I follow over 80 people on Twitter. Over 30 of them are MVPs and/or MCMs.
That means when I wake up in the morning and scroll through my Twitter timeline…all I see are tweets to intellectual blog posts, discussions, #sqlhelp replies to tough questions, etc.
This is why following so many MCM and MVPs on Twitter (social media) is like a double-edged sword. Let’s start with the cons:
Cons
On one side, I’m constantly reminded of how much I do NOT know. How much I need to learn, etc. It’s very hard to remain satisfied with your own level of absorbing knowledge when you are constantly “bombarded” by MVPs and MCMs.
Pros
On the other side, it’s pure motivation for anyone who loves to learn and better themselves. Learning and growing takes time. Be patient and more importantly be humble. Don’t forget that SQL Server experts like Paul Randal and Kimberly Tripp, started out not knowing much about SQL Server (yes I know that’s hard to believe).
Doors Open For Those Who Knock?
Sure. But just because a door opens doesn’t mean it’s wise to walk through it.
For example: Let’s say you are offered a job because you just “knocked on the door” and didn’t actually prepare yourself. You’ll quickly find yourself being put in a very tough spot and eventually laid off.
I have seen people get hired based on lying on their resume and after a few months get laid off because of their performance.
Doors Open For Those Who Are Prepared
Now on the other hand, imagine you took the time to study and prepare yourself. You setup a home lab environment, attended tech conferences, SQL Saturdays, User Group meetings, watched Pluralsight and other training videos, etc. All that will not only help with increasing your knowledge but it will start to open the right door for your professional advancement. You will start to make sense of all those professional MCM / MVP blogs and #sqlhelp answers. That in turn will increase your confidence which will lead to more learning and growing. Hopefully.