Taha Hussain

At Microsoft, a junior engineer spent 3 days solving a simple caching issue. Her manager knew he could do it in 10 minutes. But he didn't.

Do the math.

Most leaders would have jumped in. Solved it fast. Moved on.

But fast solutions come at a hidden cost: Growth debt.

Every time you step in, you rob your team of the lessons they need to grow.

Over time, that debt compounds.

Engineers stop thinking for themselves.
The team relies on you to ship.
Growth slows to a crawl.

The best engineering leaders don’t write the best code.

They code the best culture.

Next time your fingers itch to jump in, ask yourself:

Are you fixing the problem or adding to your team’s debt?

Stuff I know at 46, I wish someone warned me at 26:

1. Regret compounds faster than wealth.

Every “I’ll do it later” costs interest.

Regret doesn’t stop growing until you do something about it.

Start now. Before the bill arrives.

2. You can’t hustle your way out of bad health.

Your body keeps score.

Burn the candle at both ends, and you’ll burn through yourself.

Sleep is a strategy. Exercise is an edge. Eating well is insurance.

3. Your circle shrinks, and it should.

Quality beats quantity.

You only have room for a handful of people who truly matter.

The rest? Let them fade. Life isn’t a group project.

4. Chasing perfection creates more failure than progress ever will.

Perfection keeps you stuck. Progress moves you forward.

Focus on the next 1%, not the impossible 100%.

5. Time doesn’t care about your priorities, but it moves fast anyway.

Your career will wait. Your family won’t.

Don’t miss what you can’t get back.

6. The most valuable assets aren’t tangible.

You don’t own your reputation.
You can’t buy trust.
You can’t sell the energy you bring to others.

But these will always be worth more than what’s in your bank account.

7. Reinvention is survival.

Who you were at 26 won’t carry you at 46.

Jobs change. Dreams change. You change.

Don’t hold on to a sinking ship just because it’s familiar.

8. Your kids will copy the worst version of you first.

Not the best. The worst.

The way you argue. The way you quit. The way you avoid.

Fix yourself before you try to fix them.

9. The world doesn’t care about your excuses, but it listens to your results.

Bad breaks happen to everyone.

It’s not fair. But fair doesn’t move you forward.

Stop justifying why you can’t. Start proving why you can.

10. You’ll never do everything. But you can do something amazing.

I still have dreams I’ll never touch. That’s fine.

Pick one. The one that scares you. The one that matters.

And give it everything you’ve got.

11. You’re not late. You’re exactly where you need to be.

People panic when they feel behind.

But behind what? Behind who?

Focus on the race you’re running, not the ones you’re watching.

Here’s to the next 46 years.

The second half of the game is harder.

But you’ve got more tools now.

More scars. More wisdom. More clarity.

Make the next half count.

If this hit home for you:

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The best years aren’t behind you. They’re just getting started.