Back in the 90′s, as now, the exam was offered twice a year in early to mid-April and late October or early November. With the first classes I taught, through the Industrial Extension Service of the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University, the schedule was dictated by the university semester calendar. As a result, the courses started 10 weeks before the exam. Teaching with a partner, we held one 3-hour class per week. I remember taking the first part of my first night to provide an overview of the exam, an exam strategy, and other information about what to bring, or not to bring, to the exam. Then it was it was pretty much a firehose of information transfer.

At some point we were asked by a former student to conduct an ME PE review at their company. We decided to expand the course and slow things down. We went from 10 weeks to 15, which worked much better. We were asked to do the review the following year and we slowed it down even more to 30 weeks, meeting for only 2 hours a night instead of 3, with time off for summer vacations. That time-frame turned out to be way too long. Somewhere around 20 weeks appeared to be optimum, and we also realized that we needed more than just us presenting material. Devoting more time to working problems was critical to success.

Twenty weeks became my standard for PE Exam reviews, and it has been my review course model ever since. Over the years, as I have refined my reviews, I have become more convinced than ever that it is the optimal time frame for a successful review. To understand why, it helps to think about what you are really trying to do. You are trying to pass a very specific exam that is testing you on the engineering concepts you learned in college. That’s it. To do that, you need to relearn things you knew at one time and be able to apply that knowledge quickly in an exam setting. That breaks down into two key factors: (1) understanding and (2) ability to apply that understanding. PE exams cover a lot of ground, with numerous topics and subtopics. To truly absorb the information needed to understand these topics and to practice applying that knowledge takes time. This is not an exam you where you can just wing it.

Fortunately, you’re not learning it all from scratch. You are relearning; 20 weeks would not be enough otherwise. As you review, you should be shaking off the cobwebs of concepts and equations that you once knew well. So a certain amount of your review time needs to be devoted to that re-familiarization process, but only a part. A healthy portion of that 20 weeks needs to be spent solving exam-type problems. In other words: practice, practice, practice. And finally, you need to spend some time organizing your references and resources so that you can access all this information quickly during the exam. That organization process will take up some of your precious review time, but should not be overlooked or its effectiveness undervalued. When you sit down to take the exam, you will be under an enormous amount of stress. Without confidence in your knowledge, problem-solving skills and ability to find the information you need, it’s easy to get bogged down or go into an outright panic. Building confidence takes time.

Which brings me back to 20 weeks. That time frame takes into account that most people will be reviewing while also having jobs, families, and lives that require most of their time. So they’ll be squeezing their review into an already packed schedule. For my 20-week reviews today, I recommend 15 to 20 hours per week for review. At 3 to 4 hours per day, 5 days a week, most people can make that work. It’s all about rebuilding your knowledge, your skill and your confidence. Start too early and your familiarity with the material and the solutions may fade before you reach the exam. Start too late, and the information won’t sink in and you won’t have time to get enough practice or get organized. So 20 weeks it is.

Before I close, I want to offer some hope for those who have read this and are thinking, “I can’t devote 15 to 20 hours a week to my review, what am I supposed to do?” or “It’s only 12 weeks to the exam, is it hopeless for me?” While I firmly believe that 20 weeks is the optimal time frame, that doesn’t mean that a shorter or longer review won’t work. In fact, I offer a compressed and extended version of my 20-week review, and I have many participants who do well on the exam in both these courses. The key to making these shorter and longer reviews work is to realize that you are pushing the bounds a bit and work to make up for it. If your review is shorter, you are going to need to devote more time per week to make it effective. If your review is longer, you need to make sure to give yourself time to revisit the material you learned earlier in your review as you get close to the exam. In fact, even in my 20-week reviews, we recommend that participants leave 3 weeks before the exam for review of earlier material and final preparation for the exam.

Finally, I’d like to leave you with some words of encouragement. You can pass this exam. Beyond the re-learning and practice and organizing, it is all about having a clear mind and a calm spirit during the exam. If you take the proper time to learn what needs to be learned, perfect the skills you need to master, and have all your resources at your fingertips, you will have that clear mind and calm spirit and you will pass. Experience has shown me that, year after year.

