Challenges

Here are some personal challenges I've set for myself. Tracking them here helps me to stay accountable.

QuestionPushups

Starting fresh in Feb, average 20 pushups

  • 2/1, 20
  • 2/2, 20
  • 2/6, 80
  • 2/12, 60
  • 2/16, 20
  • 2/17, 40
  • 2/19, 10
  • 2/22, 30
  • 2/23, 50
  • Total, 330

CheckmarkPace the Richmond Half Marathon

Successfully pace the 2 hour group for the Richmond Half Marathon on November 13, 2021

  • Success: averaged a 9:00 minute pace for a finish time of 1:59:16

CheckmarkAverage 50 Lunges and 50 Pushups

Average 50 Lunges and 50 Pushups Daily in January, 2021:

  • Success: averaged just over 50, but need a break (a month is too long)

Question MarkFill up the weekend calendar, 2020-10-17

Fill up the weekend calendar with some fun family activities:

  • Pick pumpkins (sat)
  • Play date (sat)
  • Tasty burgers (sun)
  • Sara's lunch with Kendra (sun)
  • Birthday stop at cousin Jack's house (sat?)
  • Backlog: tennis, soccer, duck pond, visit to Lynchburg

Question MarkLose my Covid 19 pounds, 2020-10-13

Lose 2 lbs a week for 4 weeks. Keys: exercise, good sleep, more fruit and yogurt, lots of water, less beer and chips.

  • Week 0, Start: 221
  • Week 1, 10/13 low: 216
  • Week 2, 10/20 low: 217
  • Week 3, 10/27 low: 215
  • Week 4, 11/3 low: 215

CheckmarkHealth, 2020-09-30

20 Healthy days by end of September (sleep, diet, and exercise)

  • COUNT: 20 (8/25, 8/26, 8/27, 8/31-9/4, 9/8-9/10, 9/14-9/16, 9/21-9/24, 9/28-9/30)

CheckmarkRunning, 2020-09-30

Average over 20 miles per week for the next 6 weeks.

  • Checkmark 2020-08-23: 20
  • Checkmark 2020-08-30: 19
  • Checkmark 2020-09-06: 17
  • Checkmark 2020-09-13: 16
  • Checkmark 2020-09-20: 30
  • Checkmark 2020-09-27: 30
  • AVERAGE: 22

XReading, 2020-09-15

Average 25 pages a day and finish my 'Start with the Why' e-book by 2020-09-20

  • DONE: -------page 80---->542

CheckmarkPushups, 2020-08-07

Average 50 pushups a day until we go to the beach on August 7th.

  • Checkmark 2020-07-20: 85
  • Checkmark 2020-07-21: 65
  • Checkmark 2020-07-22: 70
  • Checkmark 2020-07-23: 51
  • Checkmark 2020-07-24: 50
  • Checkmark 2020-07-25: 55
  • Checkmark 2020-07-26: 50
  • Checkmark 2020-07-27: 120
  • Checkmark 2020-07-28: 50
  • Checkmark 2020-07-29: 90
  • Checkmark 2020-07-30: 50
  • X Mark 2020-07-31: 0
  • X Mark 2020-08-01: 15
  • X Mark 2020-08-02: 0
  • Checkmark 2020-08-03: 50
  • Checkmark 2020-08-04: 50
  • X Mark 2020-08-05: 0
  • Checkmark 2020-08-06: 50
  • AVERAGE: 50.06!!!

CheckmarkCalories, 2020-7-30

3 days with calories under 2000.

  • Checkmark 2020-07-28: apples, yogurt, turkey sandwich, dinner, wine
  • Checkmark 2020-07-29: apples, yogurt, turkey sandwich, dinner, wine
  • Checkmark 2020-08-17: apple, muffin, turkey sandwich, a few chips, dinner, beer
  • COUNT: 3

CheckmarkAZ-204: Azure Certified Developer, 2020-07-20

Study every weekday for AZ-204 and pass test on July 31.

  • Checkmark 2020-07-20: 45 minutes, containers
  • X Mark 2020-07-21: none
  • Checkmark 2020-07-22: 30 minutes, events
  • Checkmark 2020-07-23: 30 minutes, storage
  • Checkmark 2020-07-24: 30 minutes, storage
  • Checkmark 2020-07-27: 45 minutes, logic apps, api mgmt
  • Checkmark 2020-07-28: 2 hours, storage, containers, app services
  • Checkmark 2020-07-29: 2 hours, events, messages, VMs
  • Checkmark 2020-07-30: 1 hour: security, azure AD, Identity
  • Checkmark 2020-07-31: 1 hour: cosmos, storage, functions
  • PASSED: YES, with a score of 790!!!

CheckmarkLeadership Qualities, by 2020-07-24

List the top 5 qualities of the best and worst managers that I've reported to.

Best Leader / Manager

  1. Great listener: really listened to his team, which influenced subsequent conversations, his actions, and his priorities.
  2. Consistent: consistently brought the same message, mission, and values to every interaction, which made it easy to understand his goals and priorities
  3. Actions over words: demonstrated his values with his actions, which built trust
  4. Cared deeply about his people: connected with each team member as an individual and appreciated everyone for their unique strengths, opportunities, and contributions
  5. Servant Leader: truly cared about helping his people accomplish their goals and missions

Worst Leader / Manager

  1. Inconsistent: Poor listening; different messages each 1x1 which made it impossible to understand his priorities.
  2. Self-centered: talked about himself all the time, when providing examples of exemplary behavior, always used himself
  3. Actions didn't match words: he quoted leadership books and said the right things, but his actions didn't align with what he said
  4. No empathy: made no effort to connect with anyone on a personal level
  5. Out of touch: had no idea what lots of his direct reports did day to day; during my annual review he sited examples of behaviors that were completely inaccurate, which was very demoralizing