The Path to the PMP (Part 8)

Following 20 years at a large Canadian telecommunications firm, Bruce established the project management consulting firm Solutions Management Inc (SMI). Since 1999, he has provided contract project/program management services, been a source for project management support personnel and created/delivered courses to over 7,000 participants in Canada, the United States and England.

  Career Development   Manufacturing   Quality   Using PMI Standards  

In the last installment, we recognized you were more than halfway through the studying of the PMBOK 4^th edition. With only five sections to go, the end is clearly within reach.

Continuing the light comparison between getting in physical shape with getting PMP-exam ready, I’ll share a quick story. I try to go to the gym almost every weekday that I’m not with a client. Unfortunately, sometimes setbacks happen. While using a machine (likely incorrectly), I hurt my back. I postponed treatment thinking I could “suck it up”. In hindsight, that was a bad idea as the pain increased and eventually spread to other areas. Although most of the discomfort is now gone, I find myself having lost much of the physical fitness I had established prior to the injury. The easiest thing to do would be to quit. It was the perfect excuse to get out of the routine. The seesaw battle in my head was whether to simply let my membership expire or get back into it.

As you continue your PMP exam preparation, life will get in the way. By now, you will have either experienced exhaustion while balancing the ongoing study with your daily life or perhaps frustration wondering when it will end. The previous unit (Project Cost Management) was a tough one, and you may have been almost ready to toss in the towel. But you are reading this article, so that should tell you that you …

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