House Keeping & Why
This is the first lesson of the Six Sigma Study Guide Bootcamp class.
A few things before we jump in…
For the next few days you’ll be getting a series of lessons from me. The goal of this class is to help you kickstart your Six Sigma Certification study plans by giving you 7 lessons that will help you rapidly pass your exam.
Throughout this class I’m going to share with you the exact framework that all of my students go through when they ask me for help preparing for their Six Sigma certifications.
But a few housekeeping things first…
- You can expect a lesson from me every day for the next 6 days.
- Each lesson will end with 2-3 (very specific) action items.
- You are encouraged to work along with each lesson and complete these assignments.
- You’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at how I’ve coached thousands of people to pass their Six Sigma exams.
- But, most importantly, YOU will learn how to build your own successful study plan.
Ready to get going?
Let’s jump in!
-Ted
In this first lesson I’m going to help you get INCREDIBLY clear on the exact reason you want to get a Six Sigma certification, and then I’ll challenge you with a few actions items at the end.
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Most people start trying to study for a Six Sigma certification exam by messing with a bunch of tools and strategies.
This is dumb.
There is something more important than any tool or strategy you use.
You HAVE to be 100% clear on this before starting your studying (or you’ll just waste a massive amount of time).
The thing you have to be clear on… “Why?”
Why do you want to earn your certification?
What would be measurably different in your life if tomorrow morning you woke up and you had a Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt, or even Master Black Belt certification?
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So many people want to be Six Sigma Certified.
We attend months, weeks, and hours of training, seminars, and conferences. We read books, blog posts, and business articles. Listen to podcasts. Take courses. And buy books.
We hear things like “Master Black Belts earn an average $142,080, compared to $84,675 for those without any Six Sigma training — a difference of more than $57,000.” (ref) and get excited about getting our own certifications.
Yet no matter how much information we consume, it still seems impossible to organize a studying plan to do any good.
1 hour studying here.
3 hours there.
6 months later we still have no idea if we’re ready to pass this certification or not!
= fail.
But despite that massive frustration, there are some people who do it. There are some who break through and achieve their Six Sigma certification.
Those people don’t start with strategies though.
They start by answering the question “Why?” first.
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Take me, for example. I’m a career professional. Went to college and have been with the same company I joined after leaving school. And up until I took a position requiring that I get my Six Sigma Black Belt I had NO CLUE what a certification even was.
To make matters worse, many of my colleagues who had been in that position before me had spent years struggling with their certifications.
The number of people that I know who started and failed to get certified is loooong.
- This guy on senior management’s talent list- a designated ‘future leader of the company’.
- This gal who was hand-selected for the position.
- This guy who graduated at the head of his class at a prestigious university.
- This gal who completed her MBA (and several other financial certifications).
- This guy who had an undergraduate background in statistics.
On and on and on…
Until one day I got so mad that I started researching what successful people were doing that they weren’t doing.
These were all people who, no matter what certification they studying for, it WORKED!
What were they doing that my colleague weren’t!?
That’s when I discovered the POWER of a study guide customized for my exact needs.
The reason they were able to consistently do so well was that they had the ability to know exactly what to study, how long to study that for, and when to move on to other topics…. all in a manner that was fine-tuned to their needs.
So…
I decided to do the same thing.
My singular focus became studying with an effective Study Guide Framework so that I could pass my Six Sigma Black Belt exam.
1 month later I passed my Villanova Six Sigma Black Belt exam the first time through! A few months later I sat for my ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt exam and passed that the first time through as well!
Full case studies here and here.
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The framework I implemented can be used by anyone and for any Six Sigma belt from any organization. If you want to pass your Six Sigma exam, prepare for that new job and make meaningful progress advancing your career focusing on creating your own personalized study plan has to be your #1 priority.
This course will start down the path to doing just that.
But first…
Your homework for today is to identify your “What?” and your “Why?”
Without a clearly defined reason for starting down this path you will quit.
100% guarantee you will quit.
I’ve personally coached 1000s of people and I’ve never seen a single one study for and pass their exams without a clearly defining reason for doing it.
Why
IT.IS. HARD.
You’ll hit obstacles. You’ll want to quit. You’ll think the entire pursuit isn’t worth it.
But those that have a clearly defined reason to reach their goal…they make it. They keep working despite wanting to give up.
So…
What is your #1 goal?
Is it to quit your job and get a new one?
Is it to learn and apply Six Sigma techniques that will please your clients, create real business results, and improve your decision making skills?
Is it to prove to people that you can achieve this certification?
Why do you want that goal?
Do you want to quit your job and make more $ so you can be happier, focus on doing what you enjoy and have greater freedom & flexibility with your career?
Do you want to get certified because your boss told you that you never would and you want to prove her wrong?
Do you want to get certified because you love improving processes and want to finally make a difference for your company and your customers?
Are you retooling for a new position, a new career, and you need this certification to get hired into your dream job?
Your assignment for today is….
- Spend at least 10 minutes brainstorming your ‘what and why.’
- Reply to this email with your answers!
-Ted
…
In the next lesson, you’ll learn how to find out exactly what is on your exam and know with absolute confidence that you will pass it. I’ll also share several pitfalls to avoid as you work towards your goal.
Here’s a recap of the class so far:
Lesson 1 – The very first step to studying for a Six Sigma exam
Lesson 2 – How to know exactly what will be on your Six Sigma certification exam
Lesson 3 – Behind the scenes of Successful Six Sigma Exam candidates
Lesson 4 – How to Dramatically Increase Your Chances of Passing a Six Sigma Certification Exam
Lesson 5 – Two Examples of How to Use the Baseline Hack Strategy
Lesson 6 – Additional Strategies and Tactics for your Six Sigma Exam
PS. This study method is for people who have already made an attempt to study and learn Six Sigma concepts and are ready to pursue a certification. You are of course very welcome to follow along, though!
If you are just starting out on your Six Sigma journey, I would suggest you start here on the article I made about Learning Six Sigma and then follow up with this article I wrote for ASQ, How can someone starting out in quality succeed?