Using digital platforms for education purpose is not new, the new thing is it got enormous popularity in the past couple of years because of the advancement of technology and easy access of internet and other digital devices. Participants are taking immense interest in several courses that will make them more efficient in the workplace and could boost their portfolio for better opportunities.

Earlier, the chances were limited for a person to balance between doing a whole-time job and pursuing study. Either they have to continue their studies and leaving job or the other. They have to make a sacrifice that is quite expensive and untenable. The modern education system has witnessed a massive change and it is revamped in a way to accommodate a greater number of people willing to get quality education without spending high.

Several commendable initiatives have taken all over the globe to make quality education easily available for all, irrespective of the socio-economic status of the person. Governments, civil society and different private organizations are encouraging traditional as well as digital platforms to spread literacy, knowledge and education. It makes us better citizens by teaching us how to conduct ourselves and gives us more confidence to go out there and achieve things. The more you know the more you are able to better your and others life.

Renowned learning apps and websites can be a potent tool to eradicate illiteracy, lack of knowledge and poverty. They can be used as a coordination mechanism to ensure everyone gets the opportunity to learn and develop. This will bring in a massive change to our entire society, accelerating growth and progress. If we a can enlighten a single person with proper education, that single person can inspire millions of people and ultimately bring in a positive change to our world.

Some countries are doing better in terms of introducing new means of learning, some countries are still trying their level best to digitize the learning system and some countries are working hard to introduce and cope with the new-wave online education system. The good news is, almost every country is doing something constructive and praiseworthy to refurbish their education system for creating students who are not only high-achievers but also capable of dealing with the extraordinary challenges of life.

According to many prominent educationists, the internet-based learning platforms will make even easier to exchange thoughts and sharing technology. The receiver and the giver, both will be benefitted by this mutual exchange. It will pave the way for a better society with a creative and knowledgeable mass of people. The appropriate learning and life-skills programs offered through the learning apps will help an individual to gain an instant professional edge. Quality learning opens up a host of opportunities along with bolstering our capabilities in the on-demand delivery ecosystem.

There is a strong evidence suggesting that virtual classrooms are the ideal place for the overall advancement of individuals as they can resolve their queries instantly, make a quick approach to the instructors, learn at their own pace and submit projects and assignments with ease. The less pressure will get the best out of them and it can have a positive impact on their development.

Gaining exposure to the innovative ways of studies via education applications will result in economic empowerment that can significantly transform our society, our nation and our world. It not only improves an individual’s financial situation but further increases the chances of sustained improvement of the global economy. The more educated a person is, the more valuable decision he/she can take to bring peace, prosperity and welfare in our life.

Rony Sneijder is a contributing writer in some of the renowned online blog platforms. Rony likes to share his knowledge with his readers and provide them with the best information on various topics. In this article he has broadly discussed the utility of learning apps for removing illiteracy and how we can streamline our education system for getting better results.

Given all this, the question is what the chasing after all? The world is not chasing anything, but we run the world with advancements in the processes and things we do. The most favorite job in the year 2018 was data science and more than half of the population of the world has not even heard the term. A graduate with a data analytics certification
with a handsome experience will end up a job as a data analysts and further grow to become a data scientists. These guys are paid a very attractive salary and there are better chances for these guys to turn up to be millionaires in the next half-decade. But what about the rest of us who are dependent on our engineering and MBA degrees and are waiting for a job. Sooner or later we will realize that we are obsolete in the world of technical education and that our engineering degree no longer changes any process or protocol.

There are huge sets of innovation going on around the world in terms of data processing. There is also a huge amount of data that is collected and believe me, these data make a company profitable from millions to billions. The world’s largest data curator is Facebook. Apart from earning on advertisements, they reap profits from data. There are many companies that earn from data and this is where the biggest opportunity lies. For all the grads out there, we would advise you to pick up a course that will help you perform better in the long run and also the one that would not go out of trend. Big data analytics courses are short-term courses which teach you from basics to advanced versions of big data processing and the very nature of big data is the insights it can give you.

