Ray’s Advice for Passing the PMP Exam After Just Four Days of Prep
Ray sent me an email this AM commenting about my blog post on him yesterday. He was a little embarassed by my glowing praise for him and he reminded me – for him, it’s really all about the success of our Cheetah students. (For me, I like to celebrate all our Cheetah’s – those on the inside team (like Ray) and our students who become Cheetah’s and take their careers to the moon and beyond). Here is Ray’s advice to those pursuing their PMP with Cheetah:
it’s not about how hard one works but more about the belief one has in themselves.
“I’ve been a Cheetah coach/instructor for nearly 15 years. During that time, I’ve assisted thousands of PMP hopefuls to reach their objective. You might think that after that much experience that I’m quite comfortable with the PMBOK and the project management standard it establishes and, you’d be right. However, one thing that never ceases to amaze me is how much I learn from each class and each student. Not about the project management or the PMBOK but about myself and how I can often be my own worst enemy.
Here’s one example. When I was “graduating” elementary school at the ripe old age of twelve, I was busily collecting signatures and words of encouragement from family and friends in my little, faux leather autograph book, as was the custom in my grade school. There were the typical entries of Best Wishes with only a first name from dear friends I can no longer remember. When my father made an entry, he wrote, “He will succeed, who says I can.” I remember the disappointment as I read that entry with my 12-year-old wisdom. “He just doesn’t understand. It’s not that easy for me. He doesn’t understand how hard things are for me and hard I’m trying.” I still have that little book (see attached photo) and that phrase still echoes in my mind.
As a Cheetah coach, I often hear students communicate the same thing; that I don’t understand how hard it is or, how hard they are working. However, what I’ve learned as a Cheetah coach is that it’s not about how hard one works but more about the belief one has in themselves.
Henry Ford once said, “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” Marry that with a quote credited to Woody Allen who said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” And you have the secret of success, the secret to passing the PMP exam and, what my father was trying to tell me all those years ago — Believe in yourself and try again.”
Thank you Ray for your insightful words of wisdom on PMP preparation and planning – yes you can in fact pass the PMP exam after only four days of prep. And you can go on to do even more amazing things in your career, especially after you learn how to learn cheetah fast – like you do in Cheetah’s Exam Prep class for the PMP. A research scientist studied the entire population of PMP exam prep providers several years ago. She was working on her dissertation to evaluate if pursuing the PMP exam increased a person’s self – efficacy – that is their belief in their ability to achieve their goals (their “I can.”). She inquired with a wide cross section of PMP Exam Prep providers but Cheetah Learning provided 99% of her sample as the others did not have sufficient enrollment to participate (an interesting side detail). She was able to validate her theory on how people can increase their self-efficacy by passing the very difficult PMP exam – well at least for Cheetah Learning students.
For more PMP certification preparation tips, how to pass the exam after only four days of prep, and how to improve your “I can” – download your Free copy of the Fast Track Guide to the PMP.
“The first thing my boss said when I told him I was interested in getting my PMP certification was that if I was going to do it, he’d heard Cheetah Learning was the best.”