Re: CCIE R&S Discouraged

Hey Marc mine is similar except I end up studying until 3 or 4:00am and my
wife's pushing me out of bed to go to work at 7:00a!

Studying for the CCIE really does take its toll on your life, especially
when you are married and have kids, etc. One of the biggest challenges
with the CCIE is that you have to balance your social life (e.g. kids &
relationships) while still studying intensely. While some may argue you
have to put your social life on hold, you don't, it's just a balancing
mechanism.

I have been doing the same routine for quite some time and it's worked for
me so far. Basically (like Jay) when my wife and kids go to sleep around
9:00 I hit the labs until I'm too tired and go to sleep!

For me this has been a long and winding road and I'm ready for it to be
over. Judgement day is right around the corner....

Happy Labbing!

On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 6:49 AM, marc edwards <renorider_at_gmail.com> wrote:

> My alarm goes off at 4 am and my wife is pushing me out of bed to study.
> Aside from me, nobody wants to this to be over more than her :) . I tell
> people that are interested that it will be a life changer from the start.
> Constant study and finding a zen balance with it all. For me, it comes down
> to what I do during my alone time. Most want to decompress and watch TV,
> sports, or some sort of recreation. Sad to say that the
> lab examination will eat up all this free time.
>
> I have been watching how much time I spend on social networks and blog as
> well. Even exam relavant stuff, it just seems to slow me down taking time
> to articulate... It is a good practice though.
>
> Even responding to threads like this. If I spend 4 minutes writing this
> email, that was 4 minutes I could have been working through a problem or
> watching instruction. I can imagine that is why commentary has talked about
> beating the dead horse.
>
> While I think it is off topic, motivations are relavant to the pursuit. Are
> you doing it to show others? Are you doing it for career only? Are you
> doing it for yourself due to a burning motivation?
>
> Some of those answers will get you up at any hour of the night having free
> time to continue to learn. Some of those answers will keep you pushing even
> after failure. Others might make you sleep in and give up on the first try.
>
> On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 6:22 AM, Joe Astorino <joeastorino1982_at_gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > Well, I'm not a family / marital counselor or psychologist so this is
> > probably worth what you pay for it -- Why not try and prioritize your
> life
> > and make the CCIE a large part of your time on paper and on purpose? I
> > first started my track in July 2008 and I got married in May, 2008.
> > Needless to say, some discussions had to be had with the new wife about
> > time priorities and why I was doing that and why it meant so much to me
> and
> > why I needed her support in doing it.
> >
> > Maybe it would be possible to talk to your wife and work out some sort of
> > scheduling to where you have your certain days and hours for just
> studying
> > ALONE in the basement, but you also make time for x, y, and z in your
> > life. Maybe you could speak to your boss about getting some time to
> > advance your skillset and obtaining the CCIE but explain that you would
> > appeciate some time to work on that career goal.
> >
> > Ultimately, at least in my life it helps to have things being done on
> > purpose and to a certain "plan" or I get bogged down.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 5:01 PM, Guillermo Ruiz <gruizesteban_at_gmail.com
> > >wrote:
> >
> > > Joe,
> > >
> > > When I start studying the CCIE track (almost 3 years ago) the only
> > > reason of doing that was for personal knowledge. I've spent lot of
> > > money building my home lab (over 25 devices...till I discovered GNS3)
> > > and taking CCIE bootcamps. My frustration is not about those that are
> > > cheating..I'm frustrated about the limited time I have to study
> > > (always overloaded at work + family & marital tasks). I don't even
> > > know if some day I will take the lab exam, earn those wonderful digits
> > > and tattoo the old CCIE logo in my leg , but the only thing that keeps
> > > me enthusiastic is all the network challenges I face everyday.
> > >
> > > Keep the track, there is no better feeling than solving problems and
> > > carrying with all that stuff that nobody wants. This is what keeps me
> > > "young", and it's wonderful to learn everyday new things.
> > >
> > > And in the worst case you will end like me, with a 10-months child
> > > that recognizes Cisco logo...and cries when he hears Juniper. LoL!
> > >
> > > Regards
> > >
> > > Guillermo Ruiz
> > >
> > > 2011/12/3, Joe Sanchez <marco207p_at_gmail.com>:
> > > > All,
> > > >
> > > > I wanted to send a quick email out to all of you to get your take,
> and
> > to
> > > > hopefully give me some words of wisdom.
> > > >
> > > > I recently took my CCIE R&S Lab exam at RTP on Nov 9, 2011; I failed
> > and
> > > > I'm ok with that, I knew going into the exam that I was not 100%
