If I understand, you want to know if there is a 1 to 1 correlation between certifications and success? Let me just write it out and you decide.

Before I went after certifications I was wandering. I felt lost in my life, like I had no real direction.

When I first delved into getting certs, I put in 110%. I had flashcards everywhere. It was all I thought about, I ate, drank, slept and woke to certification study. Since I was wandering before…putting all my effort into study was refreshing.

Pursuing the study with that intensity meant that I could solve problems fast…very fast. In fact, I was able to solve problems without having to fly out on site someplace – which saved my company money. This made me faster than many (not all) of my coworkers with more seniority and experience.

Getting promoted and salary increases were a natural by products of the certification process…when I tapered off after my MCSE, the killer increases stopped. Until I went for the Cisco certs and they resumed again.

So I found for me at the time, certs were the most valuable use of my time.

But let me be clear, this isn’t for everyone.

Everyone has to pinpoint their most profitable use of their time. For some it could be selling stuff on eBay. For others it could be critiquing reports for Grad students. It’s up for you to decide, then build on it.

This is an incredibly powerful tool that I learned from a Brian Tracy course. It is a great mind-set to get into – asking yourself as you stand gossiping, “Is this the most valuable use of my time?” If it is not, excuse yourself and get back to work.

Focusing on the number one priority will give you ‘free’ time to do the other things you want to do in life – whether it be that home-based business, spending more time with your family, or moving up the corporate ladder.

Finally, congratulations on the successful application of your certificates to raise your income. How much of the increase was not due to the certificate itself, but the plan that you developed, and the belief you had, to get the higher paid job?

Rod

Here’s an example from my own life. In my early days in the computer business I heard that getting technical certifications increased income. So I went out and got my MCP. Sure enough, within 6 months, my pay went up $10,000/yr. So I followed through with this line of reasoning and got my MCSE. Again, my income went up within that year by $10,000/yr. I didn’t do much else for certs and my income remained about the same, then I decided to get some Cisco certs and again, my income went up this time by about $20,000. So I knew, that if I wanted to make the absolute most in the computer industry doing server/support work, that focusing all my energies on study and getting certified was the most valuable use of my time.

By the same token, At work I found the least valuable things I could do would be to: gossip around the water cooler, surf the Internet, download mp3s or playing quake with the other guys. So I did not do those things (except an occasional web surf..)

This made my days much simpler and more productive and eventually highly more profitable than the others who hadn’t made this type of distinction.

I am sure some of the other readers have some stories tell ‘em!

I am really enjoying your writing and I appreciate the effort you put into it.

With this post, I ask that you provide an example answer for questions 1 and 2 above. If you don’t feel comfortable providing your answers, I understand. Perhaps you could provide a fictitious yet concrete example of what someone going through this exercise might write down.

Thanks again,

- jason