I’ve come to notice that many content creators spend most time seeking the perfect shot that they do not appear to be truly enjoying themselves – I refuse to be like that.

At the same time, I often look back and regret not documenting an event I experienced, whether for own memories or to share with others.

My solution to this is:

Keep. It. Raw.

The cameras can keep rolling, but my focus stays 100% on the moment, the magic can be made later in production.

I’m confused, I am lost. I think I have a procrastination/distracction problem. How can I fix it? Honestly.. I do not know.

I have interests, but I am struggling to focus, and not get distracted by all the noise. I’ve blocked all social apps and sites grabbing my attention.

blocked websites

I have a hypothesis, and I beilieve I’ve lost interest in self improvement because I haven’t been able to apply myself in the real world. I’ve studied and prepared my self for the last 3-5 years and havent been able to achieve anything meaningful.

It’s as if everytime I make progress there is an industry shift – I’m still learning the fundamentals, catching up to the latest and competing with the everyone thats ahead and also looking for work. The question I ask myself is how do I position myself, or pivot? Should I stick with it?

I. Don’t. Know.

I think this failure – landing even an entry level position, has caused burnout and a loss of interest. That is, the pressure to continously improve with no results. I do believe the pursuit of knowledge is life long, and as a multipotentialite, I’m extemely curious and willing to learn. So.. it’s not a factor.

I love robotics(hardware – using my hands). I also find interest in computer networking and have spent the last 2 years learning the fundamentals with no success. I decided to go all in on networking as it is the most flexible career choice as I can work in any industry – networking is everywhere. Well.. so I thought.

Burnout might have come from mostly pressure on myself, expectations and not being able to provide for my family as I would love to.. I’m honestly confused on what employers want, everyone varies in what they are looking for in talent. This has been frustrating, and I’ve received no feedback from all my attempts.

I took an Associates degree in IT from 2017-2019, then Covid, after covid I migrated to the US in 2023. I had the certs, an associates and it didn’t seem like enough. I also had a remote “Helpdesk” position for 2 years, more like a helldesk callcenter role which didn’t provide much value to my technical skillset.. I was sick and tired of the non-sense, non-technical calls. So I left in 2025, took on a seasonal role, and now I’m on furlough waiting for the next season.

Being positive, I decided to pursue a BSc degree in Network Engineering and Security. Since then, I’ve applied for entry roles and kept getting bombed with rejections. Now we have AI.. I’m convinced nothing aligns for me :D It feels like I was sold a dream.

Or.. maybe I lack accountable. Or.. maybe I need a mentor for guidance. Or.. maybe I should just do what I love. Or.. become a Gamer and try to make a living doing fun shit – no pressure. Or.. become a looksmaxxer.

Jokes aside.. If I do pivot that would mean starting over and that can not pay the bills. Networking Engineering was supposed to fund my passion on the weekends.

I feel like I’m complaining, or not working hard enough but it’s what feels real to me.

After writing this rant, I found this research paper¹ which covers exactly what I’m experiencing.

maladjustment Academic adjustment refers to effectively regulating study behavior, being intrinsically motivated to learn, and satisfaction toward the chosen degree program and academic performance (van Rooij et al., 2018).

Lack of personal accomplishment – this. This is fucking it!

Now I’m going to spend the rest of the day figuring out how to overcome this.

I havent been on LinkedIn for a while as I took a break from everything career related.

For the past few weeks as I navigate looking to engage and work on building my network,it’s been sad. It’s really sad. The entire timeline is just pure AI written slop (even the replies!). From the emoji overload, lack of personality, no thought-provoking pieces. Pure slop.

I’m not looking forward to the future. The future looks bland – inauthentic.

Can we just be ourselves?

I made this guide while studying for reference as I implement git into my workflow.

