What Truly Matters – ZNDP 087

ZNDP 087: What Truly Matters?

Zig Zsiga:

[0:00] What truly matters episode 87.

Today we are going to take a break and I am going to talk about what truly matters what truly matters in life.

What truly matters for us as part of this conversation today I'm will be doing an impromptu review of my 20 21 goals what I identified back in January 2021 just about three months ago

and what have I actually done.

Do I need to adjust course do I need to totally revamp my goals find out all of this and much more in today's episode of the zigbits network design podcast.

Welcome back my friends nerds geeks and ziglets out there we have another episode of the zigbits network design podcast where zigabytes are faster than gigabytes we strive to provide real-world context around technology.

What's up everybody I hope everyone is doing a great zigzag here and welcome to

episode 87 of the zigbits network design podcast once again I am zsiga and I am here to help.

[1:04] With network engineering Network design and network architecture and today we are going to actually talk about what truly matters now before we jump in

I want to let you know that I have opened up my network design course yes it is opened it is called designing Network architectures.

And ensuring

business success now again that purpose the purpose of this course is to make you yes you the best network designer you can be it's targeting

everyone in this amazing networking industry no matter if you just starting out or if you've been doing this stuff for 30 years if you're a 30-year Vector network engineer this course is for you now this course is going to change your career.

And your life if you're interested in want to hear more go to zigbits dot Tex lashes DNA.

[1:54] Until April 30th 2021 use the discount code best network designer

one word all caps to save 10% at checkout if you have any questions you can reach out to me directly in Discord or email me at ziglets zigbits Dot.

Alright so today we're going to talk about what truly matters and really to be transparent as always and I thought that's how I've been I think that's how I always try to be and maybe maybe

you see that maybe you don't love to hear that too but today we're not going to talk about Network design today we're not going to talk about

Technologies really today we're going to talk about

what truly matters in really the reason why this is all coming up here today is because a number of factors have happened in my life both from the day job perspective and the zigbits side of the house

and just life in general so.

[2:45] You know back in January 2021 just about 3 months ago right I mean it's only been three months I can't believe it but it feels like it's been a year.

You know I identified a number of goals because that's who I am I like to attack my goals I'd like to hit those goals knock them out of the park and move on to the next goal and do that constantly.

[3:07] And then also not just the goals it's also about.

You know what am I doing I doing on a weekly monthly basis what am I getting done what am I focusing on am I focusing on the right things it says we're going to talk about right it's kind of DuckTales into a little bit about burnout about.

Doing so many things and not making progress on the things that you want to do so so think of it like this.

We multitask right at least we attempt to multitask and so we have 20 30 40 different

projects that we're trying to multitask and we never get anything actually accomplished we never actually get anything done or on the flip side we do get stuff done

but we kill ourselves and doing it you know we sacrifice our health our sleep our mental health our physical health our family life and so there's there's a cost Associated to that so this is where we're at today this what we're going to talk about real quick.

It is all comes about because of I had an a my day job I had a co-worker recently passed away.

In someone that I did some stuff with here and they are on a daily basis and it really actually was very impactful for me.

[4:22] Because.

[4:25] That person was working a ton that person was overworked working three or four different roles and just constantly

busy and I look at myself after the fact that I'm like wow

if I don't if I don't stop what I'm doing I'm going to I'm going to be in the same boat like I'm gonna year from now I'm going to be sick I'm not gonna have a heart attack or I'm gonna have issues and so this is the true this is real this is raw

I had to reflect and I actually ended up taking 10 days 10 full days off of everything the day job totally took

took PTO zigbits I just shut things down for 10 days didn't do a podcast episode last week if you notice no podcast episode no other items I did last week no webinars nothing I literally took

add he's off to really contemplate what's important in all of this comes down to is that.

[5:17] If some of you know I use a kanban board to track all my tasks on a monthly basis so I have big projects I worked on the tasks a ton of backlog items and as I focus on these things things move from

the the backlog or the task list into the pending State the work-in-progress stay and then eventually moving the completed State and what I do every month is I don't move my completed tasks into the last day of the month so I get a good understanding of what I've been doing that month and it's a visual

board it's on my wall in my office at home and so it's a visual board and I have things color coded.

