Software has changelogs. People should too.

This is a monthly log of significant changes to my beliefs, career, and life. Not a diary, just the major commits. Following my evolution can be difficult because change is often incremental. So I track the breaking changes here.

2026

January 2026

  • Reduced client work intentionally. Now targeting 1-2 clients max vs. filling all available hours. Revenue down, sanity up.
  • Started tracking everything publicly. Created the /open page. Transparency as accountability.
  • This changelog. Meta, I know.
  • Committed to YouTube as a serious channel, not a side experiment.
  • Deprecated: The belief that I need to “prove myself” through credentials. Shipping work is the only proof that matters.

2025

December 2025

  • Shifted from “AI will change everything eventually” to “AI is changing everything now.” The speed of progress in 2025 was faster than I expected. Updated my timelines.
  • Softened on microservices. Still think they’re overused, but I now see legitimate use cases I previously dismissed. Monoliths aren’t always the answer.
  • Removed imposter syndrome about calling myself a “senior” engineer. 10+ years. I’m senior. It’s fine.

October 2025

  • Started seriously studying mechanistic interpretability. Want to understand what’s happening inside these models.

June 2025

  • Reversed on remote work absolutism. Still prefer remote (been fully remote since 2020). But I now acknowledge some work genuinely benefits from in-person time. 1 week per quarter with a team is valuable.
  • Updated on crypto. Went from “interesting technology, maybe useful” to “mostly speculation with occasional legitimate use cases.” Less bullish than I was.
  • Started the ventures under Mindent AI. Switched from “pure consulting” to “products + selective consulting.”
  • Finally addressed the chronic overcommitment pattern. Saying no more. Still hard. Getting better.

January 2025

  • Started bodybuilding, New Year resolution to get fit and stay healthy lifelong. Moved from “I work out” to “I track progressive overload systematically.”
  • Built in public consistently for the first time. Uncomfortable but valuable.

2024

September 2024

  • Philosophy re-evaluation. Moved from “the Stoics have the answers” to “the Stoics have some answers.” Started reading more Eastern philosophy. Different traditions, different wisdom.
  • Nietzsche upgrade. Finally understood what he actually meant instead of the pop culture version. Übermensch isn’t “be an asshole.”
  • Removed: The idea that reading about productivity is productive. It isn’t.

March 2024

  • AI career pivot. Fully committed to AI/ML backend as my specialty. Stopped saying yes to generic backend work.
  • Deprecated: The belief that generalist is always better than specialist. Specialization has compounding benefits.

2023

July 2023

  • Marriage changed everything. Hard to articulate. Fundamental shift in priorities, time horizons, risk tolerance. Upgraded operating system.
  • Geopolitics awakening. Chip War (the book) broke my brain. Now I can’t stop seeing technology through geopolitical lenses.
  • Started taking writing seriously. Not just internal notes; public writing.
  • Euro and Brownie joined the family. Two cats who now supervise all my work.
  • Removed: The idea that I need to “optimize” everything. Some things should just be enjoyed.

2022

2022

  • First “failed” startup. Hurt at the time. Invaluable in retrospect.
  • Discovered Obsidian. Changed how I think by changing how I take notes.

2019–2021

  • From “code is the job” to “code is a tool.” Engineering is about solving problems, not writing code. Obvious now. Wasn’t then.
  • Started reading philosophy seriously. Not just “productivity” books; actual philosophy.
  • Started working fully remote in 2020 when COVID reshaped the world. Never looked back.

2015–2018

  • Moved from Bangladesh to working internationally. Culture shock. Growth.
  • Transitioned from “junior who’s afraid to break things” to “mid-level who breaks things confidently.”
  • First real burnout. Learned the hard way that unsustainable is unsustainable.

Before 2015

  • Learned to code back in Class 9. Changed everything.
  • BSc in Computer Science.
  • First paid programming work. Terrible code. Got paid anyway.
  • Realized I wanted to do this forever.

Roadmap

Things I expect to change my mind about:

  • AI timelines. I’m probably wrong about something significant here.
  • Work-life balance. My current intensity isn’t sustainable forever. Will need to recalibrate.
  • Location. Currently nomadic-ish. May want roots eventually.
  • Children. On the fence. Expect this to resolve one way or another.

Why I Track This

  1. Intellectual honesty. It’s easy to forget what you used to believe. This prevents revisionist history.
  2. Pattern recognition. Looking back reveals how I change. Useful for predicting future changes.
  3. Encouragement. Past-me was wrong about lots of things. Present-me is probably wrong too. That’s okay.
  4. It’s interesting. I wish more people published their intellectual evolution.

Last updated: January 2026

If you have a personal changelog, send it to me. I’ll read it.

See also: What I Believe Now | Things That Failed | What I’m Doing Now