𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀! We’re making a few 𝘂𝗽𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘀 inside the free community to 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 your 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 and help you build 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 and 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 If you haven’t yet, read the new Start Here post, finish the onboarding, and update your profile ring That will be your foundation 🤝 𝗞𝘂𝗯𝗲𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 From this week on 𝗜’𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝘂𝗯𝗲𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 and keeping the accountability high here in the free community while @Mischa van den Burg shifts his focus toward the 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 We’re shifting the KubeQuests to 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁 because it creates more momentum, more connections, and more consistent progress Every week we set goals, show progress, and build real proof So let’s lock in your focus for the week 👇 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝟭: 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 (𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆) Post your 1–3 DevOps goals for the week in the comments under this post 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝟮: 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 & 𝗪𝗶𝗻 (𝗙𝗿𝗶/𝗦𝘂𝗻) Before the week ends, reply to your own comment with your status update and your biggest win Whether you completed every goal or not, accountability is what matters 🗓️ 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: Weeks run from Monday to Sunday 👉 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: See the example below. Each week we'll create a fresh new post to keep the momentum going 🏆 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘀 & 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀: Each week we select a member who submitted both their goals and their update. They will receive a weekly prize and a community shoutout 🌟 Make sure to connect with a few members this week. Share something, help someone, and have fun while you build proof together 🔥 Post your goals today, then return on Saturday or Sunday to share your proof Let’s build some momentum, Crafters 👨‍💻 Good luck this week!! PS: Add a GIF to bring some energy and show your Monday Mood.

Happy Monday, Craftsmen, time to set the tone for the week. Accountability and moving forward is how we grow - together. Show up and share progress. How to join (it's simple): 1️⃣ Post your 1–3 goals for the week in the comments. 2️⃣ Update your own comment on Friday or Sunday with your progress + biggest win. 🏆 End of month, the Top 3 on the 30-Day Leaderboard win $500 / $350 / $100 prizes. Done or not, progress counts. Post your goals below, then come back at the end of the week to share proof. Let’s build momentum together! Good luck, fellow Crafters. PS: Add a GIF for your Monday mood 👇

When I first started, I did what most beginners do: begged AI to write my “About Me.” Before that, I looked at profiles of top DevOps freelancers with 100% job success scores and gave those references to AI so it could build something similar for me. Profile looked good. I added 3–4 high-level mindset? I had that in mind that Upwork must be full of big end-to-end DevOps jobs like Blockchain-as-a-Service… but no. Most job posts were small tasks: fix Nginx, set up CI/CD, update a pipeline, restart the universe, etc. I even bought the Upwork premium plan so I could be the first to see every new job. Didn’t help. Competition was wild. I changed my keywords, edited my project catalog, and kept applying. Mostly got ghosted. Sometimes clients viewed my proposal and vanished like I had insulted their ancestors. So I started researching clients outside Upwork – LinkedIn, emails, company websites – to personalize proposals. Surprisingly, it worked. I ended up getting three calls: - One from Upwork (high bidding) - One from LinkedIn (after finding the company name) - One from email (again from company research) But none worked out. One hired someone else, one offered very low pay (I wasn’t ready to accept low budgets then) and one didn’t need DevOps anymore. Still, at least they responded. After dozens of proposals and burning 80+ connects like a ritual sacrifice, finally one client replied to my proposal. Their budget was low, and I needed work + reviews. So we made a deal. Client #1. And that’s how the journey started.

Hello friends, What is your favorite programming language? Why?

Week 2 of my homelab journey is complete! This past week I configured my Cisco Smart Business Switch with VLANs. Blog post below: What the heck are VLANs? This coming week I'm getting into Kubernetes. I'll be setting up an old PC with Arch Linux. It might take longer than one week to get this next phase completed. I am happy to hear any comments and feedback. Thanks!