I have been doing Project / Program Management work for over 15 years but never got the PMP because it cost too much. Then I got laid off in 2022 due to a merger and cost-cutting. I decided that I would finally take the test since the job market didn't care about my years of experience as much as they cared about me having three initials after my name. I took an online live course... and never filled out the application cause I was just too daunted by it. I got a job in 2023 starting up a PMO and the immediacy to do the test simply vanished. Got laid off again in August 2024 due to yet another merger and downsizing of senior roles, so I bought AR's Udemy course and book last September as a refresher, filled out the application and scheduled a December test date. Then I pushed out the date. In the meantime, I got my SAFE 6.0 cert. I got two Six Sigma minor belts. I studied Python and AWS Cloud. I got AI certs. I did a Certified Medical Assistant course as a backup in case I couldn't get back into the corporate world... And I kept kicking the PMP can down the road cause I was afraid. I was about to push it out AGAIN when I found out that I couldn't or I would need to pay the fee and do the application ALL OVER again. That's when I got serious. I took a sample test to see how much I "knew" and to see how what I needed to study. Next I downloaded AR's 30 day plan and condensed it to 15 days because that is all the time I literally had before test day. For the first 5 days I reviewed AR's full Udemy course AND his briefer review course. The parts I knew well, I did at 1.5 speed. The parts I didn't know as well I listened to at normal speed even though it felt torturous. (I usually listen to videos at 1.25 because I'm a New Yorker and people always seem to talk too slowly for me.) Once I felt I had refreshed myself enough, I signed up for Study Hall and the TIA Exam Simulator and used both daily. I went through every single question in study hall twice and did all the tests in simulator. I did 5 full exams in test mode spaced out over 10 days.