What is the challenge we face? I sometimes find that time spent at home can be the busiest time, especially in the times we live in. Imagine someone working from home, home-schooling children, and sometimes even doing a side hustle. Imagine also the full-time home-based entrepreneur. How do they manage to do all they need to do in a day?. We are living in a time when many entrepreneurs and even company employees have adopted work- at – home culture. This comes with its challenges as the lines become blurred between home and work. These blurred lines and constraints on the limited resource called time result in over-worked, under-rested, burnt-out individuals. Whilst good time management has been encouraged and indeed, embraced in the workplace, I believe more needs to be done in changing the mindset for the elusive work-life balance to be achieved.

What are the tools at our disposal? To manage time effectively at home, there are many interventions one can employ including setting goals for the day, prioritizing wisely, setting a time limit for every task, organizing oneself, and instituting the discipline of appointments. Yes, an appointment at home! We can spend time pontificating on the pros and cons of each intervention, however, I believe we need to focus on appointments and see how this can powerfully change the course of one’s day regardless of whether it’s a workday or weekend. Life is busy as it is without any intrusions. The question is how do you handle the one who announces that they are at the gate. These can be friends, neighbors, a salesman of some product you do not even need. I am not promoting regimentation here but rather a culture of filling your day with what’s important. Everything that we succeed at is because we carefully plan and execute it. I am a firm believer that you cannot manage time if you do not manage yourself thus I implore you to incorporate planning and appointments into your repertoire. I am not talking about something I do not do. I have to achieve many things in a day therefore I set appointments with my work, others, and myself.

Could scheduling appointments and keeping them on the home front help us save time and prioritize? Whereas we have established that it is a normal business practice to set appointments and keep them, we need to abandon the liberal open-door policy of allowing all and sundry to have access to us as and when they please on the home front. Please understand where I am coming from. We each have greatness within us but for us to achieve it we need to culture great habits. Employing the use of appointments at home and seeing only those people you had agreed to see removes non-essential encounters especially during the most productive hours. I know this will vary with culture, geographical region, or even level of affluence, whether you live in a low density or high-density residential area, but doesn’t negate the need to be organized and effective. Controlling access determines how organized you are and how well you will work and rest when the time for scheduled rest comes.

What do we need to do differently? We need to be disciplined and diligent, learn to say no, now is not a good time, let’s make an appointment for next week. What are the benefits of this approach? You are not always fire-fighting to meet deadlines, You are not always tired because you have not taken time out to rest. You have set aside enough time to spend with your loved ones or a loved one. If you are a busy person, I am sure you appreciate what I am saying. Whether it’s time to work uninterrupted, family time, or “me-time”, it takes some kind of order to enjoy it.

I am not saying that those that come unannounced are bad people. No, not at all, they probably are people you enjoy spending time with. Nevertheless, there must be prior communication so that you can attend to your visitor(s) when it is convenient for both you and them. It can be quite disrupting and a whole day can just pass by without achieving anything that you had planned to do.

As we grow older we begin to appreciate that rest and recovery need to be scheduled. The fact that I am relaxing doesn’t mean that I don’t have anything to do. One therefore cannot assume that just because you are at home you are available. Maybe you have scheduled that time to rest. That is important. You need to make an appointment with yourself, spouses need to also set aside time for each other. Parents need to schedule a time to spend with their children. When you have some sort of order in your life you determine who sees you and who you see. It also means that your relationships will be healthy and that makes you a happier person.

In conclusion, I believe that the work-life balance can be achieved. There are many tools at our disposal just like it is in the workplace.I believe we could do more and be happier if we are disciplined enough to make only the commitments we can keep.I am certain that setting appointments and keeping them at home help us save time and prioritize.

Fitzgerald Mujuru, a fusion of Business Coach, Personal Effectiveness Coach, Business Consultant, Marketing Strategist, Sales Zealot, Speaker, brand builder, with over twenty years in marketing and sales for globally known brands. He has vast commercial experience at management level in various sectors. His strengths include marketing, brand building, sales, business development, business strategy, management, and equipping leaders and teams with strategies for personal and team effectiveness. He has handled various consultancy assignments for companies in professional services, media, communications, training and development, non-profit organizations. He has released 4 books and published more than 200 articles online.

