Tag: growth

I Earned A New Certificate

Carl Setzer2 Comments
rolled white paper and a certificate on a pink surface

In my efforts to keep moving forward in my career, I’m currently working on the Google Project Management Professional certificate. Today, I obtained a new certification as part of that: Project Initiation: Starting a Successful Project. I guess we could call this a sub-certificate. I guess…

Anyway, project management has always been a key part of who I am. And I see that it will be a key part of my future. From my time in the Navy to the present day, a lot of what I do is keep projects moving. Whether its typing minutes or notes, updating tracking documents (Project or Asana), or following up with stakeholders, projects have been a key part of my career to date. And I’ve been told, multiple times over the years, that this is something people value about me. In the end, I love completing things. I love getting projects across the proverbial finish-line. And I love helping people be successful.

So, I seek to keep moving forward. Everyday presents opportunities for forward motion, and I intend to take advantage of them.

Quote of the Day

Carl Setzer1 Comment

My friend and fellow blogger Pooja over at Life’s Fine Whine posted this quote yesterday. I felt this is one that strikes home, and is important to embrace if you’re living focused on growth.

Speaking for myself, it’s easy to expect that enacting positive life changes will all feel like smooth joy. No, often, it starts out HARD! Whether a diet, new exercise regime, training for a new role for work…with any of these changes, we start out needing to work hard in order to overcome our life’s inertia.

So, I recommend checking our Pooja’s blog, Life’s Fine Wine.

Developing as a Developer

Carl Setzer
apple laptop notebook office

I’ve been continuing on with my “50 Projects In 50 Days” project. Since my last post, I’ve added 3 more:

Slowly but surely I’m growing my developer skills. I have realized that some of the video trainings move too quickly for me, but taking a moment to pause from time to time and process what I’ve done helps. I’ve also started reading Eloquent Javascript to get an alternative style of information absorption. Also, I ordered “Cracking the Coding Interview” today, as coding interviews are an area of anxiety for me (I know this is not an uncommon feeling amongst developers). These will be my foci for the next few weeks.

Now, beyond that: I’m still mapping that out. Do I want to deep dive into web development? I’m still not sure. While pursuing my ATA, I took classes in Cisco Networking and desktop support. I really enjoyed that and wonder if there might be opportunities to incorporate that into my career. Perhaps dev ops?

Data, database theory, and design were other key areas of my studies, plus, I really enjoyed them. SQL is SO cool! (Nerd acknowledgment). Another option I’m evaluating is Data Analytics. I would like to add Microsoft’s Power BI Data Analyst Associate certification this year as well.

I also studied Amazon Web Services, but just “got my feet wet” as the adage goes. I would like to go further with Cloud Systems, whether with AWS, Azure (I am a Microsoft Alum, after all, and live in Microsoft Land), or Google (I utilize Google extensively in my day-to-day work, seems like a logical fit). And, after watching several videos about 2023 IT Trends, cloud computing is one of the key growing areas in IT. Since I already have a little bit of training, diving deeper and getting some certifications sounds wise. AI and Machine Learning are things I want to, eventually, study, I am just not sure when.

Tiff In Tech’s look at Top IT Skills for 2023

So, that’s where I am as I map out my 2023 plans. What do you think? Any advice? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Finished another code project

Carl Setzer

Today I completed the “Split Landing Page” project from my 50 Projects in 50 Days Udemy class. This one was pretty fun (yes, I’m a nerd).

Built a (mostly) CSS based animation effect onto the webpage. When you hover over half a page, it expands out to 75% of the page.

Check it out here. And you can check out all my web dev work on my developer page.

The Opportunity of Morning Sunlight

Carl Setzer

​morning sunlight

breeze changes direction

opportunity

I see so much opportunity, and how privilege feeds that. How I can pick and choose amongst these choices, while so many others struggle to get by. 

How can I leverage privilege and expand opportunity for all? 

Is this how I make the world better?

The Real Reason Why You Can’t Stop Thinking So Negatively

Carl Setzer


Photo by Gui Spinardi from Pexels

The Real Reason Why You Can’t Stop Thinking So Negatively

I found the article (from Medium) above insightful. It speaks to a challenge that I find tempting: blaming external forces for my challenges. The line ‘“I’m just a messy person” excuses you from taking responsibility for the mess’ really strikes home. It reminds me of the power of self-talk, of those mental scripts that I often don’t even think to check. They happen so automatically that I’m not aware. For years I’ve known about this, and yet I still find these scripts running in the background. And I will continue to create new ones, to take responsibility for what’s in my mind, and seek forward motion.

What about you? Are you aware of such thoughts, and how corrosive they can be? Give the article a read and let me know what you think.

Growth, Planning, Development, and Seattle

Carl Setzer

​Saturday I had a meeting in south Everett, on 128th to be more specific. Well, traffic on that road was wretched, but I improvised, taking side streets back to Lynnwood. I ended up driving past the door where the Puget Park Drive-In used to be. Now it’s a medical center and apartment complex.

Along this street are now many multifamily/higher-density housing projects. Several duplexes, apartment,s and condos, within this area that was semi-rural single-family homes a generation back.

This got me thinking about density. That we’re going to see the greater Seattle area become increasingly densified (is that a word?). I expect this whole region will become mostly multifamily in the next dozen to two dozen years. The economic forces will drive that hard. I’ve long thought that the Growth Management Act’s limits on development will combine with our region’s continued economic expansion to drive this.

Many will see it as something to lament, and to resist. Me? I see it as a mixed blessing, so to speak. And as something that good planning can make a great thing. Planning for a transit system that will accommodate this load will be crucial. A predominantly car-centric system will not work. When the majority of commuters take transit, things will be more manageable.

So, what do you think?

More Life Changes Coming 

Carl Setzer

I have some major changes in my career coming up. I’ll write more about this shortly. Endings, beginnings and transitions. Fear and excitement. Opportunities…

I’m in the process of reviewing, and refining, my goals and objectives. I need to pull together a vision. 

Advice and counsel will be requested and encouraged. As one of my mentors outs it: no one succeeds alone. And I’m not alone.