Duck Alumni Career Blog

September 29, 2014

Silicon Valley is kind of a funny place. On the surface it seems laid back; people are friendly and informal. However, once you start working here, you realize that global technology markets are über competitive and techies are extremely driven to succeed. To do so, many people work long hours and sacrifice to produce innovative, high quantity and quality work. Here in Silicon Valley, there’s a large amount of intrinsic motivation to do something “insanely great” and to change the world. Of course the material rewards are nice too.

There's also a lot of stress in high tech. After all, it’s not easy working all night on the next big thing, deciding between a “Will Write Code for Coffee” or “Talk Nerdy to Me” t-shirt, and waiting for your Tesla to recharge. Those who can’t handle the intensity crash and burn. I will try to help you prevent this by offering skills geared towards finding success not only in the Valley, but anywhere. There's no “one size fits all” strategy for success, but I'll aim to pass along information that will be useful to job seekers: students and alumni alike. And by success, I mean leading a full life of engaging and meaningful work, time to spend with friends, with family, and on personal pursuits, and enough resources to meet your current and future needs.

One of the key things that I've observed that differentiates successful people from their counterparts is their mindset. Consider these binary ways of thinking about yourself and the world:
 

  • Can-do / Cannot-do
  • Optimism / Pessimism
  • Talent plus practice leads to mastery / Talent just needs to be uncovered
  • Abundance / Scarcity
  • Free Will / Fate
  • Growth / Fixed
     

When asking people in the Valley how they developed their mindsets, I’ve often been thrown an “I don’t know.” However, many of the more successful people I've spoken with indicated that they chose to think the way that they do. For example, a high level engineer commented that he liked what Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can, or you can’t – you’re right.” Oregon alumnus, Steve Prefontaine, exhibited a can-do attitude and said, "How does a kid from Coos Bay, with one leg longer than the other, win races? All my life people have been telling me, 'You're too small Pre,’ 'You're not fast enough Pre,’ 'Give up your foolish dream, Steve.’ But they forgot something: I have to win." 

Research supports that mindset has a huge influence on success. Check out this article and infographic about the science of mindset. If you believe someone’s approach to the world is irrelevant to their outcomes, consider this. Notice the pessimist, the person who complains about how unfriendly and horrible everyone is and how few friends he or she has. To become more positive, you want to focus on the right things and not be like the ship captain who said “The beatings will continue until morale improves.” Instead, you want to focus on small steps to making your approach to life more optimistic, confident, persistent, and growth oriented.

So, if you want to change your mindset for the better, and want to think in a new, more positive way, start small and be specific. Professor BJ Fogg has developed a technique he calls Tiny Habits. His research shows that integrating small, simple changes into your daily routines can help you reach your goals. It takes just three manageable steps:
 

  1. Start ridiculously small and be specific.
  2. Find an anchor routine.
  3. Celebrate! 
     

For example, you could try the following: “After I arrive at work (anchor routine), I will tell myself that I can accomplish the most important tasks of the day.” Give yourself a little pat on the back when you do this each day. By starting small, connecting new ways of thinking and doing to established routines, and celebrating victories, you can create sustainable changes to your approach to life and hopefully experience more happiness and success.

Go Ducks!

Contact:
Humberto Chacon
humberto@chacon.us