Firstly, there’s TOO much stuff going on .

• The usual CCIE studies are going on and i’m finding it hard to find time to study/lab ( which i’m sure is an universal issue ) . So when i take notes ,i’m just too lazy/tired at the end of the day to login and write an article about the day’s study,etc.
• I used to lab/blog from work , when i was free. But now that has dried up too. I’m working on two ( non-networking ) projects simulteneously so it’s become very had to lab at work.
• Another issue is that there are too many things i would like to focus on , so i’m  screwing it all up
  • CLND - There’s some awesome stuff here and i learn so much here. I would love to spend atleast 30 mins a day looking at the replies/replying to some of the questions.
  • OSL - Well, i just purchased lotsa IPX material( another post ). So i’m looking to participate in OSL too . I’ve heard it’s very good and that instructors actually reply to your questions ( unline IEOC )
  • My blog.
  • Other CCIE-security blogs – There are lotsa really good material out there in the blogs ( far better than the * amateur* stuff seen here ), so i want to follow them all.
  • Twitter , FB - It’s shameful as to how many hours i spend on these. I need to reduce that!
  • CWSP - It’s a CWNP professional level certification ( Certified Wireless Security Professional ) which i’ve always wanted to do. It’s the next step to the CWNA that i finished sometime back . I just picked up the book and i can’t seem to stop reading Someday i hope to be a CWNE  and dive into wireless . It’s always been an interest and that’s the only thing i feel like focussing on now, along with security.

Sheesh, i’ve just gotten too lazy! At this point in the blog, right now , i’m thinking “Boy, how much more long is this post going to be?!” . But i’ll push myself from now onwards and today’s going to be no different .

So how am i going to solve this. Organization and Prioritization.

I listened to an awesome podcast on (www.wirelesslanprofessionals.com) a couple of weeks back , where the speaker talks about having enough(but not too much) time for social media/blogs etc. That inspired to create a plan which i’m going to follow atleast till the day i get certified.

• I’ll try and spend as little time as possible on twitter. I’ve had some great discussions there , so what i’ll do is i’ll only post about the tech stuff and not get carried away with all else. This is really hard for me, but i’ll try my best
• Spend exactly 30 mins a day on CLND. I hope to spend this time reading through posts/ replying to them etc.
• Spend 30 mins a day on OSL too.
• Spend 15 mins a day ( that’s all it takes ) , writing about what i studied / labbed today. I want to tell you something. Creating this blog  is one of the best decisions i’ve ever taken. It gets me so motivated to perform well and study hard . This blog is a platform where i put up my personal aims/aspirations along with the studies that i do. I find a huge driving factor and i’m going to take advantage of that hence-forth.

I’m also looking to make things more interesting here I’m planning a feature which will definitely excite all ccie-security candidates. More details on that will follow in tomorrow’s blogpost.

Finally before i leave, i want to write about something. If you’re reading this, i want this blog to be a reflection into a ccie-security candidate. I don’t want this to be a mundane experience where it’s only about techy stuff. I’m just like all of you. I have my ups/downs/mood-swings etc.  There’s not a DAY that i don’t wonder ” How the hell am i going to get my CCIE? Maybe i’m just not smart enough? Maybe my memory is too weak?” . I’m going through with my journey and i’m looking forward to labbing/learning more everyday and i’ll be here to tell you all about various cool things that i encounter, stuff that bothers me , stuff i need help on etc.

Now, i take your leave and i promise you , i’ll be here tomorrow , talking about why GETVPN multicast rekeying is not working for me. And please, as always, feel free to comment!

Cheers,

TacACK

I passed the CCIE-Security written yesterday!

I’m not going to get into what i saw in the exam today. I’d suggest going through this IPexpert blogpost for guidelines on nailing the written .It’s very useful and i wanna thank Rick for writing such an awesome article!

Today, i’m going to just tell you what’s running on my mind. So the rest of the post is going to be emotional,personal and totally non-technical!

I feel really thankful. That’s the one word to perfectly describe how i’m feeling. Thankful to my parents for giving me a great childhood. Thankful to GOD for giving me enough maturity to understand that i know nothing and i always need to keep learning. Thankful to my twitter pals for their constant support and encouragement. I’m now so pepped up to kill the lab! Thankful for all of you who wish the best for me, ‘coz all the good energy sent to me by all of you, definitely contributed to this pass.

My personal belief is that any exam has 3 parts to it:

50% -> Preparedness

25% -> Luck, GOD , Calmness during the exam, call it whatever you want..

25% -> Good wishes, good energy from people who care for you.

Luckily i had all three this time and that’s why i passed. The times i failed, were only because i didn’t prepare enough

I can assure you 2 things today. One, I will  try my hardest to become a CCIE-security someday. Two, i’ll be sharing every aspect of my journey with all of you and i’ll try and do my best to get you interested and motivated to kick some CCIE ass

Cheers,

TacACK

On a personal front, i’m really looking forward to this year. I hope to achieve my CCIE-security and the CWSP certifications this year (and hopefully get into networking full-time! )

I’ve introduced 2 new features in this site.

• Google Calendar Integration
  • I’ve installed a small widget which displays my google calendar schedule on the side-bar.
  • From now on, i will be actively updating this calendar so that my future study schedules ,etc can be easily located .
  • I feel this feature might be useful to others who are studying for the CCIE-security.
• Live Chat!
  • I’ve also installed a “Live chat” widget through which we can keep in touch in Real-time!
  • Since this blog is all about sharing, i’ve chosen a chat widget which displays all the chats . This might help others facing similar configuration issues.

Hope you like these new features! I’d love to receive any feedbacks/suggestions regarding these!

Again, have a great 2010 and i will definitely be posting more actively this year.

Cheers,

TacACK

Got miles ahead, praying to keep me sane and balanced to handle the ride.