Reflecting On The Amsterdam Developers Conference and Utah Politics:

Charles Max Wood is a coach and podcast host at Top End Devs. He’s building a system to help developers advance their careers by building their skills, personal brands, and networks. He’s been podcasting about programming since 2008. He lives in Utah with his wife and 5 children.

Chuck is also the author of “The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job.” The podcasts he produces reach more than 80,000 developers every week.

Today’s Guest & Resource Links:

• https://topenddevs.com/
• Book: The MaxCoders Guide To Finding Your Dream Developer Job – https://amzn.to/2Jrh5A8
• https://instagram.com/charlesmaxwood

Watch us on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/bXU7t65IddQ

Timestamped Show Notes:

8:55 – I was already the vice chair of the county party. I took a leave of absence for three weeks and ran for office and then I didn’t win. So now I’m back doing my prior role, so I’ve always kind of been in the political space. I’ve got people talking to me now about running for office next year. I don’t know if I have another campaign in me.

16:40 – Now, one thing that our politicians in Utah do, though, is they want to show people they’re doing stuff. So the last two or three days of the legislative session, they suspend the rules, and they’ll pass like two or 300 bills in two or three days, which is nuts, because it’s like, look, you haven’t read them. 

18:30 – I don’t want to discount either the people who are just out there trying to live their life. I mean, if you’re running a business, if you’re out there, you’re contributing to the world in a way that you’re good at, and you get paid for. I mean, you’re making a difference, too. 

28:25 – Back to that idea of balance again. I don’t I hate the word balanced, because people think of it as okay, I’ve got six things I’m trying to do. So I’m trying to keep the thing centered. I don’t think that’s realistic. But recognize what you’re sacrificing over here to make progress over here. So that you don’t ruin this column to gain in this column.

48:00 – I just finished phase one. Honestly, 30 days of phase one was harder than 75 days of 75 Hard. I’m doing phase two right after Thanksgiving. Because you have to wait 30 days, between phases. If you fail during those 30 days, there’s no penalty, right? So are you going to do it just because? It’s funny because some of the stuff like I’m not working out twice a day anymore, I just follow my regimen. I have a program that gives me workouts for my triathlon next year. I’m gonna do a half Ironman, that’s my goal next year. So if there’s one workout in the day, that’s all I’m doing, right? But the deal is, is if you slack off some are you disciplined enough when it matters to kick it back in? So 30 days is enough time to really get out of the habit if you’re not going to stick to it.

52:00 – Final Words

Our Final Words of the Show:

Well, it’s interesting, because I was talking to somebody earlier today, and they pointed out that the market is tough, right? The dev market has just been for the people that are out there. You know, some of them have kind of been coasting, you know, got pretty comfortable. Then all of a sudden, the market is not as great you see stuff start to soften up. You see a bunch of people getting laid off. I mean, when we’re talking about this level of personal excellence and stuff like that, it, it really comes down to if you’re doing the work consistently, to improve, and are you doing the right things consistently. For developers, it’s building your skills, building your network, and building your personal brand. 

Please Take Positive Action Forward:

Posting Positive Reviews DO help grow book(s) and podcast(s) success, YES, those 5-Star reviews really do matter!

Get my book on Amazon today! “So You Want To Be A Hotshot” – HotshotBook.com

Did you submit your 5-Star Review on iTunes? – Submit a Review

Check out our 501c-3 non-profit! Visit – FuelFoundations.org

Strategy, Execution, and Coaching for sales and marketing brand growth! Visit – FuelUpMarketing.com

The post Trying Out Utah Politics with Chuck Wood appeared first on LIVETHEFUEL.

Talking Success As A Developer, Conference Design & Development, and Much More:

Charles Max Wood is a coach and podcast host at Top End Devs. He’s building a system to help developers advance their careers by building their skills, personal brands, and networks. He’s been podcasting about programming since 2008. He lives in Utah with his wife and 5 children.

Chuck is also the author of “The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job.” The podcasts he produces reach more than 80,000 developers every week.

