I remember opening my first CCNA manual and thinking to
myself 'What the @#$*.' It was like hieroglyphics to me.
It doesn't help with pretty much every CCNA manual being
written by geeks for geeks but still.
I didn't get my hands on a live router until my first day
at Cisco in 2002. Up to that time, you could pass on
theory alone. Let's get one thing straight, configuring
routers and switches is not easy. I've met the programmers
at Cisco. They are another life form altogether, trust me.
They sit there speaking Linux to each other all day long
and making jokes about recursive lookups. Great fun.
The only way to get good is to do more and more labs. No,
not less. MORE. Do them till you puke. Every day learn
something new. Only a fool spends their study time doing
stuff they can already do.
If you have been studying for more than 3 months solid and
not passed your exam here is why:
1. You haven't been studying 2 hours per day consistently.
That is all. 2 hours maybe but you saved them up till the
weekend and did 10. 2 hours but you checked your e-mail
five times and updated your Twitter status twice. You send
three texts, got four snacks and let your wife nag you that
she 'never sees you' for ten minutes.
This is 95% of why you haven't passed. If the above doesn't
apply and you have been giving it 100% then you are one of
the 5%.
2. You have a blockage. Just like a turd which won't come
out. You are backed up. Here are the symptoms:
- Read for hours but stuff never seems to sink in.
- Bought every book, exam, video and tool but still nothing.
- Followed system X and method Y but still stuck.
- Asked for help and got expert advice but still no.
For this 5% I could personally come round their house
every night for a month and coach them and they still
wouldn't pass. They are just like the dog, chasing it's
tail until it falls over exhausted. Here is why.
They are still blocked up. I'm afraid that this all comes
down to beliefs. Beliefs influence behaviors. This is
massive and why many people, despite appearing to do all
the right things are still fat, broke, unqualified or
single.
The blockage is all the subconscious crap given to us by
parents and other influential people as we grew up. It
hit us aged 5,6 or 7 and it stays for life unless we do
something to get rid of it all such as counseling,
hypnotherapy, NLP etc.
Until it is sorted the person will go in circles,
sometimes for years. I have friends doing it still. They
sabotage their finances, relationships, career or
whatever. I suggest they speak to somebody to get help but
they either tell me they don't have a problem or don't need
any help. They might wake up hung-over at 11 in the morning
and have a drink but they don't have a problem. Yeah right.
Here is what happened when I finally got unblocked.
Made money
- Lost weight
- Passed exams
Met my wife
- Bought my dream house
- Wrote books
- Build my company
- blah blah
I don't recommend two years of lying on a couch crying that
our dad never said he loved us. Just get to the root of
what the blockage is, clear out and move on.
Heck, you may even realize that when it comes down to it,
you don't even want to pass your CCNA. Nothing wrong with
that. I quit studying for the CCIE years ago. I really
can't be bothered with it. I know I could pass it if I
applied myself but it holds no interest to me at all.
On that note. If you are in the UK or don't mind calling
the UK the only person I can recommend is my good friend
Tony Somers.
Paul Browning
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