Invitation from Mike Walsh
I last hosted T-SQL Tuesday back in 2010 (T-SQL Tuesday #4 IO), I guess it’s been a minute!
This month, let’s get a little reflective/introspective. Call it an end-of-year wrap-up theme.
We all have those moments where we look back and think, “I spent a lot of energy worrying about the wrong thing(s)…” After some time, though, we realize those things were more anxiety/worry energy than we needed to spend. While at the same time – how often do we not even know to be worried about the thing that we should have been worried about?!
Maybe it’s just me – but I have spent much of my career and plenty of my life worrying about things I didn’t need to and not thinking enough on the things I should have been.
So that’s the mission. And it’ a bit of a “prediction” style – but not quite the same – though you should totally read Adam’s recap post from T-SQL Tuesday #100 with the predictions. (Wish Robert Davis’ post was still up from the recap. I miss him. Still remember hitching a ride with him and catching up with him after a PASS conference group dinner – he gave me a ride all the way down the airport – just because… And it’s funny seeing Adam’s thought that Brent’s prediction about SQL Server PaaS offerings on other clouds as being insane 😉 – oh and sounds like Jeff Mlakar was mostly right on the money. )
But it’s not really a prediction the same way… It’s really a chance to address the elephant(s) in the room. Folks are scared right now of a lot of things. And maybe some sober reflection (Posting while sober is not one of the requirements for T-SQL Tuesday, mind you…) on how some of the things we spend a lot of time fearing are less scary with the passage of time could help some of the hyperventilation about career, AI, data changes, whatever… But we should also spend a little time trying to be aware of the things that are in our control. So……
….Here’s the challenge:
Write two short notes to yourself. One to the past. One from the future.
Write a post with:
- A message to “10-Years-Ago You.” (it can be 5 years ago if needed) – Something you were scared of then that turned out to be just fine – Something you wish you’d taken seriously sooner. (the thing you should have been afraid of instead, perhaps…)
- A message from “2035 You.” What should you be paying attention to right now? What’s the risk or opportunity that future-you desperately hopes you won’t ignore or pass up?
Ideally, come up with something in the day job/data/database/AI landscape – something about data, career choices, learning opportunities, job opportunities, chances to take.
And for bonus points (I’m now giving points out with T-SQL Tuesday posts, spending Steve’s money… call them query bucks… I’ll put our own Buck Woody where George Washington or a Microsoft employee who refused to be on the bills should be…) – I would also love it if folks shared a professional development angle to one of the notes also if one comes up.
Maybe you’ll make someone starting in their career make a change. Perhaps you’ll make someone worry about something they didn’t even know to be concerned about. Or maybe you’ll make me stop worrying about something I’m worrying about…
A few prompts if it helps:
- What were you certain would sink your career that ended up being nothing?
- What blind spots do you suspect you might have today?
- What do you hope doesn’t get lost as you become more experienced/responsible/senior?
- What skill do you regret not learning?
- What skill do you regret diving deep on, and why is it not Service Broker?