Once my birthday passes this year, I will be 30. While many feel quite taken aback by the change in the first digit of their age, I haven't really been conscious of my age since I was 28.

Nevertheless, because I am entering my 30s and my attitude toward life has shifted significantly, I want to organize my thoughts and set goals for 2026.

1. As a Developer

How Am I Developing?

Lately, the industry is buzzing with "Vibe Coding." More accurately, it’s buzzing because of AI. People say that thanks to AI, we can now focus on more complex business problems. But then, how are we to endure the ever-increasing entropy, fragmented features, logic left defenseless without tests, and the resulting technical debt?

The increase in development speed means that technical debt will approach us at an incomparable velocity and with a far greater impact than before.

Therefore, I Must Do the Following

Recently, concepts like "skills" and "sub-agents" are being introduced and standardized in many AI tools, including Claude Code and Cursor IDE. Utilizing these, I must constantly remind myself of the development principles I've learned and repay technical debt in a timely manner at every moment of development.

Increase cohesion and decrease coupling.
Adhere to SOLID principles.
Recite YAGNI: implement only the necessary features and avoid unnecessary abstraction.

The list is endless.

I believe that if I define these basic principles and uphold them alongside AI, I can maintain high development speed while writing high-quality code. Of course, it must be a human who judges and establishes those principles and determines whether they are suitable for the problem we are trying to solve. AI can follow the principles, but for that to happen, we must always look at the forest and plant the appropriate trees. If our principles are solid, the response to each tree will be handled with ease.

Working with Colleagues

Humans are social beings.

One cannot achieve great things alone. It is because of the team that we can reach larger goals. Each of us has roles and responsibilities; we are beings who cooperate.

When working with fellow developers, I must remember that my work is not mine alone, and their work is not irrelevant to me. Even when working solo, I must imagine how this code will cooperate with others' code. Furthermore, I must be able to explain the intent clearly, ensuring it is the optimal path toward our team's ultimate goal. I must also understand and respect the intentions of other developers and collaborate accordingly. In that process, I must constantly deliberate and consider various solutions. I believe this is what makes a team stronger.

The same applies when communicating with designers or product managers. We have gathered to solve business problems through a product. Designers express this through UI/UX, and PMs interpret and define it from a business perspective. Fundamentally, I must trust their roles and responsibilities. And I must contemplate how flexibly and efficiently I can implement those requirements to solve the problem. This is something I must continue to ponder in the future.

We must believe that there is always room for us to evolve more efficiently.

2. Attitude Toward Life

Health

Health is largely divided into two: the mind and the body. The two influence each other; if one is unwell, the other follows.

Mentally, as I always have, I should think positively and seek ways to solve problems. I can reflect on the past, but there is no need to regret it. The current "me" should simply do my best and strive to live joyfully. In the future, there must always be a will to evolve, even if only by a tiny margin.

Even so, there is no need to pursue perfection. This is not the realm of Ideals (Ideen). There is no such thing as a "correct answer" or a "finished state."

Nietzsche said:

"Man is something that shall be overcome." Even if one strives toward the Übermensch, there is no need to blame oneself for not reaching that state.

The same applies to exercise.

There is no reason to reproach myself just because my reflection in the mirror is unsatisfying. That very deficiency becomes the "will" that moves me. The "me" who exercises is not a finished statue, but a living bridge crossing over to a stronger version of myself. Because we are not perfect, we can keep moving.

I believe that such an attitude is what matters.

People

Taking care of the people around me is still a very difficult subject for me.

Nonetheless, I want to cherish them more. I want to be a bit more attentive and considerate. Lately, I've been trying hard to keep my office desk looking nice; perhaps it’s similar to that.

I like to be unadorned and sincere, but sometimes I should "dress up" and cultivate my expressions to show my heart. This, too, is something I must continue to work on.

3. Hobbies

I think of life like this:

Building stations I like on an infinite circular route and constantly cultivating them.

I like metaphors, and that’s what I just came up with. It's actually quite terrible. Anyway, I believe that continuously seeking hobbies makes life richer and more enjoyable.

Books

I think I started reading books at the end of last October. As I hoped, I am now more comfortable reading and understanding long texts. I’ve encountered many interesting and informative books. In particular, the time spent sharing stories with various people in the company's book club is truly enjoyable.

Swimming

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I am learning to swim. I like that I can expend a lot of energy with a light body without shedding a single drop of sweat. There's little worry about getting injured, too. It’s a charming sport.

However, since it's an exercise where you wear only a swimsuit, I do find myself conscious of my body. I'm also considering hair removal.

Photography

Perhaps this is the hobby I am most immersed in lately, and one I will keep for a very long time. In many ways, it is a hobby that influences my life deeply.

This year, if given the chance, I’d like to participate in a contest and, ideally, win an award.

4. Travel

I am planning a trip to Kagoshima, Japan, this March. Naturally, I plan to go by rental car.

Now, when it comes to travel, instead of feeling like I'm "time-attacking" tourist spots, I try to fully absorb the energy that the moment and the space provide. So far, I've only traveled abroad, but I want to travel within Korea more often.

Wonju, where my team lead’s "soul food" is; Cheongsong, my ancestral home. Yeosu, Jeju, Gunpo, Busan, Daegu, Gwangju. There are still many places I've only thought about but haven't visited yet.

I want to visit many of them in the future.

Closing the Post

To be honest, as I reach the end, I'm getting tired and writing rather carelessly. It’s already 2 AM.

Topics 1 and 2 are the most important ones for me. I should live my life constantly chewing over these thoughts.