1) Interest rates: We have experienced a prolonged period of historically – low – interest rates. This has created easy money, because the cost of borrowing is so low. Both individuals and corporations have benefited, at least, in the immediate- term, permitting home buyers to purchase more house, because their monthly charges, are low, due to low mortgage rates. Corporate and government bonds, and banks, have paid low returns. It has stemmed, inflation, and created a rise in home prices, we haven’t witnessed, in recent memory. The Federal Reserve Bank has signaled they will be ending this propping – up, and will also raise rates, probably three times, in 2022. What do you think that will cause.

2) Auto loans, consumer loans, borrowing: The auto industry has been, significantly, impacted by supply chain challenges. When rates rise, auto loans and leases, will be more costly.

3) THis pattern began after the Tax Reform legislation, passed at the end of 2017, which created the initial, new, trillion dollars deficits

4) Government spending, caused by the financial suffering and challenges, because of shut downs, etc, because of the pandemic, created trillions more in debt. Unfortunately, debt must be eventually addressed.

5) Perception and attitude: The past couple of years,apparently, created a public perception, plus many fears, with a crippling economic impact.

Either, we begin to plan, effectively, and with common sense and an open – mind, many will be at – risk. Wake up, America, and demand better leadership, service and representation.

Successful people did not become successful because they were lucky.

They did not achieve success by accident. Being at the right place at the right time, meeting relevant people, reading the appropriate book, did not come about accidentally or by luck.

Luck is brought about by Labour Under Correct Knowledge.

Successful people prepared themselves. Instead of giving up on anything they started and wanted to achieve they got stronger by learning more.

Success is a methodical, orderly and deliberate process of deciding what you want to do with your life, what are the steps that you need to undertake to get you there, and lastly what you will do once you get there.

One of the most important aspects, if not the most important aspect to success, is the ability to visualise your successful outcome and stay focused on it until you achieve it.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge, knowledge is limited.” – Albert Einstein

Successful people understood the potential power behind knowledge, yet they also understood that, for them to close the gap between where they are and where they wanted to be, they would have to piece together the enigma that is most often referred to as “life”.

They had to build a picture, a vision, of success in their mind, and then go about taking action on creating that envisioned life.

In much the same way, you have to be serious about your present and future, you need to have the knowledge that is required so you, too, may close the gap: you need to be and remain determined to devote yourself to taking massive action to build your business of succeeding in life.

You, too, will need to see the end, your dream and destiny that you desire in your mind’s eye. It is up to you to take the necessary and relevant action to make it all happen. It’s just like going to the doctor with a particular health problem.

The doctor may prescribe a medication for you to take four times a day, yet he cannot be there with you to ensure that you are taking the medication.

It comes back to deciding to be responsible for your life.

Have you noticed how it all stems from that one attitude? Being responsible for your own life.

Your success, your being responsible 100% for you to live your dream life starts here.

When you accept 100% responsibility for yourself and your current life situation, you will have the power to move towards those things you truly desire in life: which is success in all areas of your life.

This life-changing article is about possibilities and opportunities, knowledge and tools. It will help expose your unique course in life.

It will inspire, support and motivate you to excel, to do what successful people do, to have all that successful people have, and to become a shining example of a successful person.

Here, you’re not being told what you couldn’t do, instead you are being told to shoot for the stars. And above all, you are being shown how to shoot for those stars.

“A person is what he thinks about all day long.” – Emerson

Interesting thought, wouldn’t you think? So much so, it’s worth repeating: “A person is what he thinks about all day long.”

Success and happiness cannot happen if you possess the same old thoughts and beliefs.

If you do not change your mind, if you do not get rid of the unsupportive thoughts and beliefs, you will inevitably remain stuck in your old ways. Not much, if anything, will change.

Let’s give you a quick overview on how change comes about:

Your BEHAVIOUR, how you act (or perhaps do not act), controls your success or failure. Your ability to attain high levels of success is dependent upon your actions and behaviours. Your results are the outcome of your behaviour. Now let’s consider where your behaviours come from and what controls them?

Your FEELINGS command your behaviour. Every action that you take is first filtered through your feelings that reside in your subconscious mind. How you feel about something determines what you do and how well you do it. So where do your feelings come from?

