[potatosareok]

I've only been programming fulltime for a few yeras so I'm putting this out for you as much as getting other people's thoughts on my half baked opinions.

1. Be independent in your role. Have opinions. You're hired for your expertise - use it to weigh options, consult with colleagues, and implement a solution. Sometimes your solution works sometimes it doesn't. It doesn't mean a failure, just a learning opportunity. The point here is don't be paralyzed about making technical choices and never make technical choices yourself - if you always defer this to other people then what were you really hired for?

2. It's easy to always say "yes". Sometimes it's important to say no to projects. In the time/money/expertise constraints at your job, some things just aren't possible and everyone in company might not have the same visibility into why a project will fail as you do. This relates to (1) in that you should raise your concerns early as possible if you have them. Then you and your coworkers can make an informed call whether to try the project or not, but this time with better expectations.

3. Try and set yourself up for success. Be honest with yourself about what your skills are and what you think is possible. It doesn't mean saying no to anything you think isn't easy but communicating that you think it is diffcult and proposing an appropriate timeline keeps everyone expectation in line. It sucks sometimes to say that some exciting new idea that will earn tons of money can't happen but it's better then rolling the dice and then missing deadline after deadline. It's also more valuable to the company to know that this a weak knoweldge point and try and route resources approrpiately in the context of that.

4. There's 40+ years to get what you want done. No need to rush things. Try and do some creative hobbies outside work. Be a person you wouldn't be bored to spend time with.