. Conflict Management: How to Engage in Rethinking Cycle

An argument with a coworker - conflict of opinion. Working on a project that doesn’t energize you - conflict of interest. Didn’t get the promotion - conflict of growth. Working super hard with no time for personal life - internal conflict. Saying yes to work that doesn’t align with your goals - conflict of priorities. Committed a mistake, but can’t come to terms with accepting responsibility - conflict of values. We don’t realize it, but most interactions at work lead to a major or minor conflict.

100. From Science to Soup: The Power of Transferable Skills

Discover how these top five skills can lead to new career opportunities.

101. This Is How Self-Integrity Can Change Your Life

Self-Integrity Can Change Your Life

102. 7 Ways to Effectively Onboard Yourself in Your New Job

Finally, your onboarding experience won’t be without its challenges. Be kind to yourself when the going gets tough.

103. My First Year as a Design Moderator

Okay, so it hasn’t actually been a year. It’s been slightly over eight months. But I digress. Since February of 2019, I have been a moderator on a discord community named DesignCourse (Coursetro). Created by YouTuber Gary Simon, this place serves as a forum for questions and discussions regarding all sorts of design and development related topics. Recently, I realized that I have grown as a mod, as a developer, and as a person, since that day in February.

104. Goal Congruence and The Importance of Aligning With Who You Are

Goal Congruence: Align With Who You Are

105. Build Lasting Confidence by Bridging the 'Confidence Gap'

106. From Mid-level Developer to Engineering Manager: A Story of Professional Growth

Cheslav Novytskyi, Engineering Manager at Innovecs, shares his experience which may be useful for software developers in advancing their careers

107. Be Dangerous! For The Dreamers of the Day are Dangerous Men

In Frank Herbert’s 1965 science fiction novel Dune, we follow the story of the fall and rise of the aristocratic Atreides family circa 22,000 CE. The principal character, the marquee of the family, Paul Atreides, goes on a unique hero’s journey of guerilla warfare and political maneuvering, with both cosmological and philosophical repercussions. Without giving too much away, a central plot in the novel is Paul discovering his own telos, “the full potential or inherent purpose” of himself, within his mind and his broader destiny. This mystery surrounding Paul’s purpose creates an underground current through most of the novel. And when the current bursts to the surface, the reader is only left to pondering a hypothetical divine mystery. Is the reader witnessing a transfiguration (see Mark 9:1–10) or a revelation (See Revelation 21:1), as this archetypical desert warlord develops into an enlightened desert mystic? Is Paul a mix tape of Moses meets T. E. Lawrence? Or is he experiencing the slow mental descent of an asylum-bound messiah?

108. The Feynman Technique: The Secret to Learning

Learn How To Learn With the Feynman Technique

109. 4 Ways to Prioritize Productivity over Keeping Busy

Being caught in the ‘busy trap’ makes it harder to see that productivity is not based on the number of hours you put in; it’s the time spent creating value.

110. Get Beyond Small Talk To Forming Meaningful Connections At Work

Striking up a conversation at work can be intimidating. We avoid eye contact, turn our heads away and pretend to be busy on our phones all in an attempt to save ourselves from the awkward moment of meeting someone and not sure what to say.

111. How You Can Discover Your Unknown Knowns

If you feel like you suffer from imposter syndrome, comprehension gaps or a decrease in personal growth, it may be time to hit the yellow brick road.

112. Choosing Your First Software Development Job: Factors to Consider

Getting into the field of software development is a smart career move. Many employers are looking for developers and often struggle to fill these roles. Not only that but salaries and benefits are extremely competitive in our tech-centric world.

113. The Road to Senior Engineer: Management Is Not Just for Managers

As programmers, there are numerous things we must manage each day in addition to code. The best programmers I know don’t just do a good job of writing code, the

114. The Secret to Finding Your Purpose Is to Stop Chasing It

Perspectives on Finding Your Purpose

115. "It's What You're Thinking. It's Not What You Have," — Focus.ceo Founder on Courage & Resilience

What if that one thing we sometimes take for granted is exactly what we need to focus on even more?

116. Leadership Lessons by Disney Chairman Robert Iger

Robert Iger, now Executive Chairman of The Walt Disney Company is the former CEO of Disney. During his 15 years as CEO of Disney and as President of ABC Television prior to that, he led the company to amazing new heights. Under his leadership, Disney’s market capitalization increased from $48 billion to $257 billion. He oversaw the acquisition of Pixar in 2006, Marvel entertainment in 2009 and many more after that. He is the perfect exemplar of a leader who has proved himself over an extended period of time.

117. 4 Ways to Foster Your Leadership Skills

I have worked with some excellent managers, people who were not only good at what they did, but also had great leadership potential. Sadly though, these managers didn’t invest in their own growth. They were so busy attending to the daily demands of the management job - putting out fires, resolving production issues, solving for customer escalation, moving from one delivery timeline to another - that they failed to build the skills required to become a great leader some day.

118. Not Sure if a Company is Right for You? Ask Yourself These 6 Questions

We spend a large part of our life at work, and yet when it comes to making a decision “Is this the right company for me,” most of us rely only on our expert intuition without any solid data to back it up.

119. How To Find Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is always a struggle at every stage of our life. How to make work-life balance work? By understanding that it isn't a state, but a journey.

120. Green Lights at the End of a Dock: The Secret to Happiness by Jay Gatsby and Richard Curtis

My first experience with time travel was when I was 21 years old.

121. Values: What They Are and Why They Are Important

Dr. John Demartini | The Implications of Knowing and Living Your Values

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