Here's a list of some great resources to learn and to keep as a reference when building a solution for the cloud:

• AzureCAT patterns & practices team, Azure Application Architecture Guide: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/guide/
• .NET Application Architecture Website: https://www.microsoft.com/net/learn/architecture
• The sample GitHub repo that goes with the previous point, eShopOnContainers: https://github.com/dotnet-architecture/eShopOnContainers

Network.
Dream big.
Plan ahead.
Get up early.
Stay Focused.
Watch less TV.
Invest in yourself.
Read more books.
Avoid time wasters.
Take calculated risks.
Write down your goals.
Live on less than you make.
Make your health a priority.
Do work that matters to you.
Learn from people you admire.
Foster meaningful relationships.
Cultivate an attitude of gratitude.
Take action, even when it's scary.
Have a powerful and inspiring "why".

I came across this post on Reddit and I found that it resonated with me. While some are more important than others for a good quality of life, I think they are all valid. 

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/comments/7aenhq/image_network/?ref=share&ref_source=link

The holidays are a time of celebration and carefree living. We all tend to let go and let loose with the personal promise that we will make it up to our bodies with the arrival of the new year. The problem is, loosing 10 Kg is easier said than done and those who have tried it know the pain, difficulty, and frustration that comes with it. As such, most New Year's resolutions are given up on with the same speed that we mentally set them up.

To make these goals less elusive one simply needs to be SMART. I've come across this several times whenever the topic of personal development is brought up and there is no better time to echo it.

SMART is an acronym that stands for the following.

Specific, Measurable, Action-based, Realistic, and Time-bound.

Instead of saying I want to work out more, set specific dates and times with a way that fits your lifestyle and with milestones that are reasonable. Ex: Hit the gym Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7PM for 40 minutes.

Tackling these will slowly build up confidence and develop habits and before you know it you've achieved your goals and more.

Several bloggers recommended Windows Live Writer for writing blogs. The second, and now open source, iteration of that software has been released dubbed Open Live Writer. You can get started with it here.

source: reddit.com/r/pics

Explanation from comments: This is a recreation by the public art fund of a Peter Fischli and David Weiss installation in conjunction with their current retrospective at the Guggenheim museum called "how to work better."

The most important step when you want to start blogging is to actually get something up and running and just start writing. This may not be the best approach for everyone but I wanted to self-host and learn some code along with having the blog running. So here's how I got started:

1. Get project from GitHub
2. Unzip and open in Visual Studio
3. Go to BlogEngine.NET>Web.Config
4. Do these steps in Web.Config to set SQL Server as data source
5. Go to Azure and create a new Db under the databases blade
6. Go to Web Apps and create a new Web App. Don’t pick any templates, just a blank Web App
7. Go to the properties of the Web App and find Data Connections
8. In Data Connections add a connection to the database you created in step 5. When you get to pick a name for the connection string call it BlogEngine. If you followed the steps in 4 correctly, that’s what the project will be configured to find.
9. Go to where you unzipped your project in 2 and go to BlogEngine.NET-master\BlogEngine.NET-master\BlogEngine\BlogEngine.NET\setup\SQLServer
10. Open Setup.sql in Notepad and copy all the SQL statements
11. Go to Server explorer pane in Visual Studio and login to your Azure account then go to your Db and right-click select open in SQL Server Object Explorer
12. Alternatively you can get the connection string to your db from Azure and connect to it from SQL Server Management Studio(installed as separate software)
13. Right click the Db and select New Query
14. Paste all the SQL copied from 10 and Run them
15. Go back to Visual Studio and right click the solution then select Rebuild Solution
16. Right Click BlogEngine.NET in the projects and select Publish
17. Select Microsoft Azure App Service
18. In the prompt select the website you created in 6
19. Keep all the defaults and just click Next through all the wizard till you get to the Publish selection
20. Click Publish and wait for it to finish. When it completes it will automatically navigate to the published web page in your default browser and you should see the home screen with 1 post called Welcome to BlogEngine.NET using Microsoft SQL Server
21. Login from the top right using Username: admin and Password: admin
22. Go to Profile(which is the person icon in the top of the menu) and change your password
23. Go to Custom and pick a theme you like and apply that
24. Go to Settings and under Basic put your info to make the blog yours

Hello and welcome to my blog. I'm always learning things and always sharing them here. Currently my interests are Blockchain and DevOps on Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Bot Framework, and automated Forex Bots. You can also find some motivational posts and some of my parenting experiences.

Disclaimer: This blog does not represent the thoughts, intentions, plans, or strategies of my employer. It is solely my opinion.