Influencial life stories

Hello Dear. Georgi Kolev here with stories that changed my life. In refreshing if not cringy style. Hopefully you’ll be entertained. Or read at the right time with the right mindset to change.

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  all    story    discussion    linkedin    advice    reflection   

Out of topics and next steps

  • reflection 

It was inevitable. In 26 posts I covered the interesting stories on top of mind and now I’m out of ideas to write about. Stopping the weekly blog cadence. Take time for idea to bubble up. And announce you can now subscribe via email on new posts @ [1]. The content will be an equal surprise for you and me.

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In dilemmas I go for the easy option

  • advice 

I leet coded for 6 months in preparation to find a role in Switzerland. Then Amazon UK reached out, I decided to test learnings, passed interviews, and got offer. I wondered should I take the offer or pursue Switzerland.

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The AI event overeating fiasco

  • story 

I was at a fancy AI event to meet a customer. I arrived to a big hall in front of the conference room. The hall had breakfast buffet with pastries, sweet bites, and mini cakes. I love pastries. But recently I reached my weight loss target and focus was to maintain it. Lack of self-control was the enemy. With 2300 a day calorie limit in mind I took couple sweets + coffee. Mmm those pastries.. so good. Sugar.. not enough. Belly.. not full. Temptations.. all around. I gave in. I knew I’ll end up overstuffed, but the body had other surprise too.

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When I researched stakeholders

  • story advice 

A CTO met with me and an Account Manager (AM). The AM and CTO exchanged updates, and I listened. I had no topics and was first time close to the CTO. As talk went on my main thought was, “I hope the AM occupies available time so I don’t have to smalltalk.” I was ashamed to speak to the CTO. The emotion surprised me, but I had taken a path that led to it.

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Trial to accept unlikable circumstances

  • story 

Last month I tried following life’s direction instead of forcing my way. I did what I was asked and what situation implied. I didn’t act on my emotions. Would I walk in to failure? It’s open mindedness to extreme. Idea came from [1].

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My daily schedule

  • story 

Raising 4 kids, writing blog posts, and reading books for improvement. Where’s the time coming from? No simple way unfortunately. It’s via trade-offs. Here’s how my weekday looks like, the challenges, and the meta points.

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Time Management

  • story advice 

Idea so uncomfortable we tackle it only when our backs are to the wall. With as many ways to address as the unique environments we are in, but no silver bullet.

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My longest chain of challenges

  • story 

Become 6 person family.
Need a car with 3 rows of seats and boot space.
Ponder to buy old or new.
Decide car is for next 10 years, buy 2017 Toyota Proace (car) for £23k.

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Let them finish speaking

  • advice 

During software design reviews I was initially frustrated and now joke it takes at least 3 sessions to get to agreement. Stakeholders express thoughts, ask questions, and debate on ideas until problem is understood and solution agreed. So when they can’t speak their mind in one meeting they follow up in another one.

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How I manage weight

  • story advice 

If you struggle to manage weight due obsessive food consumption you might find ideas here. I struggle as I’m tempted when not hungry. My mind ignores stomach signals and I slip into feasts. Being sugar and meat addict adds fuel too. It’s a psychological flaw.

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We don’t want to change

  • story advice 

My main cause of friction with coworkers was due them not meeting my bar for quality. On document reviews I highlighted all areas for reconsideration, only to be met with cherry picked acks. So I pursued owners on rest of the items. Similarly on code reviews I would not approve until concerns are addressed. I’d push for my favorite and try to convince why alternatives are not good.

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Mental viruses

  • advice 

Why so mad bro? Like, for real, have you asked yourself why are you so frustrated when it happens? Is it really the other side that’s so wrong? Or is the emotion hiding a deep secret inside you, protecting your ego, the uncomfortable truth that you’re not perfect and they are right? My thoughts after fighting the feelings for years, winning several times, and losing hundreds of times.

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Solo looking after 4 kids

  • story 

My wife Mimi finally decided to go on vacation without me and the 4 kids. 6 months old Megi, 3 year old Sofi, 8y Niki, 14y Ani. It was my time to be the woman and look after them for 6 days. My record was 1 day. Though I’d be more like handicapped as one hand would hold a baby. But I was sure I’ll nail it. After all, I was expert on giving unsolicited advice on how to manage the kids.

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My Bible / Process for continuous self-improvement

  • advice 

“Write down the things that speak to you and read them often” - the greatest advice my mentor gave me and I’m excited to share it with you. It’s a process for continuous self-improvement. Following it I’ve written my own personal Bible which enabled numerous adjustments of my behavior.

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Smile!

  • story advice 

I rarely smiled. My lips would be in neutral position and I wasn’t interested in conversations. Reflection of my pessimism and egoism. These traits I think also shaped my face in one that can’t create a welcoming smile. And consequence is not great first perception. A barrier for people to speak first to me.

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Mindshift to positivity

  • story advice 

I highlighted imperfections. Why ideas won’t work. Prepared for the worst. Over stressed on details. Was vocal on subjective matters. Rated days on amount of bad experiences. Didn’t point out good outcomes, good behavior, and wasn’t positive. All traits of a pessimist. Of me. I was not happy. And was emotionally draining people.

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Start relationship strong with intro 1:1s

  • advice 

Stand out to a new colleague with 1 hour introduction 1:1 where you don’t talk about current team, project, and role technicals. How I found this out, approach, and the psychology behind.

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God spoke to me

  • story 

“Hey G., are you interested in coaching? If you are let’s meet up for 30min and discuss what your goals are? Cheers, Ian Grant.”

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From Engineer to TAM

  • story 

So what’s this mythical Technical Account Manager (TAM) role? Why would engineer switch to it? And what kept me in AWS.

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Speedrun of mistakes

  • story 

Ever wondered what’s on the other side of the successes in CVs? Are you a top performer that can’t get to the next level? You’re in the right place! Grab a drink and laugh & learn with my 2 year speedrun of mistakes.

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LinkedIn 3000 character limit

  • linkedin 

That moment when you spend 3 days writing reflections on the mistakes, emotions, and learnings in the toughest years of your career, and then you find out LinkedIn has a post character limit of 3000. And you’re 3000 above it.. Priceless..

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Personal life pattern

  • story 

At 4.5 years old my 2nd child became semi autonomous and I was able to get 2 hours a day without interruption. It was an opportunity to work towards a new position. Current job was perfect, but income did not allow for a mortgage. Plan was to prepare for software engineer in Google Switzerland.

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Interactions I won’t experience ever again

  • story 

Workday started with a catch up meeting in the office of my first manager and technical lead Ventsi. As updates were given an ask how to solve problems would come up. Me and Ventsi would engage, look at different angles, hypothesize edge cases, determine outcomes, things to avoid, and soon enough we’d get in debate as our opinions diverged. Rest of the team went back to their desks, but we wouldn’t stop without a decision.

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Here I am

  • story 

For years I read advice to build a network, to write blog posts, to engage with communities, to share expertise. And for years I thought I had nothing unique to share. My technical expertise is standard. My writing skills are poor. My dictionary stopped expanding in my teenage years. And there’s nothing that I could think of writing that’s not already there. It’s why I never started a business as well.

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