This site is called myles.garden for a reason. A garden is not static. It grows, shifts, gets messy, and surprises you. My personal values work the same way. They are not commandments or corporate slogans. They are more like guiding principles, the trellises I train my work and life around.

Build with Purpose

I want the things I make to matter. Not in a grand, world-changing way, but in the sense that they mean something, to me, to others, to the moment they exist in. Purpose might look like designing clean software, or baking cookies for friends, or tending to houseplants. Whatever form it takes, I try to make things that grow roots instead of just scattering seeds in the wind.

Improve with Curiosity

Curiosity is what pulls me into exploring strange corners of code, learning why a system works the way it does, or wondering if there’s a better way to do something we’ve all taken for granted. When I follow my curiosity, I usually find not just answers, but better questions.

Choose Simplicity

I’m allergic to unnecessary complexity. Whether I’m designing an API, writing, or organizing my life, I want to cut through the noise. The best solutions tend to be the clearest ones. The ones that give you space to breathe and focus on what really matters.

Play Seriously

Play is how I learn, and how I stumble into my best ideas. I believe in experimenting, tinkering, sketching, and even failing just for the fun of it. A side project might look like a toy, but toys teach us things that spreadsheets never will.

Build Systems with Soul

I love how systems interlock, how they scale, how they shape behavior. But efficiency alone is not enough. I want the systems I build (in software, in teams, in life) to have warmth. To feel like they were made by people, for people. To have a bit of soul in the wiring.

These values aren’t final. Like a garden, they’ll need pruning, watering, and replanting as I go.

Last updated: Thursday 13th September, 2025.