Some of you might remember back a few months ago I announced that I was the newest DevelopMentor instructor. Well, as of two weeks ago I am no longer teaching for DM. I made the decision to stop teaching because I realized it took away from the thing I went independent for: to write software. There is a big difference between writing software and teaching other people how to write software. Allow me to explain.
When I first got into DM, I was nothing short of ecstatic. I was excited about being a part of the best in the business and am very thankful for that opportunity. But since then I've come to realize that I need to focus for the first time in my professional career. The past year or so has been a whirlwind for me with numerous things taking up my time. From consulting, teaching, presenting at conferences, running a user group, writing, and developing software, I've been stretched way too thin than I care to admit.
I realized that I can't continue this way or I'll burn out and risk seeing my kids even less than I do today. So I spent quite a lot of time soul searching to figure out what it was that I really wanted to do. The answer to that is to write software, plain and simple. To make sure I stay focused, I'm at the point where I need to reduce and/or eliminate things that take time away from writing software. Do I believe I'm going to develop the next world-changing application? Hardly. But I've been working on several items for a while now (such as CodeKeep) and I'd like to finally devote the time needed to those projects to get them out the door and see where they end up.
Which brings me back to DM. I enjoy mentoring and coaching other developers, but somewhere along the line I lost the *passion* for it. Being a DM instructor means you are passionate about technology and equally passionate about teaching that technology to others. I only have one side of that equation, and that's not fair to DM and its students. I felt it was best not to let myself continue teaching, especially for DM because of the extrememly high standards students have of DM instructors. There's just no way I could risk walking into a classroom on Monday morning not as prepared as I should be. Not that that ever happened, but students can smell that a mile away.
So even though my stint as a DM instructor was short, it's an experience I won't ever forget. But in the end, I feel this is the best move for me to gain true focus on my career.
Print | posted on Sunday, October 09, 2005 6:28 PM