[EBook] Soft Skills The Software Developers Life Manual by John Sonmez (2nd Edition)

Soft Skills, 2nd Edition
The Software Developer's Life Manual
By John Sonmez


PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

Let’s start with what was taken out. The appendices—all of them. Originally, I had four appendices in the book which talked about how money works, how the stock market works, the basics of diet and nutrition, and healthy eating. While these were valuable appendices for the curious, I felt like these concepts were far enough removed from the core mission of the book that they could be cut.

Along the same lines, I also cut a chapter on options trading primarily because, even though it’s interesting, I don’t really recommend it and it creates a very alluring side trail that can take readers off course. I also cut chapters in some of the other sections of the book that I felt were good but really more suitable as standalone essays rather than cohesive sections.
Some of the chapters have also been rearranged to make more logical sense and to flow better—although you can still read any chapter in this book in any order you like and it will make sense, as was the original intent of the book.

But. . .I didn’t just cut things. Part of the reason that I made cuts so judiciously is that I had more to say—more to share with you, dear reader—and I needed room for that. I updated many of the chapters, adding some new ideas and refining some old ones—pretty standard second edition stuff. But what should really interest you are the new chapters I added.
I added a chapter in the marketing section about building your brand on YouTube, giving you another powerful option for marketing yourself. I also added a chapter talking about how to build true wealth, where I give you the exact financial concepts I’ve used to not only retire young but to create millions of dollars of personal wealth in multiple areas (very excited about this chapter). I added a chapter about fasting and my current eating schedule which is just one meal a day. (The benefits from this approach are astounding! I’ve never been in better shape in my life.) And finally, I’ve added a chapter on a philosophical subject that has been key in shaping the direction of my life in the last few years, Stoic philosophy. (This is a chapter you don’t want to miss; in fact, you might even want to start off the book by reading that chapter first.)
I’ve also renamed all the chapters in the book to be much clearer and more straightforward in what they are about. While the clever names of the first edition like “how to get hash-table abs” were fun, reading through it a second time, they sounded. . .well. . . corny to me. I guess your sense of humor changes slightly as you get older.

Overall, I’m much more pleased with this edition than the first time around. This refresh of Soft Skills makes the book more focused, adds some valuable life advice that was missing from both the first edition of this book and—to be frank—from my own life, and keeps the original spirit and tone that made this book so popular. So, dig in, enjoy, and get ready to take some real action to change your life.