Passing Requires Progress
New Year, New Goals: Aiming to Pass Professional Exams in 2024
As we start 2024, it is possible that many of you have made a New Year’s resolution to pass your professional exams in 2024. This is an excellent resolution for the year, and it is one that will provide benefit to you for many years to come.
It is also possible that some of you are making this resolution to pass your exams for the second year in a row. This may be a resolution that you have made in the past but not accomplished. Whether this is your first,or second (or third) year making a resolution to pass your exams, I think that one of the key things to accomplishing your resolution is to keep the time frame in mind.
Understanding the Journey: A Year-Long Commitment
Passing professional certifications is not a short process and there are no shortcuts. There is a syllabus that you need to learn, and that process of learning simply takes time. The perspective that you need to keep in mind is that this is a New Year’s resolution. It is not a This Week’s resolution or a January resolution. It might very well take you the entire year to pass your exam. If you expect to accomplish your goal quickly, you will be disappointed and frustrated.
Focus on Progress, Not Just Passing
While you are studying for your exam, your focus in your studies needs to be progress, not passing. You may not be able to pass your exam this week or this month, but you can make progress toward that this week and this month. If you break the study process into smaller pieces and set goals for each of the smaller pieces, you will be able to see your progress toward passing. These smaller accomplishments will keep you on pace to complete your New Year’s resolution this year.
Tools to Make Progress: HOCK PassMap and Personal Study Planner
HOCK PassMap includes a Personalized Study Planner that helps you stay focused on your exam date and your weekly progress to your goal. It shows an overview of your entire study schedule and an estimate of how many hours you need to study each week to stay on track. As you study, you will see the progress being tracked as the number of hours you need to study decreases. If you are a HOCK student, make sure to set up your approximate exam date in PassMap and follow the Personalized Study Plan. PassMap keeps you making progress towards your goal, one study unit as a time. If you haven’t started your exam preparation yet, start your free trial today.