Today’s Top 3 Takeaways:

1. Keep learning and keep practicing.
2. Build your network beyond your local community.
3. Growing into success with Conferences.

Today’s Guest & Resource Links:

• https://topenddevs.com/
• Book: The MaxCoders Guide To Finding Your Dream Developer Job – https://amzn.to/2Jrh5A8
• https://instagram.com/charlesmaxwood

Our Mentioned Influencers:

• https://jsnation.com/
• https://reactsummit.com/

Watch us on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/W09mt6J6WHQ?si=iRoyZSd1X59nHOpz

Timestamped Show Notes:

00:30 – Introduction

03:30 – It was it was actually super fun. So the conferences were both in this old engine building factory that had been refurbished into like a venue for events. And so they have all of the old. Like the cranes in there and stuff. I mean, obviously, they’re not moving it or using it. But yeah, you go in and they had a big screen down all the way at the end of the room. And they had speakers rooms upstairs. And anyway, it was it was very, very cool, then you a lot of the people that they had at the event, were some of the people that were kind of pushing the state of the art forward in JavaScript. And so and some of them I knew already, some of them we’d had on like JavaScript Jabber, which is our big podcast on JavaScript. And so yeah, so just meeting up with him in person, you know, getting to know him shaking hands. I recorded a handful of interviews.

10:00 – The difference is, and it’s kind of the same thing that I did with Microsoft for five or six years, is if you go as a speaker or influencer, it’s a different thing. If you’re going as an attendee, sometimes even some of the conferences just going as a speaker, it’s different than going as an influencer. If you’re one of the people that they go out of their way to get to the conference, then a lot of times, they’ll pull out all the stops.

19:30 – The other version of that is none of these technologies standstill. None of them do. So even if you’re working in a place that is hey, we’re going to stick on the version we’re at, we’re gonna use the technology we know. You find all kinds of opportunities learning the next thing in the technology you’re already an expert in. Maybe you want to go with indie game development, which is one area that I want to branch into. It’s super popular, and there’s a ton of stuff going on, and it’s getting easier. So if that’s an area of interest for you, by all means, if you want to move into management, then you’re talking about project management, people management and helping them do essentially what I’m doing just one on one.

22:20 – The video game standing in for real life for military applications, you know, where maybe you replicate a cockpit, or combat situations where you’re carrying a weapon and things like that. With AR and VR opening it up, you don’t even see the gun, you carry the prop, that is a game controller. But going beyond that, like office professionals these days, a lot of the stuff that they’re doing, the interactive stuff that they’re learning, that’s all being done with game development technology. They’re using Unity, which is an engine for building video games. So from there, it’s not just watch a video and then click on the right answers in the quiz anymore, which is what I did in a past corporate life. But now it’s literally you’re working through a work function, or you’re documenting and outlining some process that you have to do at work

31:20 – Final Words Shown Below…

Our Final Words of the Show:

The way that I got into the conference thing in the first place, was I had a listener to one of the shows, who wanted to have a Ruby track at a conference that he was helping organize. So he set it all up, they got us to come out, I actually lined up for a bunch of my friends to come out as speakers. We went up to Vancouver and while I was there, there was another podcast called .NET.

So .NET is Microsoft’s technology stack. They were doing a series on agile development. It’s a methodology, it’s a set of principles for running a team. They asked me to join the panel, because I had a different take on things because I came from a different background. So I joined the panel got to know the guys that ran that show. It turned out that they were the ones that wound up one of those guys who ended up organizing the podcast setup at the Microsoft events. So sometimes it works to get to know the people directly involved. But sometimes it helps just to get to know people and empower people who eventually introduce you to those people.

You Taking Positive Action:

Get my book on Amazon today! “So You Want To Be A Hotshot” – HotshotBook.com

Positive Reviews “DO” help grow books and free podcast shows, those review really do matter!

Did you submit your 5-Star Review on iTunes? – Submit a Review

Need a charity to believe in? Check out our 501c-3 non-profit! Visit – FuelFoundations.org

Need brand growth, sales strategy, marketing execution?! Visit – FuelUpMarketing.com

The post Chuck Wood is Back from Europe appeared first on LIVETHEFUEL.

