Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Bertrand and I have such a special episode for you today because I. So I'm learning SQL. If you're unfamiliar with SQL, that's a structured query language. As you may not know, I'm in the IT space and I am looking for a new role and I want to get more technical, right? So I used to be a project manager and program manager, project manager, worked at some Fortune 500 companies and that was great. But however, I was like, you know what, I really want, want to get more hands on. And also I want. And because I'm getting a master's in data science, I said, you know what I really want to get hands on with myself, I really want to know, right? So I joined a program called Data Engineer Academy, forked up a lot of money, right? Almost $20,000. And they are teaching me SQL right now, right? And in the beginning it was really hard. I mean, I'm having a hard time understanding select all from over here and this and that. And I was just, I was so confused, right?
[00:00:55] And then in the process, in the span of learning this stuff, right, I rushed through the whole thing, got through all the way through advanced and I'm learning it. And then what I did, I just got a notebook and I started to say, you know what, I'm actually going to sit down and study this thing. I'm going to master this thing, right? Because at first I was making excuses, I was like, man, you know, I'm not really technical, maybe I should just stick with being non technical. But there's more money in technical and I really want to get into it. And I said, you know what, I'm smart enough, I just got to put my mind to it. I just have to understand what the language of SQL is, what the pattern looks like, what does speaking that language, what does understanding it looks like for me? How can I relate it to what I need to understand?
[00:01:42] I went through the course material, great material, however, it just wasn't really doing it for me. So I said, okay, what do I need to do?
[00:01:49] Went like I said was a cvs, got me a notebook, got a pen, and I started to write down all the SQL, the queries, right by hand.
[00:02:01] And I don't know what it is, but that mind and body connection which is writing things out by hand, instantly I started to see a pattern. When I kept writing, and I'm talking about, I wrote about five pages worth of structured query language. And these are at least five to seven lines, right? So after a while you start to pick up the pattern, right?
[00:02:20] No matter what, when you begin SQL, you always have a select.
[00:02:25] Then you have to know from what table you're selecting from.
[00:02:28] And then after that there's a join by or there's a group by something, right?
[00:02:34] And that just started to speak to me. I started to see that over and over and over again and I kept drilling it, kept drilling it. Then I did 10 beginner lessons questions, me and ChatGPT went together and I started teaching myself these things with chat asking questions, if I don't understand something, okay, why don't I understand it? Really getting deep. And then say, okay, drill me on this. Get all the way up to intermediate. And then by the time I did 10 beginner lessons, which I'm great at, beginner lessons now, I doesn't matter, blow it out the water. Intermediate, boom, blowing it out the water. And I got all the way up to Advanced, which is CTEs, right? You CTEs is just the ability to connect to SQL's. And I'm not here to teach you about SQL. What I'm here to tell you is that you are smart enough to learn whatever you put your mind to.
[00:03:21] And you are also smart enough to tell yourself and to talk to yourself in such a way that you won't be smart enough to learn whatever you don't put your mind to. You have to decide, right? And it may take you a little longer to learn something than somebody else, but you have a pattern and a way that you need to learn. And maybe you have to teach yourself, maybe you have to get a mentor, maybe you have to get a one on one coach. Whatever it is that you have to do, go do that for yourself. Even though I invested $20,000 into this program and they're supposed to teach me, I took it upon myself to teach myself this in a way so that way I could master it. So when I get on job interviews, I'm able to speak that language I need to speak. So that way I'm able to command price's income levels of 200,000 plus.
[00:04:06] That's what I want for myself.
[00:04:09] So all I'm telling you is that I want you to be a lifelong learner. Not a lifelong learner, lifelong self educator.
[00:04:16] No matter if you pay somebody to educate you or not. But take it upon yourself, it's always your responsibility to make sure that you get smarter, that you improve your intelligence, that you're reading the books and that you're teaching yourself in a way that's going to help empower you.
[00:04:32] All right? This is just the beginning.