So like I have different cards in different colors for each kind of area of focus so like health is one it's yellow.

Family is pink day job is orange and then zigbits is blue.

[6:05] And you know so at the same time of this co-worker mind passing away.

[6:10] It was right at the end of March 20 21 and I'm looking at my combat important and looking at all the stuff all the

tasks all the things you know all the tangible items that I've completed and I'm like man I've got a lot done I've been working my butt off I've been waking up at four in the morning knocking things out going to bed at 11 o'clock at night midnight you're getting four or five hours of sleep a night again not healthy and I'm looking at my boredom like man I got probably.

[6:34] 500 600 things done in March and I didn't count it I usually do.

That's realistically what I did I got probably about 500 to 600 maybe 550 things done in March that I can count it if anyone wants it's not if that's not the importance here and as I look at it look at the color codes.

The big thing that stuck out is.

Yeah I probably got a good amount of zigbits blue blue items done I got another good amount of day job things done that are orange and I got a large number of.

Family things done that are pink.

But all of March the entire month of March I did one thing that was health-related one and that was a huge huge hit.

[7:14] That was a huge shock for me and so.

[7:18] I took that and I'm taking that and that's what's truly important it's where I'm coming down as a my focus has not been on my health my focus has been on all these other tasks and projects and things that I feel like are important and they are important

but if my health is not taken care of I'm not going to be here and so I have to I have to focus on my health and this is for all of you out there as well.

Right we're still at home most of us were still trying to do so much work we have to we have to focus on our health.

[7:47] Because again no one else is going to prioritize our health no one else going to prioritize you working out or eating right.

You know if we sit at our computers all day in these chairs or if you have a standing desk whatever but if you sit at the computer all day I mean you're going to have issues you're going to have problems health problems so we have

I'm harping on this and I'm sorry but we have to focus on her health we have to work that we have to eat right.

We have to maintain a healthy lifestyle both our physical health and our mental health and I wasn't I honestly wasn't the last year and a half I just wasn't I mean I've been eating junk I've been drinking junk and I just have been very.

Sedentary sudden to sedentary sedentary whatever that word is I've been Sittin I've been sitting in the office for 12 14 hours a day

and then I've been sitting on the couch you know what the family watching TV or whatever or playing video games you know

and so the focus now the focus has to shift right we have to reserve the right to change our focus and our priorities and so that is what I'm doing also on the same topic here because I'm jumping around as always.

[8:53] I say yes to too many things and I don't know if anyone else is in that bucket is I am but like

everything sounds like a great idea but yes I should do that and then I start doing it but there's a time there's a Time requirement

to do each of those things that sounds good each of those tasks or projects or initiatives and so when you say yes to something.

If you don't say no to something else you're going to hurt yourself and that's where I've been I've been hurting myself I've been saying yes to too many things

back to that multitasking situation you know if I have 20 different initiatives on a daily basis and I have a

12-hour work you know period of time to work on them I don't know what that math is but maybe that's a 15 minute cycle of time for each of those initiatives on a daily basis 15 minutes I'm not going to get much done in 15 minutes

all right no one is I mean yeah you could be effective and efficient in 15 minutes

but it's unrealistic right you're not going to make any big progress on those those initiatives over the course of a month because you only have an hour per initiative that's just not that's not going to fly.

So we have to Pare down.

[10:01] And I'm being very I have to Pare down so there's I don't know what this is gonna look like I don't know what it's gonna be I can tell you what my priority is are going to be at a high level the top three top four and everything else is going to have to fall under that

at some point and what's going to get left behind and what's going to get punted I'm not sure yet but the point I'm trying to make is you got to do this to right so if you have

a 20 different things on your list you had a upon you got a pair them down and punt what you can't do right now and what that's going to allow you to do

is hyper focus on those top four to five things that stop 425 initiatives and you're going to be able to dedicate more time to get them done at they're going to get done quicker.