Your ATTITUDES create and influence your feelings. Your attitude is your perspective from which you view life. Whatever attitude you have about anything will affect how you feel, which, in turn, affects how you act. Where do your attitudes come from?

Your BELIEFS create, control and influence your attitudes. What you believe about anything will determine your attitude about it, which will create your feelings, and then which will direct your behaviour and action. Belief patterns are so powerful that two people who are in the same situation could perceive things completely differently. It only requires us to believe what we see and how we see it. We all have thousands of beliefs – big and small. And where do your beliefs come from?

Your THOUGHTS create, control and influence your beliefs. Your thoughts are real and are immensely powerful. Everything you accept from the outside world and everything you feed yourself from within is a product of your thoughts. Everything starts as a thought.

So, it goes without saying you need to learn to control your thoughts. And when you do, you will automatically control your beliefs, your attitudes, your feelings and, consequently, your behaviour and actions.

The big secret to success:

Learn to control your thoughts and you will influence your behaviours and actions. It’s all a mind-set. That’s what we’ve been saying all along.

Success is predictable and is not achieved by accident.

Have the mind-set of the successful people and you will achieve success. Believe and it is yours!

“There is a great future in front of you, you can leave your past behind.” – Joel Osteen

Science of success experts have concluded that the brain is a goal-setting organism.

That is fantastic news for us: for whatever goal we give to our subconscious mind, it will work for us day and night, 24/7, to achieve it for us; to make it a reality.

The principal breakthrough that scientists made was that we do not need to waste our precious time and effort trying to change old thoughts and behaviours: we just simply create new ones.

And the other discovery they made was that we can continue to create new thoughts, new memories, new behaviours, new skills, and learn new things for as long as we are alive on this earth.

Now, with the new discoveries in recent years, it has been scientifically proven that our capacity to achieve and succeed literally has no limits.

Our brain has the capacity to continually learn during our entire lifetime.

Our brain can form new thoughts, can have new memories, and can learn new things by the millions, no matter what your age is. By the millions.

That’s how many new things we can learn, that’s how many new skills we can learn, that’s how many new thoughts we can have, that’s how many new behaviours we can adopt.

This is encouraging because there is no limit on your capacity to achieve new things.

No limits whatsoever for the human brain to learn, memorise, develop, achieve and perform at higher levels than ever imagined. It makes no difference what your age is: you are capable of learning anything new that you want to learn.

That adds to what we spoke of earlier: no more excuses.

“The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” – Malcolm X

Your brain has the capacity to achieve way beyond what was ever thought possible. So now is the time to break out of your limited thinking and start dreaming big and imagining unlimited possibilities.

Becoming successful is not impossible.

It is a choice you make through a decision. Every day, step-by-step, you may climb the mountain of success if you’ve decided to do so, if you’re committed to accomplish what the others think impossible.

Design your future now.

Prepare to receive what you desire.

Thanks to the phenomenal advances made in cognitive science and the development of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), personal change, personal transformation, has come a very long way.

In fact, personal growth is no longer a mystery.

NLP has brought to light that change, transformation and growth can be fast, reliable, and even fun. It has shown us that we do not need to spend thousands of hours slaving away to increase our creative-thinking abilities.

By practicing a few simple exercises and applications, you can start your creative juices flowing, and you may even amaze yourself at the quality and quantity of good ideas that you can come up with to expedite your success.

It can allow you to achieve something you seek within days and months as opposed to years and decades. That’s the power of the progress science has made on how the brain works, and also how you can have your mind to be your best ally in achieving anything you want.

Learn to live as you like by no longer living as you dislike.

Are you ready to get on the road to success and fulfilment?

Bear in mind, much like everything else in life, success requires practice and massive, consistent action.

“Success doesn’t mean the absence of failures; it means the attainment of ultimate objectives. It means winning the war, not every battle.” – Edwin C Bliss

Hani Al-Qasem has been a self-improvement educator for more than 18 years.

You can download your copy of “Wealth Attraction: How To Reprogram Your Mind For More Money” FREE eBook where you can begin the automatic reprogramming of your brain for wealth, success, and abundance, in just six easy steps.