I took part in a podcast this week, Arrested DevOps. I did one with them once before, almost ten years ago. The host and I were both a little surprised that it had been so long. This caused us to look back a bit. Interestingly enough, ten years ago meant I was only about two years into my gig with Redgate. Things were so different then. I don't want to say better or worse, but very different. I think the biggest thing is that we had really just launched ourselves into the whole DevOps thing.

Now you may be a lot younger than I am and so you don't have ten years of experiences within IT to look back on. Doesn't matter. It's not a bad thing to look back on your career, life, whatever, and see how you've come along (or haven't). Take a moment. Mourn the losses, but don't linger there. Savor the triumphs. Hold that for a second.

Now, face forward. What's on the agenda for the next ten years? Yeah, you can't really say for certain. The future is quite literally, unknowable. However, goals, at least a sense of direction, that is something that you can know. Have something, anything, to shoot for. Myself, I've got a couple of goals. At work, I'm really hoping to get recognition as a PostgreSQL influencer, teacher, go-to person. Outside work, I'm barely scratching the surface as a maker (focused on electronics), but I'm really hoping to build that skill set & grow. In addition to the core, care for and love of my family, these goals keep me going. Identify your goals, and your core, and keep going at it. The future will work itself out, one way or another. But you'll have set a direction and brought influence to bear so that, ten years on, you can look back with some pride and a lot of learning. Then do it all again.