Changing the Blog's Flight Direction
Oh dear, here we go again.
I have attempted to start a blog multiple times, each with the goal of building what is known as a “personal brand” and sharing insights from my IT career.
However, each attempt resulted in the same mistakes.
I found myself only writing about complex topics I had learned; each post was dense and complicated.
It’s okay to write lengthy posts occasionally, but doing so every time? And always about complex topics? Did anyone even ask for this?
No.
The Mistakes
The first mistake is related to the content.
I still believe that all my previous posts are excellent! Really, they might be too academic and boring, but they are still valuable.
At least to me, and to the 1-2 people reading my blog…
Clearly, the purpose of “sharing” has been lost, I would like to share with more than 2 people.
No one asked me to write computer science and software design “whitepapers”, but I enjoyed it.
That was until my workload increased significantly, making writing a strenuous challenge, with some weeks involving only 4-5 hours of sleep per night.
I know youngsters can handle that; I was the same. But now, such a lifestyle is a way to zombieland.
I just can’t continue like this.
Each of the last posts was a digest of dozens of computer science materials, essentially summaries or extracts from various sources I studied and tried to clarify. And this material, well… Tough.
Hold on, are you thinking I am giving up on my blog? Nope.
Why then did I change the domain? :trollface:
It’s Fine
Making mistakes is part of being human. We can either regress to our primal instincts or evolve towards becoming cyborgs. But we are still here.
I think that intelligence isn’t just about adapting to changes; it’s also about reflecting on mistakes and making an effort to avoid repeating them.
And here I am, once again.
Why do I even need this “personal brand”? Meh.
Nerds
Most people in our industry are nerds and introverts; I’m no exception.
Just ask my CTO at Monite how difficult it is to get me to introduce our team at demo meetings :)
I am still winning.
Yet, having a personal brand is beneficial for building your career. I believe it’s one of the best ways to establish yourself as an expert—a knowledgeable and sentient being.
For whom? I’m not sure. For the world? For head-hunters? For colleagues? It seems so.
And here, the importance of sharing remains paramount to me.
The Fixes
Firstly, my name is already indexed well by search engines, but the top links are to LinkedIn and Dev.to.
And what on earth is wannahack.in?
A long time ago, I thought it was a cool name—reflecting a passion for infosec and old-school hacking. I’m still a wannabe, and always will be. But the domain name no longer makes sense.
Am I getting old?
Here we are, using your first and last name as a domain for a personal site and blog is a win-win situation.
It should also be more SEO-friendly! The end goal is to elevate it to the top or at least the second place in searches for Ivan Zakutnii :)
So Now What?
As for the content, I won’t folow tha old “teaching” style anymore. I promise to do my best to avoid being academically nauseating.
The issue is not just the style of storytelling, but also the perspective.
I’ve literally forgotten when I last wrote strictly from my own perspective.
I can’t remember when I last shared my personal thoughts and experiences. It was probably a long time ago, in the first iteration, when I was still writing in Russian.
So, I want to switch back to this approach. I believe that even “boring” topics shared through this lens will be more engaging.
I am not going to change the subjects of my posts—System and Software Designs are still here, and I am still studying a lot of stuff.
But this should get much easier. <3
Thank you for your attention.