1) The opportunity to learn about the WordPress blogging platform
2) The free coffee I got at Starbucks
3) Moving on to week 3 of my mediation practice
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
9/25 Post
Today I am grateful for:
1) My friend Ryan taking me out to a very nice lunch and introducing me to someone who might be able to help with job related stuff
2) Running into a cute girl I recognized from improv outside the Mac store, whose name I can't remember
3) My new Mac Book Air (I'm not sure if I've used that one before; I got it about two weeks ago).
1) My friend Ryan taking me out to a very nice lunch and introducing me to someone who might be able to help with job related stuff
2) Running into a cute girl I recognized from improv outside the Mac store, whose name I can't remember
3) My new Mac Book Air (I'm not sure if I've used that one before; I got it about two weeks ago).
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
9/24 Post
It was a nice day in Chitown yesterday, and it looks to be that way today.
I am trying to spend about 7-9 hours a day working on beefing up my coding skills in the run up to StartUp Institute. My goal is to build a few small sites--real simple stuff--before the program starts, so I can have a portfolio to show potential employers. Of course, I'll make some portfolio pieces during the program too.
Gonna get to work on learning about embedding videos in webpages in just a minute.
Today I am grateful for:
1) Lotsa Helping Hands- a website that allows people to coordinate care for sick loved ones (it allowed me to provide dinner for a friend of a friend who is battling cancer last night)
2) Tea - it's a good alternative to coffee that I can drink throughout the day--especially as it starts to get chillier hear
3) Being invited to Thanksgiving by Kelly's friend Kara; I'm going to stay in Chicago because of the dates of the program, and it will be nice to spend it with some folks I know
I am trying to spend about 7-9 hours a day working on beefing up my coding skills in the run up to StartUp Institute. My goal is to build a few small sites--real simple stuff--before the program starts, so I can have a portfolio to show potential employers. Of course, I'll make some portfolio pieces during the program too.
Gonna get to work on learning about embedding videos in webpages in just a minute.
Today I am grateful for:
1) Lotsa Helping Hands- a website that allows people to coordinate care for sick loved ones (it allowed me to provide dinner for a friend of a friend who is battling cancer last night)
2) Tea - it's a good alternative to coffee that I can drink throughout the day--especially as it starts to get chillier hear
3) Being invited to Thanksgiving by Kelly's friend Kara; I'm going to stay in Chicago because of the dates of the program, and it will be nice to spend it with some folks I know
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Managing Anxiety
This has unarguably been my best week in the last month and a half in terms of my mood and productivity. That's because I have a greater sense of structure now that I have SIC on the horizon, just a little over a month away.
But, today I was hit with a small bout of some the anxiety I felt in my first week of DBC and in many of the subsequent weeks since. In working through coding exercises, I have to wrestle with a lot of material that doesn't come naturally to me. This gets me thinking about some of the people I know from DBC and how I stack up against them. Will I be able to land myself a developer or product manager job after StartUp Institute?
I don't know! But, I already jumped off this path once before, and I did not like how I felt about my career and life prospects once I was off the path. I will never be as good as some of the people I met at DBC, but I know that by pushing myself over the next 3 months, I'll put myself in a better position career-wise and confidence-wise.
Ultimately, going down this path of learning to code is about being able to support myself for the rest of my life in a career that allows me to be creative, allows me to learn, and offers a good degree of industry security (I'm not concerned about security with reference to a specific job).
Today I am thankful for:
1) Getting to see TJ and Dave last night
2) My new Mac Book Air
3) The Chicago startup community
4) Delicious horchata!
But, today I was hit with a small bout of some the anxiety I felt in my first week of DBC and in many of the subsequent weeks since. In working through coding exercises, I have to wrestle with a lot of material that doesn't come naturally to me. This gets me thinking about some of the people I know from DBC and how I stack up against them. Will I be able to land myself a developer or product manager job after StartUp Institute?
I don't know! But, I already jumped off this path once before, and I did not like how I felt about my career and life prospects once I was off the path. I will never be as good as some of the people I met at DBC, but I know that by pushing myself over the next 3 months, I'll put myself in a better position career-wise and confidence-wise.
Ultimately, going down this path of learning to code is about being able to support myself for the rest of my life in a career that allows me to be creative, allows me to learn, and offers a good degree of industry security (I'm not concerned about security with reference to a specific job).
Today I am thankful for:
1) Getting to see TJ and Dave last night
2) My new Mac Book Air
3) The Chicago startup community
4) Delicious horchata!
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
9/17
Started off with another good med today.
Today I'm thankful for
1) NPR
2) My new Mac Book Air
3) My relative health
All right. Time to code!
