Your Life Story

1. Your Life Story • The decision you made, will make when answering these type of questions will be part of“Your Life Story” • Make sure that you don’t omit aspects of your story • By doing something that you will be embarrassed about OR • By not doing anything and staying exactly where you are and have been for several years • What story will your future tell? • Lets look at some examples: • Joseph • Brent Ozar • Andy Leonard • Thomas LaRock

2. Joseph’s Life Story • What could have been: • Victim – Brothers wanted to “Kill him or Sell him” • Deceiver – Slept with Potiphar’s Wife • Revenge Seeker – Exposed his brothers • What he was: • Favourite Son • Head of Potiphar’s Household • Prime Minister of Egypt

3. Brent Ozar’s Life Story • The Past • Aspects of his life that he doesn’t want to tell • “a whole lot of guilt from my upbringing. I’m overcompensating now and struggling through adulthood.” • Recognized By Quest • “They weren’t betting on my SQL Server skills – they were betting that I’d continue working hard on my communications skills.” • Current Life Story • “Getting things done” – read “My Epic Life Quest” • Inspire others to “Get things Done” • “The reality is that the people you admire are writing, presenting, and webcasting because they want to help you.  They don’t just want to help you technically – they want to help you personally, too.” • He has challenged me to assess: • Where I am now (“How to get ‘Senior’ in your Title”) • Where do I want to be in the future

4. Andy Leonard’s Life Story (@LinchpinPeople) • The Past • Aspects of his life that he doesn’t feel proud of • When asked to autograph a copy of his book - With a mixture of surprise and confusion I asked the requestor, "Why?!“ • Without Him, nothing you read in Part 2-4 would have happened in my life. I would have remained a bitter punk until death, and then I would have spent eternity separated from God in Hell. • Current Life Story • Continuous Education – “part of the job” and has defined his career • “What a blessing it is to be able to help his customers solve their database problems” • Balanced life story – SQL & “I spend time with my family and engage in activities that I deem important: farming, hobbies, faith” • He has challenged me to assess: • The benefits of writing / presenting about all aspects of what is important in life

5. Thomas LaRock’s Life Story • The Past • Aspects of his life that he may not want to tell • Not realizing that someday has already happened or is currently happening • Not enjoying the “someday” time when it was happening • Current Life Story • SQL Inspire – Focus is “SQL People” • Recognizing “Someday” • Free to “Learn new things and think something different” • Remembered as good husband, spouse, father and SQL Person • He has challenged me to assess: • My “somedays” • Technology is NOT the only relevant part of our jobs

6. More Than Just Technology • Professional Development • Outstanding Customer Service: John Sansom – Taking It to the next level • Head in the Clouds – Eyes on the Books: Buck Woody • Tim Ford, John Halunen, Dev Nambi, Grant Fritchey • Working Smarter • Automate Everything • Top 10 Free SQL Server Tools • Plan Explorer, sp_Blitz, sp_WhoIsActive, Management Data Warehouse, Index Defrag, sp_BlitzIndex, Compression Estimator, Central Management Server, ClearTrace, SQL DMV • Mentoring • Once you become a SENIOR, the workplace doesn’t provide a mentor – you need to find one • Another neat idea - The Mentoring Experiment • What Does a Good Mentor Do for You? (Kevin Kline)