> > however
> > > I
> > > > scheduled the lab months prior, set my goals and tried to reach them
> > > before
> > > > taking the lab. I fell behind on a few of the goals that I set prior
> > to
> > > > taking the exam, but I felt I needed to go ahead and take the lab and
> > get
> > > > the butterflies and overall anxiety out of my system.
> > > >
> > > > I know what I need to do, so that my next attempt at the lab is
> > > successful,
> > > > and I'm working on those now.
> > > >
> > > > So here is the part were my discouragement comes into play and really
> > my
> > > > overall mindset to stop studying for this exam and move on with my
> > life,
> > > as
> > > > we all know that studying for the CCIE takes away your life for a
> > while.
> > > > I've been studying for the CCIE off and on for almost 2yrs, and there
> > > have
> > > > been a few breaks in my studies as I have family and work obligations
> > > like
> > > > most of you all, "i digress".
> > > >
> > > > I came back from RTP and I had a few questions on my lab that I
> > > absolutely
> > > > had no freakin clue, so I set out looking through the CCO Doc CD and
> > > trying
> > > > to figure out the answers to the questions and I read every page on
> > this
> > > > particular subject however, I couldn't find solutions the lab wanted.
> > > So I
> > > > set out in the world of google and began using search strings to find
> > my
> > > > answer, and what do you know I found several scenarios from people
> that
> > > > were pretty close, so I modified my search string and began my
> > > > seek-and-find again. After searching for a few minutes more for my
> > > answer,
> > > > up pops a website URL in Chinese that redirects me to a website that
> > has
> > > a
> > > > document in adobe web viewer so I think lets read this and see what I
> > > > find. I begin to read the document and see that it is a lab and as I
> > > > scroll down I begin to see the network topology and physical and
> > logical
> > > > layout and the beginning general guideline requirements and I say to
> > > myself
> > > > "wow, this is very familiar" as I continue reading I again say " this
> > is
> > > > way to close" and as I scroll down I see a topology that looks
> exactly
> > > like
> > > > the topology I had on my Lab, so I stop... dig out my notebook, "they
> > > one I
> > > > drew my LAB topology in, at the airport after my LAB exam" and I say
> > > "What
> > > > the hell" this topology is 100% exact to my LAB in RTP and not only
> > that
> > > > but 100% ip addressing, vlan names and numbers, IGP AS numbers, BGP
> AS
> > > > numbers, "yes" i continued to read and yes everything, again
> everything
> > > was
> > > > 100% my LAB " I found the answer to my question". So I stopped...
> > stared
> > > > at the wall for hmmm... a long time then said "Why" Why do I nearly
> > kill
> > > > myself studying trying to get these digits when people are out there
> > > > cheating, but not only cheating but killing the reputation of a
> Expert
> > > > community because they feel that if they get the Digits they can make
> > > more
> > > > money than what they deserve. So I went home, because I don't study
> at
> > > > home as this is distraction most of them, and I asked myself the
> entire
> > > > ride home to whether or not a should continue.
> > > >
> > > > So I suppose my Question is to the whole community here is "should we
> > > even
> > > > continue", I've spent thousands or dollars getting equipment,
> labbooks,
> > > > video's not to mention the hours, but what is the point if people are
> > > > cheating and Employers know that people are cheating, and I've seen
> > this
> > > > over the last few years that some CCIE's don't have a clue.
> > > >
> > > > I'm frustrated, p'd off, and discouraged.
> > > >
> > > > I await your thoughts and reply's.
> > > >
> > > > Please do not email me or request that I give you the website or name
> > of
> > > > the company that is supplying the exact labs, as I will make you
> > publicly
> > > > known for asking in this email group and forums. Really it's not
> worth
> > > it.
> > > >
> > > > Joe Sanchez (Chicago, IL)
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
> > > >
> > > >
> _______________________________________________________________________
> > > > Subscription information may be found at:
> > > > http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
> > >
> > >
> > > Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________________________________
> > > Subscription information may be found at:
> > > http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Regards,
> >
> > Joe Astorino
> > CCIE #24347
> > Blog: http://astorinonetworks.com
> >
> > "He not busy being born is busy dying" - Dylan
> >
> >
> > Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
> >
> > _______________________________________________________________________
> > Subscription information may be found at:
> > http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
>
>
> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
>
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-- 
-Steve Di Bias
Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net