Intro

• git init initializes the current directory, converting to a git repo
  • git init <repo-name> creates a new git repo with a name
• git add adds files/changes to the staging area
  • . OR --all adds all files to the staging area
• git commit saves (or commits) a file to the repo
  • -m adds a commit message
• git status shows status of the staging and working area

  Version History

• git log view git history
• git diff shows differences between commits
• git revert reverts entire repo to a previous commit
  • -n no commit occurs when reverting
  • --no-edit no commit message added
• git checkout reverts a single file
• git restore remove file from staging area
  • git restore --staged <filename>

Branches

• git branch lists the current branches
  • *<filename> identifies the current branch
• git branch <name> creates a new branch
  • -m <current-name> <new-name> renames a branch
  • -d <name> deletes a branch
  • -D <name> forcibly deletes a branch
  • delete branches when they are no longer in use.
• git switch <branch-name> switches to a branch
  • -c creates, then switches to the newly created branch
• git diff shows differences between branches

• Merging

  <source-branch> - the branch being merged <destination-branch> the branch being merged into (usually main/master) switch to the <destination-branch>, then run the merge

• git merge <source>
• avoid editing the same files in multiple branches

  Remote

  remote repos are stored on a remote server, allows for collaboration between teams

• git remote add <remote-name> adds a name for a remote repo
• git remote -v lists all remotes
• git clone clones a repo
• get fetch origin fetch all remotes from
• git merge merges from remote
  • git pull fetches and merges
• git pushpush local to remote

  Credentials

  git credential-cache exit clears current git creds and prompts for new info

Feel free to leave a comment and share any commands you think I should add!

I’m not sure, but I may have suffered burnout and lost all motivation to better my self both personally and professionally.

I spent the last weekend getting this blog back up and running. It was completely out of date, everything was broken. It felt good, I had fun solving the issues I came across and I think I’m ready to dive back in, get in the trenches and turn the curve upward.

I came up with the name “TheJerveCurve” (you know.. like the J-curve) which is quite fitting for this period I am going through. I’ll be streaming my daily activities over on twitch.

Let’s do this!

I took this exam in 2024. I will be updating this post with up-to-date information shortly. Happy Studying!

This blog post will cover how I plan to pass Cisco CCNA 200–301 certification exam.

Whenever I’ve decided to pursue a certification exam, part of my process includes extensive research and study planning. I create a study plan, schedule my exam, then get my head down in my studies.

I’m a visual and hands-on learner, so I look for 2 study resources, usually a video course and a book to reference for a more in-depth point of view. I also gather other supplementary resources to fill in gaps to get a deeper understanding of specific technologies.

The main goal when pursuing certification exams; is to pass on the first try, obtain knowledge and get a return on investment — failure is good, but these exams are fucking expensive.

Below I’ve shared my extensive 4–5 months study plan and study resources. All the best on your journey!

Video Courses — 1.5 Months (For Overview)

• CBT Nuggets — 1 month (link)
• David Bombal Course & Labs — 2 weeks (Link)
• Other:
  • Neil Anderson
  • Chris Bryant
  • Jeremy’s IT Lab (FREE)

Books — 1 month (For Deep Understanding)

1
2
3
Official Cert. Guide Library by Wendell Odom (Link)
White Papers (Link)
Portable Command Guide (Link)

Practice, Revision & Labs — 1 Month

Subnetting & Practice

Subnetting Review

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2
3
4
Networking Fundamentals & Subnetting (Link)
Subnet Saturdays — Keith Barker (Link)
Subnetting Master — Practical Networking (Link)
Sunny Classroom — Subnetting is Simple (Link)

Subnetting Practice

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2
3
4
5
SubnetIPV4.com (Link)
SubnettingPractice.com (Link)
EasySubnetting.net (Link)
Subnetting.net (Link)
SubnettingQuestions.com (Link)

Other

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2
3
PacketLife Cheat Sheets (Link)
David Bombal’s Wireshark Course (Link)
Anki — A must have (What is Anki?)

Labs

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2
3
4
Packet Tracer (Link), GNS3/Eve-NG (Link)
Physical Lab (optional)
Jeremy IT Lab (referenced above)
Keither Barker, Neil Anderson, David Bombal, Wendell Odom

Practice Tests

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2
3
4
CBT Nuggets Practice Tests
Boson EX-Sims (Link)
Pearson Whiteboard (Link)
Pearson Test Prep (Link)

Exam Prep. (cool down) — 1 Month

1
2
3
4
Practical Networking (Link)
31 Days Before your CCNA (Link)
Review notes & references (Reference 1 | Reference 2)
Review Network Commands (CLI — ping, trace route, arp, dnslookup etc.)

After Exam Read

1
Network Warrior by Gary A. Donahue (Link)

Be hungry, but don’t burn out yourself trying to keep up with others. The pursuit of knowledge is life long.

#keepgoing #journeywithjerv