Purposeful Side Projects

The subtle power of just trying things and exploring

I was never a great student growing up. The phrase used by teachers was, “Smart, but doesn’t apply himself.” It was a chain around my neck that dragged me down for years. Many people enjoyed school, but I was not one of them.

The problem was notability, but time. I was always busy with other things. For example, in college, instead of working on boring engineering problem sets in the computer lab, I could try to takeover other people’s terminal sessions. When I lived in the Engineering House, I was running a high-stakes poker game (for college that is) and devising ways of sneaking beer kegs into my room. I had priorities.

Some may say I have an attention problem, others might call it ADHD. I never did bother to get my condition analyzed or treated because I never saw it as a liability. In fact, during some periods of my career, it was helpful, such as in commodities trading or my brief stint in the music business where instinct and spontaneity were more important than deliberate planning and caution.

In some ways, this ability to context switch and go with the flow was a superpower. Things that looked like detours or mistakes early in my career turned into fortuitous steps toward building a foundation of valuable skills. My music for…