Why I'm Always in Beta - The Joy of Trying New Things

Ever notice how we developers get excited about testing new frameworks but play it safe in real life? 😂

Yeah, that was me - totally cool with experimenting in code but stuck in a comfort zone everywhere else. Not gonna lie, as a developer I’m pretty used to testing new frameworks and tools. But somewhere along the way, I realized this habit of trying new things shouldn’t stop at code. After all, we spend hours debugging code without giving up, but run npm install --save-anxiety when it comes to real life changes.

I started this new year by overcoming one of my oldest fears. That task that’s been sitting in my backlog forever: get a tattoo (blocker: needle phobia) - finally marked it as done in 2025. Got my first tattoos - pretty wild for someone who used to faint at blood tests.

Turns out the fear of needles was all in my head.

Then came the big one: ditching the stable job life. Everyone’s got that built-in “get a job, keep a job” program running in their head, right? Like it’s some legacy code we’re all afraid to refactor. The moment you mention leaving a job, people look at you like you’re trying to deploy to production on a Friday. But hey, sometimes you need to break production to build something better.

And speaking of breaking things - my annual “get ripped” resolution finally got past the testing phase. After years of failed deployments (aka gym memberships), dropped 14 kgs this year. Still no six-pack, but at least my body’s not throwing runtime errors anymore when I look in the mirror. Progress is progress, even if it’s not in the main branch yet.

The coolest part? This whole “try new things” mindset has leaked into other parts of my life. When a new project comes up at work with unfamiliar tech, instead of thinking “ugh, not another learning curve,” I’m like “hey, why not?”

Because really, what’s the worst that could happen? You might suck at something for a few hours, but at least you’ll know. And sometimes, just sometimes, you stumble onto something amazing that you never would’ve found otherwise.

Besides, life’s too short to just git commit the same stuff every day.