Steve Huynh

Your development isn't linear. The faster you understand that the further you’ll go.

Everything is an experiment.

Growth happens in fits and spurts, and by the seat of your pants.

Personal development isn't about the end goal, it's about who you become during the journey.

Most people could transform their careers by writing down their thoughts every day for a few years.

In your twenties, absorb from role models.
In your thirties, apply it to the world.
In your forties, teach it to others.

Most people spend their whole lives scrolling empty content and never live any of these stages.

I've never regretted:

- Spending more time with my kids
- Ghosting from meetings where I know I’m not needed
- Saying no to busywork
- Investing in deep work sessions
- Taking a walk to clear my mind

Protect your bandwidth like it's your most valuable asset because it is.

There's too much focus on:
- The best AI model
- Languages
- Frameworks
- Libraries

And not enough focus on:
- Systems thinking
- Pattern recognition
- Reasoning from first principles
- Solving real problems for people

Developing mental models isn't boring theory. It's practical leverage.

The world will always pay more for your demonstrated value than your credentials will. Build in public and launch or stay invisible forever.

The most dangerous addiction is busyness without anything to show for it. Eliminate zero days.

How to increase your technical relevance:

- Learn fundamentals more
- Practice problem-solving more
- Build projects more
- Share your work in public more
- Help others understand complex concepts more

Technical relevance comes from putting in the reps.

A Life Engineered | Steve Huynh | Substack Your weekly dose of practical and realistic tech career advice and insights. Leverage the combined wisdom of industry leaders and my 20 years of experience navigating the tech landscape to unlock your full potential. Click to read A Life Engineered, by Steve Huynh, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.

Great work never speak for itself—it whispers.

The alternative is that you’re silent hoping others will notice you.

Your work matters. Make sure it’s seen.

Read more about this mindset shift here: https://alifeengineered.substack.com/...

Here’s what I’ve learned:

Leadership isn’t just about hitting targets—it’s about helping others reach their potential.

And it starts with one simple thing: 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.

When I started at Amazon this wasn't far from the truth

Really, why ARE all comments like this?

If you want to know someone’s actual priorities, look at their calendar.

If family comes first how much of your day goes to them?

Money comes and goes but nobody can buy more tim

People are using AI backwards. Don’t just have it do tasks, have it help you up-level your skills.

If you over-use AI to do everything for you, your skills with atrophy.

If you continue to educate yourself you’re using AI to get better.

When someone looks older I tend to think by default that they know more and question them less.

When someone looks like they’re straight out of school it’s hard for people to take them as seriously, even when their ideas are stellar.

What do you think?

It's been a while but I've decided to pick up some coding tasks, and this is how I feel.

The best programming language to learn in 2025 is English. Software is a team sport. 

To build big things requires that you clearly communicate with others.

I wish schools taught people how to write an effective email.

Your ideas matter only if people understand them.

Creativity doesn’t come on a deadline.

It doesn’t happen when your stressed. The best ideas come when you’re recharged.

If you need to be creative hit the reset button not the turbo button.

The problem is that as humans we are conditioned to avoid uncomfortable situations.

That’s fine if you want to stay put. In that case comfort is great.

Otherwise comfort == stagnation.

I think you’re truly rested and recovered when you feel the itch to get back into the action. 

Too many people start the process but go back to work way too soon.

I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder because I got a writing degree instead of a STEM degree.

After breaking into tech I realized that code isn’t everything because big software projects are a team sport.

The best software developers are good coders with great communication skills.

AI will turn non-coders into coders, so everybody can experience 0 → 1.

AI will turn every 1x developer into a 10x developer.  

If you’re already a 10x developer you’ll become a 1000x developer.

The age of a 1 person billion dollar company is coming.

I’ll take a great debugger over a great coder any day of the week, but I’ll take a prolific code deleter over all of them.

Ok engineers deliver quickly. Great engineers deliver at high quality. Exceptional engineers deliver quickly at high quality.

If you want a job in today’s market you simply have to stand out.

Too many people focus on breadth but by doing so they just blend in more.

The easiest way to stand out is to go deep because nobody does that.

If your work isn’t visible it doesn’t matter if it’s great

Too many people are afraid to self-promote, but you won’t get promoted if you don’t do it.