Attending vs Launching Conferences Best Practices:

Chuck aka Charles Max Wood returns. He is the host of several podcasts including JavaScript Jabber and Ruby Rogues all available at Devchat.tv. He’s the author of “The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job.” He started podcasting in 2008. The podcasts he produces reach more than 80,000 developers every week. Chuck lives in Utah with his wife and 5 children.

Today’s Guest & Resource Links:

• https://topenddevs.com/
• Book: The MaxCoders Guide To Finding Your Dream Developer Job – https://amzn.to/2Jrh5A8
• https://www.facebook.com/DevChattv
• https://twitter.com/cmaxw
• https://instagram.com/charlesmaxwood

Our Mentioned Influencers:

• https://jsnation.com/
• https://reactsummit.com/

Watch us on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/p9DTqY77z9k

Timestamped Show Notes:

00:30 – Introduction

14:55 – Once you’ve got all the pieces in place, getting all of the pieces in place along with the stories. I’ve been podcasting since 2008 and I have one of the largest JavaScript podcasts out there.

20:15 – JSNation.com So it’s actually two conferences they’re putting on two conferences back to back. One of them is JS Nation and the other one is React Summit conference.

23:50 – I’m going to put on a summit. It’s gonna be free to attend, you can pay for the videos. You don’t even have to have everything figured out. You just have to have a date and a website that you can send people to. I’m gonna be nailing that down before I go, or I might do some of it on the airplane. When I bring people on to do the interviews and stuff, some of them are going to be people that I’m going to have speak at the summit.

33:35 – Final Words Shown Below…

Our Final Words of the Show:

I finished 75 hard again. Next up, there’s a triathlon, it’s up north of Salt Lake. It’s a sprint distance. You run on Antelope Island, which is an island in the Great Salt Lake. Then the bike and swim of course, it’s a sprint distance. So yeah, that’s what I’m aiming for and it’s in September.

You Taking Positive Action:

Get my book on Amazon today! “So You Want To Be A Hotshot” – HotshotBook.com

Positive Reviews “DO” help grow books and free podcast shows, those review really do matter!

Did you submit your 5-Star Review on iTunes? – Submit a Review

Need a charity to believe in? Check out our 501c-3 non-profit! Visit – FuelFoundations.org

Need brand growth, sales strategy, marketing execution?! Visit – FuelUpMarketing.com

The post Bromances, Speaking, & JavaScript in Amsterdam with Chuck Wood appeared first on LIVETHEFUEL.

Chuck Returns To Talk Success As a Developer, Conference Development, and More:

Chuck aka Charles Max Wood returns. He is the host of several podcasts including JavaScript Jabber and Ruby Rogues all available at Devchat.tv. He’s the author of “The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job.” He started podcasting in 2008. The podcasts he produces reach more than 80,000 developers every week. Chuck lives in Utah with his wife and 5 children.

Today’s Top 3 Takeaways:

1. Keep learning and keep practicing.
2. Build your network beyond your local community.
3. Executive aka Virtual Assistants, Growing your team.

Today’s Guest & Resource Links:

• https://topenddevs.com/
• Book: The MaxCoders Guide To Finding Your Dream Developer Job – https://amzn.to/2Jrh5A8
• https://devchat.tv
• https://www.facebook.com/DevChattv
• https://twitter.com/cmaxw
• https://instagram.com/charlesmaxwood

Timestamped Show Notes:

00:30 – Introduction

04:30 – So at Devchat.tv, we had podcasts, and it was just a podcast network as the focus. So what we were doing is we were releasing shows in a number of different areas. JavaScript is something that I think a lot of people have heard about if you’ve been on the web. We had shows on Ruby, React is JavaScript for the web. So we have shows about all kinds of stuff like that. I’m looking, at this point, pulling together a couple of shows and putting out products now and that’s where the rebrand came in. So some of the new shows are going to be on game development and then the products are going to center around Front-End Web Development, game development, machine learning, security, stuff like that. Those, those are the the areas where, like it or not, I mean, that’s where things are growing. So effectively, the rebrand came into play when I went through a period in 2019, where the not so nice people on Twitter decided they wanted my business to crash and burn.

