I have often said that I prefer to be narrow and good and at only a few things, however I know that's not true.  There are things I have always wanted to do and things I have recently wanted to do.  One thing every human being is interested in is having people like them.  The first and number one thing you can do to change others impression of you is hygiene and grooming.  The next thing people notice after looks is who you are and what you do.  Fortunately, you can change all of these things easily and quickly.

Chances are if you read this blog, you are probably not concerned with your looks and would proudly wear an X-men or some other nerd t-shirt.  Chances are also that some one out there is not performing everyday hygiene chores.  Let me make this clear if you plan to program all day long and never get out of your pajamas, no one cares.  If you want to leave the house; you must shower, brush your teeth, and do whatever needs to happen to your hair.  I know this is often a hassle, I agree.  I am an insanely busy person, but if a friend calls me up for lunch, I make hygiene happen.  I schedule appointments and push back surprise events in order to get clean and decent looking.  These things may seem trivial, but no one wants to hang around the stinky guy, no matter how cool you are.

Second,  you need a haircut and your neck beard is not awesome.  I know it seems really cool to grow your hair out for 6 years and never comb it once. I also know you have been working on that beard since middle school.  The fact remains both of these styles especially in combination have a tendency to freak people out.  The number one thing that will keep some one out of the barber chair,  I don't know what haircut to get.  Well, ask around find the best barber or beautician in town, and tell them to do what they think will look good.  I have done this for years, and my barber does great job every time.  Unless, your face was burned off or you were drenched in battery acid at some point, just shave.  If you must have facial hair do something short and tightly cropped, grizzly adams was not 19.

The next and probably the hardest for most people, is doing things you really want to do.  I have wanted to play guitar my whole life.  Now I can, not well, but good enough.  I learned to play guitar by spending about 15 minutes a day just strumming away and learning chords.  This same method will work for just about anything you want to learn.  If you want to get in shape walk 15-20 minutes a day, or do push-ups between rounds of Halo.  You can become proficient at exercise, musical instruments, or any number of things with 15 minutes a day 5 days a week.  Why would you want to ?  Most people want to be more attractive, but learning new skills will make you more interesting and more happy.  I know you are happy with your insane php skills or ability to create a flash cartoon, but all tech people need a lifeline outside of our computer.  This way we can share interests with those that are in our real lives.

Your life should also emulate a well written c++ app, you need modularity.  I have found that every one in my life, wants to feel special, and wants all of me whenever they have me.  So I developed my life around modularity and found it to be very helpful.  I am a student, a husband, a father, a friend, and I have a job.  I have to schedule my time very carefully and be careful not to mix all my lives together.  When I am at work I work hard and concentrate deeply, but I don't put off school work in order to do more work. I only work a certain number of hours each weak, the evenings from around 4-8 belong to family and all daylight hours on the weekend belong to family.  After 8 PM every night I do home work and school tasks, and my friends get whatever I left over.  When I am with my family, my computer is off and I do not take work calls.  When I am doing home work the door to my office is closed and I don't receive interruptions.  A highly modular life will make every one including you happier.  This happens because everyone has there expectations properly set, and knows where they stand.  Additionally everyone, feels very important because you are giving them dedicated time in your life.

All of these things I have mentioned may seem trivial to most, but at the core, these will make you more happy.  Doing these things will improve your life outside of technology, and even improve your chances of employment.  Sorry to break it to you, but interviewers and businesses look at far more than your  work skills.  Applying all these things at once will take you less than an hour a day and you will hardly notice that time is gone.  So get out there and improve your life.