The Subtle Art of STFU

Anyone can look wise, likeable, well-respected, and ready for promotion... until they open their mouth.

Welcome, Avatar!

First off, a special thank you to the readers who pay to make this newsletter possible.

Your kind words, success stories, and support go a long way.

– Fullstack

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Before we get into the post today, I wanted to share a win from a reader. He wrote in for help a few months ago, and this week, he wrote back with his success story.

Hey Fullstack, I wanted to let you that I got an Senior Engineer offer from my old company! We spoke in December via DM, when I had just been pipped / fired from my bigtech startup job. At the time, my confidence was at all alltime low, but I read your article “Fired Every Year? You might be the problem.” almost every week to reframe my situation and to focus on the learnings I had. This gave me a lot of confidence in the interview process. Thanks a ton for your help! Looking forward to what you're going to put out on the substack this year.

I’m stoked to see others succeed and glad that he has landed himself a new job and mindset to take him even higher.

The paid plans are your gateway drug to the tactics and mindset you need to succeed.

My DMs are open on Twitter. Reach out if you have questions.

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If you’ve been reading

BowTied Bull

, if you’re not – you should, you’re well aware it is Airdrop season.

All the information on how to participate is on Bull’s Substack, but if you want to help me out, join the Fullstack team on Blast or B2-Squared or DOP.

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As we’ve established, nobody is coming to save you.

Achieving financial freedom for you and your loved ones rests on your shoulders.

By your efforts, providence, and some luck, you can do different things today, that will let you enjoy outcomes tomorrow that your colleagues, friends, or family will not.

In past posts, we’ve explored how a radically more pragmatic approach to promotions, getting hired, expense reports, and even real estate can put you ahead of colleagues and put you on the fast track for a secure future.

In this post, we are diving deep with another pro-tip to unlock your next promotion, juicy job offer, or becoming well-liked and respected in your personal relationships.

Put bluntly, we’re elaborating on the subtle art of shutting the fuck up.

Now Fullstack, you may say, how can that really be a pro-tip? How will this actually help me?

I don’t say this lightly, but the success in all domains from becoming well-liked and respected, for many of you, could come down to mastering this subtle art.

Remove The Foot From Thine Mouth

At one job, in the midst of layoffs, a project got canceled.

We were told in a meeting but it was hinted that the information hadn’t been shared widely yet.

That project was beloved to one colleague. He proceeded to post a passive aggressive public message in a channel venting about how if the project was cancelled, than other teams should make sure to update their docs and plans to reflect that it was no longer going to ship next quarter.

Lo and behold, this project cancellation was quite the rude awakening to many other teams who were also excited about it. And to find out through my colleague’s passive aggressive post to boot.

A flurry of mournful and angry replies and emoji reactions followed.

The head of engineering had to step in, and my colleague was the on the receiving end of a pretty irate message from him annoyed the the news had leaked early and in such an uncouth manner.

What my colleague did was of no benefit to anyone, except to selfishly satisfy his urge to lash out and act out on his emotions.

His outburst did not get the project un-cancelled. It did not bring solace to the team who was out of a job. It was unhinged and he made a fool of himself in front of most other teams and senior leadership.