Tag: growth

Power lies not in control, but in connection

Carl Setzer1 Comment

I found the above image on Pinterest

In today’s world, so many in power are about controlling and manipulating others in order to get solely what they want. The powerful exploit, and the masses lose. Exploitation is not sustainable. One-sided economic growth is not sustainable. This leads, eventually, to collapse. I’ve long believed there’s another way.

Create a sustainable system, one that does not rely upon exploitation and the poverty of many. One that builds others up, that helps people grow. One that’s creative, not extractive. I’ve often simply called this “long-term focus”.

Leadership within this system would understand how people are motivated and how to use that knowledge to help them be the best people they can be. That’s how I see it, at least.

My hope is found in like-minded people, working towards these goals. And there’s great power in hope, don’t you think?

Some career advice from LinkedIn

Carl Setzer
female office worker relaxing with feet on table

I know a number of people don’t see the value of LinkedIn. I, however, find a valuable tool, both as a networking tool and for advice in this continuously morphing economy and job market. Today, I came across this gem with the first line ‘The common advice is to find a stable role with a good team and “vest and chill”.’

I’ve heard that advice for most of my life, though mostly when I was young. Especially to young sailor me. Do the minimum, don’t attract attention…these pieces of advice are rather alluring on the surface. They seem to appease fear, any adversity to risk, to minimise the chances of failure. However, as Mr. LoPrimo, the writer of the post, points out, you’re relying on pure luck. I’ve long given up on that mindset, even though it still haunts me.

For years, I’ve “given plenty of thought” to where I am going. My challenge? There are so many options and variations, it’s so damn hard to pick amongst them. I guess that’s preferable than sitting here after a layoff wondering where I should apply.

I want my career to be more than reacting; I want proactivity, to be ahead of the curve. I don’t want to be playing the game of scrambling to find work again. And to be evolving in a direction of my choice. So I build myself, my mind, pointing towards the future I want.

What about you?

Quote of the Day

Carl Setzer

“You may not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page”.

~ Phoebe Waller-Bridge

I have given out similar advice for decades. My main variant: “It’s easier to edit than to create”. I’ve seen how paralyzing perfectionism can be. With this, I’ve also found that the most challenging part of any project is starting.

Anyway, I hope you have a fantastic day leading into a fantastic week.

Another Course Completed: System Administration and IT Infrstructure Services

Carl Setzer
close up photo of matrix background

I’m making my way through the Google IT Support Professional Certificate. I appreciate the refresher of many of my courses from pursuing my ATA in Web Application and Cloud Development. It may seem counterintuitive that I took two classes in CISCO Networking and one (of two) classes for the A+ certificate. But I saw value in them and did my best to fit them in.

And I’m getting to learn some new stuff, too. For instance, even though I’ve been managing Active Directory, I’ve not had the chance to dive deeply into things like Group Policies. And having an overview of data backups and disaster recovery was very insightful.

So, I have two more courses to go to finish this Certificate. I have a few different directions I can go once I finish this. The most obvious is to leverage my existing work in IT Administration and start exploring network administration. Another option, which builds more on my ATA is data systems (data analytics, database administration, that sort of thing). I do a fair amount of that right now, too. Less so in my work at the Edmonds Waterfront Center, but there’s quite a bit of alignment with what I’m doing at Trinity. I’ve been feeding a lot of ideas, my backgound, etc, into ChatGPT, and it’s recommending the data path. That seems good as I’m seeing things like “The outlook for network administrator jobs is mixed, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projecting a decline in employment by 3% from 2023 to 2033”. And then this “The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has projected substantial growth for occupations related to data analysis, with some categories seeing increases as high as 23% or more between 2023 and 2033.”

I’m trying to keep moving forward, to keep learning relevant skills. The world is changing so fast, one must work to keep up.

Some motivation for those seeking to learn something new

Carl Setzer1 Comment

I face this challenge every time I’m learning something new, this sense of awkwardness. It’s hard for me to accept this interim period where I lack expertise. It’s rather insane to expect to start studying something new and instantaneously become an expert. It’s rather cruel, no?

I think its roots lie in insecurity. It seems to me the confident won’t be impacted at all. Therefore, I’m working at keeping this at bay and, eventually, purging this tendency from my habits.

How about you? Are you one of those folks who stare blankly at anyone who fights imposter syndrome or its variants? I’ve long wondered what that feels like. Let me know, if you know, you know?

Starting the day

Carl Setzer 
awakened by self-doubt

criticizing all I've done

so I face within  

resisting these words

embracing all that I am

keep moving forward

Welcome to February!

Carl Setzer2 Comments
woman explaining position to african american husband

So, we’ve made it through the first month of 2025! Congrats so far!

As I’ve noted earlier, I’ve lost a lot of my energy in January to sickness. This week I’m finally feeling solidly on the mend (though my cough is still annoying, but every day a bit less so).

I’ve spent this morning weeding through a backlog of email, and getting a few neglected tasks into my planner. I’ve also been able to do a bit of edification type reading.

This morning’s email about Complaining from Seth Godin struck me. I occasionally struggle with it, even though I find it (mostly) a waste of energy. Seth made some good points about it’s purpose.

  • “The obvious reason to complain is to make a change happen.”
    • That one is often not really the point. Though, if it is the goal, we need to “…focus those complaints where they’ll do the most good, and be prepared to do the work to have an impact”.
  • He does list of other reasons, which is worth the minute or two it takes to read his post.

He also points out that complaining is the “evil cousin” of whining. And that whining is pretty wasteful in terms of effectiveness. Both are often simply functions of the entitled mentality.

His last point, which I’m going to embrace, is ““The best way to complain is to make things better.” At least, if positive change is your goal. If it’s simply to deflect blame, conceal fear, or anything else, then, well, go and do you.

Do you have strategies to keep complaining/whining at bay?

    I’m a Word Nerd!

    Carl Setzer4 Comments
    person holding white ceramci be happy painted mug

    Good ol’ Grammarly! I don’t generally pay attention to these updates, but this one struck me.

    As I value my writing skills, this made me happy. I’m lapping the competition? Cool!

    I’m more productive than average and have higher mastery, too.

    And I’m more creative, or at least have a broader vocabulary, than most:

    I find this satisfying as I deeply value my communication skills, especially my writing. The hard work I’ve done over the years has benefitted me. Which I find wonderful.

    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.