Well, No time like the present to start!

Well, I have just read the W.H. Murray post on 43 folders on the power of starting, so I guess I had better start myself. To recap what W H Murray so eloquently stated..

“Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in oneÒ€ℒs favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.”

Very true words indeed!

So, what is this blog all about. I will cover the basics of this blog here and then expand on them in the About page on this website.

Who am I?

My name is Andrew Glen Mason. I am 33 years of age and I live in a town called Leeds, that is in the United Kingdom. I am married with four children. Two of which are twins that were born in June 2006. I have an excellent family and home life, and consider my work life balance to be good.

I class myself as a techie, and have been involved in the IT industry for 15 years now. I am the co-founder of a UK Managed Security Services Provider called RandomStorm where I am the CTO. I have hung my hat technically initially on Microsoft, becoming an MCSE in the early 1990’s and then from around 1994 I have been involved with Cisco. The last 8 years have been focused on network security, mainly from a Cisco perspective.

I have passed quite a few technical exams including, CNE, MCSE, CCNP, CCDP, CCSP, CCIE, CISSP, and CEH. I passed the CCIE in 2001 and have re-certified three times, all in security. I have now taken over 40 computer exams.

I am the published author of six titles.

These are:

  • Cisco Internetwork Troubleshooting – McGraw Hill
  • Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices – McGraw Hill
  • Cisco Internet Security Solutions – Cisco Press
  • Cisco Virtual Private Networks – Cisco Press
  • CCIE Security Practical Studies – Cisco Press
  • CCSP: Self Study – CSVPN – Cisco Press

I have also written numerous articles for various online magazines and journals. I have just finished a Cisco Press Shortcut entitled “Cisco Firewall Technologies”, this is due for release pretty soon. ISBN: 1587053292. Be sure to look out for it πŸ™‚

Also more recently I have been a Mac addict, and I am now learning Linux and PHP/MySQL development. I also run a few other blogs, as you can see from the My Blogs section on this blog.

Phew! Sounds a lot doesn’t it. When I see it written down it seems a lot to me.

I am very interested in the self/personal development arena. I have read over 75 personal development books and I constantly have “the next book” ready to go when I finish the latest book I am reading. I will review and recommend some of these books in this blog. I am also an avid fan of Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, Dale Carnegie and Jim Rohn. I keep these CDs close to me and also my iPod!

People always ask me why? Why do you need to read “those books” you get a hell of a lot done anyway and have achieved a hell of a lot for your age. I guess I do it because I enjoy it, and also because I feel there is always more to learn.

So, back to the point of this blog. Well, my next book on my reading list is “Getting Things Done”, by David Allen. I have heard a lot of good things about this since discovering, and setting my homepage to Lifehacker, and also reading 43folders. This book, and the GTD methodology sure does seem to have a large following. Therefore, as I am learning WordPress, what better subject than to focus on my story of GTD along with my other experiences of personal development along the way.

I hope you now know more about me and what I am aiming to achieve. I also hope that I can help you along the way.

3 thoughts on “Well, No time like the present to start!

  1. DanTheMan

    Interesting stuff, I too have been intrigued by the GTD methodology, but am always cautious about using productivity systems: I like to think I manage to get things done, but I can’t see myself using this system in its entirety. It’ll be great reading to see how others deal with it. Though I must say, I do like the whole Hipster PDA thing, and never leave the house without mine. Good luck with this.

  2. Pingback: Bryan C. Fleming » Worlds Biggest Personal Growth Carnival

  3. Florian

    Hi,
    I found your blog via google by accident and have to admit that youve a really interesting blog πŸ™‚
    Just saved your feed in my reader, have a nice day πŸ™‚

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *