Habits Reflection:
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How have you seen yourself become more aware of your habits? Have you tried implementing anything new? What have the results been?
So far, the results have been positive. I am more focused an less tired sitting in the chair for more than 8 hours per day. There is still room for improvement in my facets, especially physically. Between Covid-19, Turing work, freelance work and home life, I spend a lot of time working rather than focusing on myself personally.
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Start Where You Are (Empathize with the user -- you)
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Health: how you answer “how are you”; intersection of physical, mental, and emotional health
- How would you rate your overall health on a scale of 1-5? How do you currently make time for activities associated with your health? What is a small change you could make here to readjust your health ratings?
I feel my current health ratings are at a 3. My current things holding me back from giving a higher score are giving myself more personal time to relax and spending more time with family. There are a lot of big dreams that I have in life, however, right now it feels like a lot of it is tied into business development rather than personal development and health. It feels like I have to sacrifice things that were once part of my core being as a person in order to keep up with it all.
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Work: what you do
- Make a short list of all the ways you work right now; How much value do each of those things bring to your life? How are those activities purposeful for you?
Right now the things that I value most in work is HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP. I use a lot of these on a daily basis and I feel a lot of progress in all aspects of them while attending Turing. The last time I worked this hard was when I was working as a manager at a sales company, however this time it feels like putting in the effort above 5 days, 40 hours per week will be worth it as compared to before where it felt like I was stuck in a swamp.
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Play: what brings you joy? Think about joy just for the pure sake of doing it; everyone benefits from this kind of play
- What activities do you do that bring you joy throughout an average week? In what ways could you make a small change to bring more joy into your life?
Reading really brings me a lot of joy. Specifically that are mentally engaging that allows my mind to focus on things other than work. I am an overthinker by nature and having things that I can always focus on brings me a lot of relief. I would really like to get back into exercising as there are times where it is important to clear the mind without thinking about anything. Right now, this feels very absent and there are times where I stay up late at night and my brain is not settled.
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Love: sense of connection; who are the people who matter in your life and how is love flowing to and from you and them?
- How does love currently show up in your life? How do you show love to others right now? What adjustments would you like to make in this area?
Right now, my sense of love in life feels very shallow. There are around 5 people in life that I really feel a great sense of connection with. My communication skills feel good, however my ability to reach out to others and get to know others is held back by fear. Reaching out with like minded people in Turing has helped out with this quite a bit, however it still feels mostly work related rather than establishing strong relationships between others.
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Looking back at the 4 areas, do any problems emerge that you want to begin designing solutions for?
A larger focus on love, community interaction, and personal health balance. Currently, I don't really have a plan for these and am taking it one day at a time. There is a lot of pressure on me right now with members of family that need to be taken care of and it will be a constant working effort to get through all this.
- Define your needs, problem, and insights:
Based on what you wrote about above and your group conversation, what problems have you identified that you'd like to design solutions for? What do you already about what you want for your career? What do you still need to find out? Who or what do you want to grow into by the end of the Turing program?
This is quite difficult for me to answer right now. While there are things that I wish to improve on, they feel outside of what I would be able to handle right now. In the end, I currently feel very accomplished and know that the path that I am on currently is the correct path, even though it may feel lonely and overburdened right now. Wanting to focus less on Turing for more personal health may cause me to fail. Doing less freelance work for more personal health will not allow me to pay my bills. Focusing less on family matters that I was did not self-volunteer for yet have to deal with is not an option. Just gotta ride the waves and take my chances when they present themselves.
- Ideate -- challenge assumptions
When you discussed software developers with your small group on Monday, what assumptions came up about what software developers actually do? What steps could you take to challenge those assumptions and find more facts to answer the question of what developers do? In addition to what a typical software developer life could look like, what do you want yours to include?
I don't really have any assumptions in regards to software developers. I had the pleasure of being able to work as a Junior Software Engineer while not having any degree and just enough knowledge to get through the interview. My focus takes a lot of the focus off me and emotions and focuses on actions and improvement. As a very driven individual, I never want to settle at the bottom and that is my reason for wanting to become an atypical software developer. There are no qualms about working harder than everyone else and being competitive. This is a very competitive environment, not Turing specifically but software development, and is a field that intrigues me.
- Prototype -- start creating solutions
What is the basic threshold that your new career must meet after Turing? What would you hope WILL NOT happen in your future after Turing? What is your absolute, no-holds-barred, ideal dream for your future after Turing?
I personally think this question is poorly worded for me. The reason I say that is that I will almost never focus on a negative aspect because I feel like you attract into your life what you think about the most. Not only this, but in order to get back into a positive mindset from a negative mindset, I have to spend an immense amount of time and energy from a negative mindset, to a neutral mindset, to a positive mindset. I would prefer to think of 5 alternative ways that I can remain positive and react to a negative situation no matter what happens to think about a specific negative and how I would handle it.
My basic threshold is very simple, I need things to challenge me. I focus far less on money because I know that as long as I do what is fulfilling for me, the money and the success will naturally come. My ideal dream after Turing is to develop a major software that can make companies and consumers alike lives easier.
- Test –- solutions
Based on this week of reflections, write out your initial vision statement for your career:
__I am an engineer.__ I apply analytic thinking to problems and find a pragmatic solution that isn't a quick fix, but of lasting value. As an engineer, I value to hold integrity and high standards for myself, my co-workers and my customers.
__I am part of a team.__ In my software development team, I communicate clearly and proactively take action to influence a positive environment and healthy work ethic. I thrive for consistency and integrity of the creations of my team.
__I am a software craftsman.__ I am proud of my work and understand it as part of the creation of the community of software craftmanship, which I support. As a software craftsman, I am able to adapt and fit myself as the right tool that is the best fit for the job. Not just a "duct tape" patch job.
__I am and always will be a student.__ I will keep the beginners mind by playing and experimenting without the fear of failure. There will always be things I have to learn and I will make mistakes, which develop me and challenge me to become better and make others around me more successful.
__I am an optimist and a realist.__ I always apply this vision statement in good faith and to achieve great results together with my team. In doing so, I am willing to learn and to teach. However, I acknowledge reality and respect vision statements of other people. Because I will not violate my vision statement, I will leave every situation where my core values are not shared and where the core values of others are not shared or honored.