Today I'm thankful for
1) NPR
2) My new Mac Book Air
3) My relative health
All right. Time to code!
Monday, September 16, 2013
Just started off my day with a good meditation.
Yesterday, I found a month-to-month place I can live that is fairly affordable and is half a block from an "El" stop.
Now, I think I can spend this week and the rest of this month refamiliarizing myself with some coding and learning some new concepts as well. I talked to a guy yesterday who just went through the summer class of Startup Institute New York. He said he came in with less background then I had, and he is now working as a dev for a startup in New York.
I think one of the things that really threw me off at Dev Bootcamp was being overwhelmed by coding challenges I couldn't solve and seeing others around me being able to do so. (It was a little like who's triangle is it, though solving these problems were about raw brain power).
When I am part of a group of people, it is important for me to feel and be perceived as both smart and funny. I think when one or both of these needs I have is threatened, say by subject matter that exposes my ignorance to myself and others, I panic and even shutdown.
This is something I will have to deal with again at SI. One of the things I lost sight of a DBC and that I have already talked about with one of the guys from SI is that in coding, there's always more to learn. So one strategy for dealing with problems I don't understand and that are causing me to panic, is to simply move on to other material and regain my footing by learning something else useful.
I know that seems obvious, but I think it along with channeling the meditative perspective will be helpful tools for me as I take a second swing at this challenge.
Today, I am thankful for
1) Being given a second chance by Startup Institute
2) Finding an affordable place to live
3) Chicago public transit
4) Seb's entrepreneurial spirit and actualization (ie putting in an offer on a house in Anacostia)
Yesterday, I found a month-to-month place I can live that is fairly affordable and is half a block from an "El" stop.
Now, I think I can spend this week and the rest of this month refamiliarizing myself with some coding and learning some new concepts as well. I talked to a guy yesterday who just went through the summer class of Startup Institute New York. He said he came in with less background then I had, and he is now working as a dev for a startup in New York.
I think one of the things that really threw me off at Dev Bootcamp was being overwhelmed by coding challenges I couldn't solve and seeing others around me being able to do so. (It was a little like who's triangle is it, though solving these problems were about raw brain power).
When I am part of a group of people, it is important for me to feel and be perceived as both smart and funny. I think when one or both of these needs I have is threatened, say by subject matter that exposes my ignorance to myself and others, I panic and even shutdown.
This is something I will have to deal with again at SI. One of the things I lost sight of a DBC and that I have already talked about with one of the guys from SI is that in coding, there's always more to learn. So one strategy for dealing with problems I don't understand and that are causing me to panic, is to simply move on to other material and regain my footing by learning something else useful.
I know that seems obvious, but I think it along with channeling the meditative perspective will be helpful tools for me as I take a second swing at this challenge.
Today, I am thankful for
1) Being given a second chance by Startup Institute
2) Finding an affordable place to live
3) Chicago public transit
4) Seb's entrepreneurial spirit and actualization (ie putting in an offer on a house in Anacostia)
Friday, September 13, 2013
9/13/13
Hey Matty,
Sorry for the radio silence. I would blame work, but the truth is I haven't really dedicated myself to the blog quite yet (although it was a busy work week). To the med, however, I have been quite dedicated and I have also found it useful to channel the med during other times of the day, which I mentioned to you on the phone. I noticed it today during my MRI when we had to to restart because the computer crashed. Normally, this would have caused me anxiety but I channeled the med and realized I am quite fortunate to be able to have this expensive procedure done at the expense of my insurance.
I am happy to hear about the career advances. Our focus has always been on big sorts of ideas and this experiment has been different in that it relies on a very small idea, which if done routinely can have a big impact. Let the journey continue.
Thankful for:
1. The ability to get an MRI
2. My friend Lia with whom I can bounce ideas
3. 12 days of sobriety
Hey Matty,
Sorry for the radio silence. I would blame work, but the truth is I haven't really dedicated myself to the blog quite yet (although it was a busy work week). To the med, however, I have been quite dedicated and I have also found it useful to channel the med during other times of the day, which I mentioned to you on the phone. I noticed it today during my MRI when we had to to restart because the computer crashed. Normally, this would have caused me anxiety but I channeled the med and realized I am quite fortunate to be able to have this expensive procedure done at the expense of my insurance.
I am happy to hear about the career advances. Our focus has always been on big sorts of ideas and this experiment has been different in that it relies on a very small idea, which if done routinely can have a big impact. Let the journey continue.
Thankful for:
1. The ability to get an MRI
2. My friend Lia with whom I can bounce ideas
3. 12 days of sobriety
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