Right they're going to going to make progress on them quicker you get them done quicker and then you can move on to the next thing.

So for me here just so everyone's again I'm being transparent I'm focusing on my health that is my number one priority my number one goal every day

I have to focus on my health I have to get back in that mindset and stop making excuses and start prioritizing other

tasks in initiatives and saying oh I didn't need to do it today I'll do it tomorrow because that that's a cop-out that's never going to happen or making excuses like yeah I can't walk outside is raining or whatever I don't make that excuse but whatever excuse is out there.

[11:17] I don't have enough time right that's a big one so Health working out.

Eating right but not just that like going back to doctors going back to the dentist right those are the things that yeah covid thing right independent mix of thing and we have to get our vaccines if you do or don't it's up to you right but you have to make those choices.

But like I haven't been to the dentist in over a year and a half that's a problem so I got a dentist appointment coming up but that's what just an example we have to take care of our health

number two in that priority list is family right family is number two it's number two now used to be number one but it's number two because if my health is not good I'm not going to be around to do the family stuff so health is number one

family is number 2 and then from a zigbits standpoint right because I'm not going to talk about the day job prioritizations the day job is a priority and it comes after family so day job then family.

[12:09] Sorry.

Health family than day job I had that backwards Health family than day job and then the zigbits side of things and I can only do two things I got to I got to at least for right now these are the answers the podcast what you're listening to right the weekly

Network design podcast got to do that got to that's a part of this and then the course

I got to finish the course I got people purchasing the course I got people enjoying the course content but there are things that are still not done I have a full list of tasks that need to get completed for that and I got to focus I got a what is it.

Hyper-focus or hyper critical.

Hyper hyper critical I don't know hyper focus on the course so there's that's where I'm at I mean everything else everything else I've been doing is either going to be on the Wayside or it's going to be an adze is ad hoc basis the webinars

maybe the giveaways I mean the giveaways you know it is what it is any of the other items the the.

Presenting on social forums and helping out and being in communities and talking to people a lot of that stuff's going to be on the Wayside so I can focus on this other stuff and get it done but again health is number one so.

[13:19] All of this all of this to tell you and ask you this question right what is truly important in your life for you

what is truly important in your life you don't need to tell me this you don't need to give me the answer if you want to feel free to email me again you can email me at zsiga zigbits that Tech you can also join the Discord server and finally there is just a zigbits DOT text is Discord but again that questions imperative it's important it's hypercritical

watch truly important in your life

and if you can answer that for yourself and then focus on that because again it's all about what's truly important in the grand scheme of things and it's not specifically just going to be one thing.

You have to answer this question and you have to make sure your goals map up to what's important in your life.

[14:06] That's it that's it right there that's that's the answer and that's it for today's show pretty pretty short and sweet but it's probably the most important.

Shows I've done over the last four years this is probably the most important show.

[14:19] Um because it's all about our lives it's all about our health it's all about focusing on what's truly important and and I don't.

This is the most impactful show in my opinion but I'm biased it's my show so let me know what your thoughts are

hey friends nerds geeks and ziglets that's going to close out today's episode of the zigbits network design podcast where we talked about what truly is important remember what's truly important in your life which what truly matters

Today's Show notes will be at zigbits dot tax / 87

hey case you didn't know I have opened up the doors to my network design course called designing Network architectures and ensuring business success if you're interested to hear more about my course or are ready to enroll right now right this minute.

Visit zigbits dot text last DNA.

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join the zigbits Discord Community there are ton of Highly skilled experts ready to help you with your network design questions hey to join that go to zigbits dot Tech / Discord

it's 100% free community there's a ton of that were designers in there already and we're having good Network design conversations on a daily basis.

[15:34] If you like today's episode let us know you can find more zigbits network engineering Network design and network architecture content including technical podcast monthly webinars YouTube videos and a dedicated community on disk or

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[15:56] Sign up for our free Weekly Newsletter their Network design digest filled with the best network design content and network engineering at zigbits dot text / newsletter as always I appreciate you and thank you for listening

hey don't forget to attack your goals attack the day attack your life and make progress my friends until next time bye for now.