Re: OT: Motivation

Hi Guys,

Not sure if this is OT or not, it might be completely relevant actually. I
am having one of those days where nothing seems to have sunk in, my labs are
confusing me and I am wondering if I should take Darby's advice and just
work at Mcdonalds!

Where is my motivation and am I really crazy? Am I doing the right thing?

I was interested to see how everyone deals with these days - what works for
you?

I appreciate that every one is different and what works for some might not
work for me, but just to know that I am not the only person in this
situation would be nice :)
Peter.

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Peter,
Gulp!  I think I meant that in another context - and I have since learned
that some people trying to study for the CCNA and even up to the CCIE might
even have trouble with basic math - so McDonald's won't even work for them.
I'd suspect you are well past this already.  You found Groupstudy.
My advice:
Slow down and breathe.  Find a way to measure where you are, where you have
been, and what you need to do to get you where you are doing.
Example - I have a few versions of spreadsheets, these can easily be turned
into project templates and used accordingly to illustrate the division of
the larger goal to bite-sized attainable tasks.
I think the biggest problem that Network Engineers is that we learn the same
subjects several times in our our careers and each time we thought we either
knew a lot or perhaps knew it all.  Neither is usually the case.
The story of the glass jar being filled with large rocks comes to mind, then
smaller rocks, then sand, and then water.  At each juncture we are asked
whether or not the jar is full and while it appears to be so, it is still a
matter of perception and really depends on our definition of "full".
So...
Motivation.  Ouch!  Really hard to motivate everyone all the time.
For myself, I've scheduled a Cisco 360 Graded Mok Lab for this weekend on
Sunday actually.  So it gives mea  day or so to think about it, a few hours
to do it, and then about 1.5 days to mull it over and groan about wherever I
manage to come up short.  Then after self-actualization is realized, I start
over and pat off the dirt and get started one more time.
That's how we do it.  We never surrender, we never give up, and we always
stay committed to the goal.
The trick is some people are not always sure what the goal is.... Nope!  Not
always. Or perhaps we have separate realities.  Me, I seek knowledge and
simply improving my skills in one area or another.  Others simply seek
digits.  Some just want to have fun and maybe some are just hanging around
killing time till something better comes along.
This all amounts to breaking the larger task down and then giving yourself
credit for the bits and pieces you have learned and learned well.  Sure
there will be more tomorrow, but Rome was not built in a day... just
remember we are not building Rome either.
:)
Good luck and have a great Memorial Day weekend!
Darby
Darby Weaver
Network Engineer
http://www.darbyslogs.blogspot.com
darbyweaver_at_yahoo.com
Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net