10:00 – Ultimately that was the other thing, a lot of the questions I get are, how do I advance? How do I move out? How do I move ahead? My answer is mostly you got to do stuff that people aren’t doing. So that’s consistent learning, consistent practice, consistent growth, meeting other people. It is building your network beyond your local community, making contributions to the community, putting content out there, if you’re doing those kinds of things, that’s where the growth is. So that’s where my focus has been now is, I’m gonna give you content to level up your technical skills. That’s kind of obvious to most people in the development space, and to people who think about the development space for about half a minute. 

20:00 – Initially, I hired my executive assistant or virtual assistant, she’s in Philippines, by the way, which is a great source for that. I would just hand her tasks that needed to be done. She at this point succeeded, so we’ve hired somebody else to help her. If there’s something she can’t figure out how to do, or she knows that I already know how to do, then I’ll record a video and I’ll send it over. But probably half of the stuff she does, at this point is stuff that she has determined will get us toward our goals. So she just takes the lead on a lot of that. At this point, what we’re doing now is we’re getting clear on our strategic plan. We are documenting, so now she’s building checklists, this is how we do this.

25:50 – The other piece of this is, is that I’m intending to do that, I already named the areas I was focused in, but I’m intending to do courses on a premium basis for those. So they’re not just courses so much as they’re, hey, here’s your weekly training! It’s 10 minute videos, you get two of them a week. So if you want to stay up on the technology area, that’s what we’re doing. Then the same thing with a lot of the career and soft skills education too.

30:45 – Final Words Shown Below…

Our Final Words of the Show:

What I found is that mostly, it’s just that consistent effort, right? There’s something to be said, for planning ahead. So where do I want to end up? What are some of the intermediate steps? Maybe look a year out or three months out, what are kind of the time horizons that I like to plan for? So what do I deliver every day? For 90 days, to be well on track for that.

Then the other thing we talked a little bit about, just getting cancelled on Twitter and stuff like that. The other thing is, is that you really do have to figure out who you are and where you want to end up. Because at the end of the day, I was coasting at that point. I mean, I had a $300,000 business, but I was coasting. I was going to the conferences and sure, I’d find new sponsors. I’d show up, I was having fun, but I wasn’t reaching the potential that I wanted, that I knew I could reach, but I was comfortable. So it’s a blessing when you have a hardship that forces you to rethink things. Just be really clear about where you want to end up. Where are you going? What is this about? Then that consistent effort will start getting you to where you’re most focused.

Positive Actions:

Get my book on Amazon today! “So You Want To Be A Hotshot” – HotshotBook.com

Positive Reviews “DO” help grow books and free podcast shows, those review really do matter!

Did you submit your 5-Star Review on iTunes? – Submit a Review

Need a charity to believe in? Check out our 501c-3 non-profit! Visit – FuelFoundations.org

Need brand growth, sales strategy, marketing execution?! Visit – FuelUpMarketing.com

The post Developers, Online Courses, Conferences, and Podcasting appeared first on LIVETHEFUEL.

Achieving Podcasting Success through 75 Hard Determination, Taking Risks, Effort, and more:

Charles Max Wood is the host of several podcasts including JavaScript Jabber and Ruby Rogues all available at Devchat.tv. He’s the author of “The MaxCoders Guide to Finding Your Dream Developer Job.” He started podcasting in 2008. The podcasts he produces reach more than 80,000 developers every week. Chuck lives in Utah with his wife and 5 children.

