Tag Archives: goals

1st Quarter Review – 2011

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Whilst I am not really the one to make resolutions, earlier this year T-SQL Tuesday #14 was about exactly that. Resolutions. So I jumped on the wagon and listed a few goals that I’d like to achieve this year. This is an update on those goals. I had a theme to my resolutions too, that theme is ‘More’.

1. Blog ‘more’

So far, so good with this one. I already have 12 posts for this year on this blog. I know that they are not all technical, but writing more (on any subject) gives me the practice I need to become a better writer (I use the term ‘writer’ very loosely…).

I have also started two other blogs. One is a personal blog and is primarily to keep all my family in the loop about our adventures. The other is all about Melbourne, Australia. The Melbourne blog is still undergoing some design decisions & tweaks as well as trying to get more and more content together before going live with it. The ‘go live’ for the Melbourne blog is set for the end of Q2. So that will be part of my next Quarterly review.

2. Learn ‘more’

Ok, so this is one that I have not faired as well as I had hoped. The MCITP – Business Intelligence 2008 has still not been realised. I grossly underestimated how much time and energy a new baby takes. In February this year my lovely wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, our 2nd child. I had set a goal to get the MCTIP by the end of the 1st Quarter this year, but I think I shall have to revise that to the end of the 2nd Quarter. To be brutally honest (with myself), I think I am afraid of failing, which is preventing me from even ‘having a go’. It’s definitely time to face facts and schedule a test!!

Other areas I wanted to improve on were the softer skills that are required for consulting. Whilst I feel that it is fairly difficult to measure these skills outright, I am definitely making progress in many areas. These are a couple of them:

  • I am now heading up my own team, so I have a bit of of ‘people management’ learning curve to undergo.
  • I am involved in the strategic planning of our team – this is a really fun aspect that I am looking to spending more time on.
  • Building up a rapport with clients and keeping the relationship in good stead. This is all about communication, communication, communication…

3. Attend ‘more’ SQL Server Events

Absolutely zero for this one. Time to refresh the local user group schedule and set aside some time to attend. Perhaps I might even set up a Melbourne SQL Server social once a month. Watch this space….

4. Interact ‘more’ with the SQL Server Community

Another mediocre performance here. Whilst I have had some good conversations over the last few months, I have not nearly been as active in this area as I had hoped. So If you do want to talk to me here are a few contact points:

5. Sleep ‘less’

Well this one was EASY! Needless to say I have outdone myself here. Since the birth of my daughter I have been getting, on average, about 4 hours a night during the week (I do the midnight feed anywhere between 11pm and 3am). I’m also glad to say I am slowly getting used to it. I am someone who usually requires a good 8 hours in order to function during the day, but I have found that I am managing on a lot less – but only if I keep going, if I stop for a few minutes I’m toast.

All-in-all progress is not bad, but could definitely be better. See you next quarter!

TSQL Tuesday #014 – Resolutions

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It’s that time again. Time for another TSQL Tuesday and this round, brought to you by Jen McCowan (Blog | @MidnightDBA), is all about Resolutions. Since I’ve not mentioned T-SQL Tuesdays on this blog before here’s a quick rundown of what it’s all about, as described by its creator Adam Machanic (Blog | @AdamMachanic:

T-SQL Tuesday is the SQL Server blogosphere’s first recurring, revolving blog party. The idea is simple: Each month a blog will host the party, and about a week before the second Tuesday of the month a theme will be posted. Any blogger that wishes to participate is invited to write a post on the chosen topic. The event is called "T-SQL Tuesday", but any post that is related to both SQL Server and the theme is fair game. So feel free to post about SSIS, SSRS, Java integration, or whatever other technologies you’re working with in conjunction with SQL Server. Even if your post includes no T-SQL we still want to see it. 

Read more about T-SQL Tuesday…

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This T-SQL Tuesday (and its particular topic) couldn’t have come at a better time. I have only just posted about activity on the blog. In it I mention that my next post will list my goals for 2011. So I guess I get a 2-for-1 with this post!

So what am I resolving to do, or do better (or not do) in 2011? Well, my theme for this year is ‘more’ (it’s also my 2 year old son’s favourite word. Well, that and a very emphatic NO!):

Blog ‘more’

In early 2010 I set myself the goal of blogging at least once a week. I started fairly well and even got to scheduling posts as opposed to just hitting ‘publish’ once I was happy with what I had written. But life happened. I got to working crazy hours for about 6 months and then moved our family from London, UK to Melbourne, Australia. This effectively put a damper on writing for me and I finished the year with a measly 21 posts for 2010.

While the above resolution does not have an actual figure committed to it, I definitely need to do better than 21! And I am already making progress. I have posts scheduled through to mid-March, so I have a better feeling about this one already.

Learn ‘more’

Since the middle of last year I have been meaning to take the MCITP exams (70-452 & 70-448). But since I failed to plan for them then, they are now a 2011 challenge. I’m resolving to get these ‘done and dusted’ in Q1, and I already have drawn up a schedule to get this done.

I also am resolving to learn more about the ‘soft skills’ so often overlooked by technical professionals, but so important to the successful outcome of a project. Communication (with clients, staff members & the SQL Community), personal effectiveness, strategic thinking, team building and problem solving are some of the areas I’ll be looking at building and fine tuning during the course of the year.

Project Management – a new area for me, but one that I am starting to get very interested in. I’ve seen first hand how NOT having the necessary PM skills can lead to a project being pulled. So I’m taking steps to ensure that it doesn’t happen to any project that I lead.

Attend ‘more’ SQL Server Events

2010 was a busy year. So my attendance at various events was sporadic to say the least. I did get to SQLBits V in 2009 (Post 1, Post 2, Recap 1, Recap 2), but missed out on attending either of the events in 2010. These are such great events and if you get the chance to go you shouldn’t hesitate – I believe that the next one is to be held in Brighton, on the South Coast of England.

imageSo this year I have diarised the Local User Group events and aim to attend each of them. On the conference side of things, I may have cheated a little, as just before the end of last year I confirmed my booking for the PASS Summit 2011!! I am properly stoked about this and will be doing as much as possible to ensure that my first Summit experience is a great one. Which leads me to my next resolution…


Interact ‘more’ with the SQL Community

Twitter, blogging, comments, forums, user groups, conferences, email, Skype, and of course, meeting more people. Since my days are pretty busy during ‘working hours’, I’m going to try setting aside some time before the day really begins to get back in touch with the SQL Server Pulse.

 

Sleep ‘less’

Something has to give. Always.

In order to achieve what I have set out here I need to give up on something that I hold dear. Precious sleep. I used to think know that I needed at least 9 hours sleep a night. Then I became a dad. Now I know that I will get by on 7 hours.  And when a new bundle of joy (in the form of a daughter) joins us in about 6 weeks, I’ll ‘know’ I can get by on less than 5.

 

I’m looking forward to a great year. A year of family expansion, personal growth and community involvement. What do you have lined up?