Recently, I started to think about my Bucket List. What are things I hope to accomplish before I kick the bucket? I started to write. And write. And write. (My mother would be proud.) I realized that it was far too much for one post. Considering the goal of this blog is to examine how I live with intention, I probably shouldn't jam up my life's intentions into one teeny post. So going forward, every Friday will be Bucket List Friday. I'll do a little inward thinking and come up with a new goal for my life each week. Today's first item is rather lengthy, so without further ado...
1. Become really good at my job.
I know that sounds rather absurd but I’ve realized I need to make it happen. I had a rather inspiring certification class this week and think I may have finally found my work calling. I specify it’s my “work” calling and not my “life” calling because let’s be honest, stuck behind a desk 9-5pm for the rest of my life is not on my Bucket List. But since I haven’t married my prince yet, hell, I haven’t even found him yet, I should probably get serious about this whole career-thing.
I realize I’ve had several career “ideas” over the past few years so many may be taking this at face value. Fair enough, but allow me to explain. I did the teaching thing- which don’t get me wrong- it’s still on my radar. Just not right now. I always said teaching is something I want to do once I have kids and want to “settle down” a bit. While I’m here in Washington DC I want to get as much experience I can in the industry. Consulting has been extremely rewarding but it’s also demanding and I may not want to do it forever.
I’m also still pursing photography and have never claimed to think I’ll make a full time career of it (but gosh that would be lovely!). It’s something that I enjoy and love to do for myself and at best, would love to do it as a side job. If I am ever afforded the luxury of pursing my “life” calling instead of my “work” calling, photography will be it.
That said, as my official “work” calling, I’d like to become an IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Expert. For the 99.99% of you who have no idea what that means, it’s basically an expertise in Information Technology (IT) Service Operations. According to the official website for ITIL,
“ITIL is the most widely adopted approach for IT Service Management in the world. It provides a practical, no-nonsense framework for identifying, planning, delivering and supporting IT services to the business. ITIL has been adopted by thousands of organizations worldwide, such as NASA, the UK National Health Service (NHS), HSBC bank and Disney™. ITIL is also supported by quality services from a wide range of providers including examination institutes, accredited training providers and consultancies, software and tool vendors and well known service providers such as IBM, Telefonica, HP and British telecom (BT).”
http://www.itil-officialsite.com/AboutITIL/WhatisITIL.aspx
Allow me to explain a little further for those not in the wonderful world of IT consulting. When you log on to Facebook or any of your favorite technology platforms, there is an enormous amount of coding and procedures constantly happening behind the scenes to keep everything up and running smoothly. Sometimes upgrades need to be made or bugs need to be fixed and they require a lot more work than most people realize. Hours, days, weeks, sometimes months can go into a single change. It takes teams of people to code, test the code, and analyze the impacts and risks. And it takes a few Service Operations people to keep those teams on track and on target. It’s a grueling process but I find it rewarding and engaging and think a career in IT Service Operations is where I’m headed.
The class I had this week was wonderful. I found it so applicable to what I do every single day in my job and think that if I continue learning the process and best practices, my performance and work quality can only improve. And that’s always a good thing. At the end of the class we took a certification exam which was hard, but I felt prepared. Fingers crossed that I pass, so I don't feel like a dolt for writing this post!
So that’s my item for this week’s Bucket List. I’ve found something that I would love to do in my career, and now it’s time to master it.
UPDATE: I passed the exam! I'm officially certified in ITIL Foundations. Hooray!
1. Become really good at my job.
I know that sounds rather absurd but I’ve realized I need to make it happen. I had a rather inspiring certification class this week and think I may have finally found my work calling. I specify it’s my “work” calling and not my “life” calling because let’s be honest, stuck behind a desk 9-5pm for the rest of my life is not on my Bucket List. But since I haven’t married my prince yet, hell, I haven’t even found him yet, I should probably get serious about this whole career-thing.
I realize I’ve had several career “ideas” over the past few years so many may be taking this at face value. Fair enough, but allow me to explain. I did the teaching thing- which don’t get me wrong- it’s still on my radar. Just not right now. I always said teaching is something I want to do once I have kids and want to “settle down” a bit. While I’m here in Washington DC I want to get as much experience I can in the industry. Consulting has been extremely rewarding but it’s also demanding and I may not want to do it forever.
I’m also still pursing photography and have never claimed to think I’ll make a full time career of it (but gosh that would be lovely!). It’s something that I enjoy and love to do for myself and at best, would love to do it as a side job. If I am ever afforded the luxury of pursing my “life” calling instead of my “work” calling, photography will be it.
That said, as my official “work” calling, I’d like to become an IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Expert. For the 99.99% of you who have no idea what that means, it’s basically an expertise in Information Technology (IT) Service Operations. According to the official website for ITIL,
“ITIL is the most widely adopted approach for IT Service Management in the world. It provides a practical, no-nonsense framework for identifying, planning, delivering and supporting IT services to the business. ITIL has been adopted by thousands of organizations worldwide, such as NASA, the UK National Health Service (NHS), HSBC bank and Disney™. ITIL is also supported by quality services from a wide range of providers including examination institutes, accredited training providers and consultancies, software and tool vendors and well known service providers such as IBM, Telefonica, HP and British telecom (BT).”
http://www.itil-officialsite.com/AboutITIL/WhatisITIL.aspx
Allow me to explain a little further for those not in the wonderful world of IT consulting. When you log on to Facebook or any of your favorite technology platforms, there is an enormous amount of coding and procedures constantly happening behind the scenes to keep everything up and running smoothly. Sometimes upgrades need to be made or bugs need to be fixed and they require a lot more work than most people realize. Hours, days, weeks, sometimes months can go into a single change. It takes teams of people to code, test the code, and analyze the impacts and risks. And it takes a few Service Operations people to keep those teams on track and on target. It’s a grueling process but I find it rewarding and engaging and think a career in IT Service Operations is where I’m headed.
The class I had this week was wonderful. I found it so applicable to what I do every single day in my job and think that if I continue learning the process and best practices, my performance and work quality can only improve. And that’s always a good thing. At the end of the class we took a certification exam which was hard, but I felt prepared. Fingers crossed that I pass, so I don't feel like a dolt for writing this post!
So that’s my item for this week’s Bucket List. I’ve found something that I would love to do in my career, and now it’s time to master it.
UPDATE: I passed the exam! I'm officially certified in ITIL Foundations. Hooray!