The word on the street

CCIE Study and the value of taking breaks

noreply@blogger.com (Hank Yeomans) — Tue, 31 May 2011 20:20:00 +0000

I often run across many tweets and discussions around different technologies and the lack of enthusiasm to study said topic. Many people who are studying for their CCIE spend months or even years preparing and sacrificing everything and anything including their sanity to pass the CCIE exam.

I've seen a lot of blog posts and recommendations on how and what to study but never on anything related on what happens when you study TOO much. Yes there is such a thing and it only leads to one thing, burn out. When studying anything including (and especially) technical topics you will reach a point where nothing is sticking and you may feel like you are even forgetting what you have learned so far. You may get nervous and continue to cram it in there but don't. A lab you ran perfectly one day is completely flawed the next and you spend double the time working on it and frustration to fix what you thought you knew easily.

If you burn out you will end up hating what you are doing and much like a diet you are likely to fail at your attempt to not only pass a very difficult exam but also truly learn from the experience to be a great CCIE. I love finding crazy weird answers to problems and working on labbing up crazy solutions that are fun for me even though they will never be used in production. One such example is what I learned from a bootcamp I had with Narbik a few years back that showed me how I could do some real crazy 007 stuff that because of how my mind works sticks with me forever. I love things like that which keep me engaged and get me off the current topic and course for a moment and then jump back in.

I also know myself and because I have ADD I need to keep changing things around to stay focused and interested along with a distraction like music. For that I choose to work with a topic until bored and then switch topics or switch topics in a way that might relate to the topic I want to stay on course on. For example studying OSPF for weeks on end and then working with a bgp lab that interacts with OSPF through redistribution.

Some people aren't into the 007 stuff and for that I would recommend breaks in the study time and working on something completely different and unrelated like a tan. Make sure that the interval of 'rest' is long enough or it won't really do anything for you. Make sure you schedule your Written or Lab far enough away to account for periods of rest.

The bottom line is you need to evaluate yourself and what kind of learner you are and what your mind can take. Cramming information down your throat will only cost you later in failed attempts lack of focus and eventually lack of interest in the whole process. You also need to evaluate what is realistic and what is too much too soon. I am the last person to burst anyones dreams but we are all different with different capabilities. Some people are linear learners going from A-Z (CCNA - CCNP - CCIE) while others who have a foundation of experience and skill can skip and take the CCIE head on just be honest with yourself. You also may be an inductive thinker and are unable to learn via the usual mainstream methods. No one is going to know any different when it comes to your studying methods. All the public will know is your success or failure at the attempted goal.

Lastly, mind your troubleshooting methodologies because without any kind of method you're just a spanning-tree loop and that will only prevent you from succeeding in labbing up your solutions.

Striking a pose

noreply@blogger.com (Hank Yeomans) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 22:38:00 +0000

Thought it was hilarious that at the exact moment I was taking this picture, one of the birds looked right at me and tilted it's head. It's funny how you can capture just the right moment, because I sure as hell would be freaked out if he looked because he wondered what the hell I was doing.

Aria Resort and Casino visit

noreply@blogger.com (Hank Yeomans) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 21:49:00 +0000

I took a trip to Las Vegas this last week and was finally able to visit Aria Resort and Casino after watching City Center being built for the better part of the last two years. I must say I think they opened prematurely at the inconvinience of the patrons. There was still lots of construction going on so it seemed some entrances into the casino/hotel were not open. From the same side of the street you have to walk up to a bridge two flights up. Once on the bridge you walk into their mall area were you are presented with a gorgeous floating restaraunt show in the picture here:

The casino area is to the right of this restaraunt but you can't go right, instead you have to walk all the way around to the left and back right. After you've made your way through the mall you go through the hotel lobby and then finally into the casino floor.

Once on the floor the first thing I noticed was it was incredibly dark. The picture here may not look like it was all that dark but it was to the point I actually walked by the craps tables twice until I asked where they were.

The service and friendlyness from the casino staff was awesome though and good service and friendly staff makes up for a lot.

Gotta open up those entrances and make it more convenient to get to the casino folks.

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Redeeming

noreply@blogger.com (Hank Yeomans) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:19:00 +0000

The awesome thing about a train ride down the Southern California Coast is the view

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Location:Oceanside,United States

Sunrise in the desert

noreply@blogger.com (Hank Yeomans) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:46:00 +0000

You can find the best and most beautiful things if you take the time to look and enjoy.

Cali Creatures

noreply@blogger.com (Hank Yeomans) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:54:00 +0000

I've lived in So Cal for years now and first time I've seen lizard or anything like that. Now all of a sudden they're all over the place! I guess encounters with snakes are next LOL. Last time I saw one of those I was on a strawberry farm in upstate NY and I was like 6.

Playing war

noreply@blogger.com (Hank Yeomans) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:34:00 +0000

Do you remember playing with the green army guys?I had what seemed like thousands of them. Hmm where did they go? Reminds me of George Carlin talking about getting all the lost stuff back when you go to heaven

I've come a long way

noreply@blogger.com (Hank Yeomans) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 05:55:00 +0000

Found out today that I failed my CCDE exam (that's Cisco Certified Design Expert). I'm reminded that I've come a long way in remaining calm and not totally letting my extremely competitive nature get to me, or at least balance it out. Ordinarily I'd go through all the stages of loss and rethink where I went wrong like playing every detail in my head. Having gone through the CCIE I know better since it is also an extremely difficult exam to pass and yet I passed that.

I think the first time pass rate for CCDE is less than 1 percent. Who knows, it's low that's all I know. It's also a very new exam and currently out of 100s or 1000s of candidates there are 18? Don't quote me, it's not many I know that.

Anyways I'm over it, going to wait for changes to come through and attempt again probably end of year.

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A gift

noreply@blogger.com (Hank Yeomans) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:26:00 +0000

A gift can be many things to many people. For many people anything that resembles the time you took to think that you want to give something to show appreciation makes the gift you bought not nearly as important.

Some of the best gifts in the world can't be bought and are also the hardest to give because when giving of your self you also leave your self open to that person. The gift of some part of yourself is more than any gift you could ever buy.

An old saying still holds true today, its the thought that counts.

noreply@blogger.com (Hank Yeomans) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:36:00 +0000

After a few attempts of blogging, or starting I figured out why I failed in previous attempts. Because I felt (wrongly I guess) that I had to write these long stories that took lots of time from me. Seeing other blogs I realize this isn't true and can be a few sentences with a picture.

So, we'll see how long this lasts or how often I post, well see.