Reflecting on My Technical Path: The Art of the Pivot

Learning to embrace the journey of stopping, starting, and evolving

Years

10+

Technical Domains

Completed Studies

Section I

Understanding My Technical Journey

In regard to my technical domains, I've encountered quite a few 'dead ends' where I chose to quit at some point or have taken considerable time to complete my studies, often stopping and starting. This is not necessarily a bad thing; it demonstrates my ability to recognize when to pivot and change paths. Whatever insights I can glean from these studies remain valuable, even if they don’t reach the levels of depth I initially desired.

Conversely, my non-technical domains are thriving. I have read numerous books over the years to keep my mind fresh and stimulated, as purely technical pursuits can become repetitive and dull.

Section II

My Past Study Patterns

2014–2016: Early Foundations

→T-SQL Pro — Quit
→MCSA - SQL Server — Stop/Start for years
→MCSA - Windows Server — Quit
→MCSA - SQL Server — Success!

2017–2018: Expanding Skillsets

→MCSA - Web Apps — Quit
→MCSE - R — Stop/Start, Art of R (Matloff Book) Completed
→MTA - Python — Stop/Start, Python (Lutz) Completed
→Statistics — WMU Book Completed, Basics of Statistics Book Completed
→Tableau — In-progress
→Data Warehouse / BI — Kimball approach, In-Process as of 11/20/18

2019–2020: Advanced Focus

Year	Domain Focus
2019	Data Warehouse / BI, Calculus, Tableau Desktop Specialist
2020	Statistics, Math, Data Warehouse / BI

Note: Recognize that quitting or pivoting is not a failure, but a tactical decision to refine your learning path toward what is truly valuable.

Comments

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Studying Dead-Ends // Well not really!