Top 3 Hot Point Takeaways:

1. With Risk Comes Success
2. 75 Hard = Mindset and Fortitude
3. Set Your Goals High With Effort

Today’s Resource Links from the Podcast:

NEW Book: The MaxCoders Guide To Finding Your Dream Developer Job – https://amzn.to/2Jrh5A8

https://devchat.tv

https://www.facebook.com/DevChattv

https://twitter.com/cmaxw

https://instagram.com/charlesmaxwood

Our Mentioned Influencers:

Andy Frisella: https://andyfrisella.com/pages/about-andy-frisella

#75Hard: https://andyfrisella.com/blogs/mfceo-project-podcast/75hard-a-75-day-tactical-guide-to-winning-the-war-with-yourself-with-andy-frisella-mfceo291

What is 75 Hard: https://75hard.com

Watch us on YouTube:

Timestamped Show Notes:

00:30 – Introduction

14:50 – I typically get the airfare and hotel covered. I wind up paying for the food for events.

19:00 – Yes and no, the part that’s the no is the fact that it involves effort, right? It’s easy to say, and it’s hard to do. Sometimes you really don’t know what the right thing to do is? For example, I got a blister, but I’m not an expert. There are other experts out there that I can go talk to, there are solutions. There are ways to figure out what’s going on. If you’re in an industry like podcasting, it’s still pretty young. So sometimes there are people out there and sometimes there is nobody out there.

21:00 – Marathon training. At one point, my wife was frustrated because I went running at a time she wanted me to be doing something else. So we had a conversation about it. She’s like, yeah, you need to keep running. So we worked it out. So then I was running longer and longer, my Saturday was running 16 miles. So then I did it and I completed the marathon.

25:00 – So let’s look at the book, right? I’ve been talking about it. Do I get the book do I not? What’s gonna happen? I finally said you know what, if I put some money behind it, it’ll force me to do something with it. That was my switch flip for me.

28:00 – You also did something a little crazy beforehand to get yourself ready for the marathon. Something called 75 hard. It was pretty viral online. Your journey on the 75 Hard was not easy. Yeah, I think all told I did like 120 Hard after the restarts.

34:03 – I had a month and a half’s worth of money in the bank. I just told my wife, look, if we run out of money and we can’t pay the mortgage, then I’ll go take a job. I’ll do a job search simultaneous with my client search and it just worked out. We never ran out of money.

40:00 – I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner, but eventually, I got around to changing my tweet to If you’re finding me for the first time, go listen to the podcasts. At that point, the other thing that had happened was all of my defenders came out. So when things first went down, I had a few people come to me privately and say, look, I’m with you, but I can’t get involved.

50:00 – In this case, being quiet was actually the right course of action. A lot of these other folks came out, but it also made me feel better because I realized that I had all these people in my corner? I wasn’t alone dealing with this, which made a big difference too.

55:00 – Final Words

Our Final Words of the Show:

So I’ve kind of been joking that I kind of accidentally found my way into podcasting, and I kind of accidentally found my way into being a software developer too. But what it really boiled down to was I found the things that I really, naturally enjoyed and felt like I could succeed at. I guess if there’s just one thought over the last, what 13-14 years that I’ve been either programming or podcasting is that every time I try and do something that’s not who I am, you know whether it’s not standing up for something I believe in or not going after something that I really want, or not trying to build something that matters. I’m not happy, right?

So if there’s one real message that I can put out there to people, it’s hey, go out there and take a chance on the thing that you love. See if you can make it work. Because in a lot of cases, what happens is, you take a couple of steps into the darkness, and then you realize there’s a whole path leading up the mountain to where you want to end up

I don’t know if that works for everybody. But it seems like most of the people that do extraordinary things, that’s kind of where they end up, they find that place where they belong, they find that thing that really lights up their spirit. Then they go and do it. They stay true to themselves while they do it, and it pays off. I don’t know how to put that more eloquently. But that’s kind of where I’m at.

Action Steps:

Support our 501c-3 non-profit and visit http://fuelfoundations.org

Help us reach more people with 5 Star Reviews, visit iTunes and Submit a Review

Join our private Facebook community The FUEL Tank, at https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheFUELTank/

The post Podcast Success, Risks, Effort, 75 Hard, and Developers appeared first on LIVETHEFUEL.