Stay Neutral During Success

Good things create positive momentum. People get over excited and lose focus during good times. Keep your normal habits during good times. The CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, kept the same work ethic and decision making process during Microsoft’s record breaking quarters and tough times.

Reduce Event Impact By Distance

The weight we give to things affects our emotional state. Studies show people who stay emotionally distant from negative events recover 60% faster from setbacks. Practice seeing things from a third person perspective – instead of “I failed” think “The project had some things to learn from”.

Turn Setbacks Into Growth

Tough times have hidden opportunities. Warren Buffett bought his first shares of Berkshire Hathaway during a market downturn. Break down tough situations into action items. List three specific things to do from each setback.

Stay Consistent

Your daily habits determine streak length. Use apps like Atomic Habits to track your habits. Wake up at the same time, do your exercise routine, work at the same time regardless of external circumstances.

Accept Cycles

Life is cycles of ups and downs. Detach from outcomes by seeing them as temporary states. Focus on your response not the situation itself. Take small steps not big leaps during good and tough times.

My Random Thoughts

Balance Is the Secret—Importance Is the Enemy

The gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it consistently comes down to one thing: balance. Every time I obsessed over the scale, I plateaued—every time I relaxed into the process, the weight came off naturally.

10/27/2025

Your Reflection Will Never Change Until You Do

You don't need to grind harder to change your life — you need to see what's actually happening inside your mind. Awareness is the real lever. And once you start paying attention, you realize your life works like a mirror: it reflects back exactly what you are on the inside, but with a delay. Most people quit before the reflection catches up. This is a note to my future self about why the inner work comes first, and why the latency isn't failure — it's protection.

4/7/2026

Readme.txt

My name is Cem Hurturk. I’m a self-made software engineer and serial entrepreneur. I’ve been writing code since I was in high school and working in the software industry since the early 1990s.

1/4/2022

Life Events: Your Reaction Shapes Their Impact