When I looked back at 2000, I was surprised at how much I had achieved, especially considering that I'm always beating myself up for all the things I haven't done! Many of you are probably in a similar position. By all means allow yourself to feel good about your past achievements, but we all need to keep it up in the future.

Many of you may be thinking that this is the year you'll actually get moving and actually get that certification you've always thought about getting. If you've yet to take action, I've got a couple of tips that may help you move forward and actually make some progress:

Tip #1: Tell EVERYONE about your plans to get certified.
Especially your friends, co-workers and boss. These people can help you stay motivated throughout the year as your energy wanes. There sure is plenty of motivation in the fact that these people are going to be regularly asking you about your certification progress.

Tip #2: Make a plan for getting certified.
You probably already know what title you want, how many exams you need to pass, and also have an idea of how much new material you have to learn and how much is revision. If you know that there are four exams and that you already have a good grasp of the basics, you may decide that you'll take four months to complete the program, a month per exam. Of course, this may change once you get started, but you need to get going, and having any plan is better than no plan.

Tip #3: Book your exams now.
It sure focuses my mind knowing I have these coming up. Of course you can always re-schedule them up to the business day beforehand, but having a target to work for always helps me. Some people just keep studying and only schedule the exam when they are ready, but I don't think this is as motivating as when the exam is already scheduled.

Tip #4: Reward yourself.
Buy that latest computer game you've been drooling after, or take a trip to Tahoe with your significant other. The trip idea works doubly well because, after all of that time studying, it's a great idea to spend some catch up time with those closest to you.

There will be times when you simply don't feel like doing anything. You would rather veg out in front of the TV or perhaps go out clubbing with your buddies. There isn't anything wrong with that and you need to give yourself permission to have some time off. But if this stretches out into weeks then perhaps you need to revisit your motivation in getting certified.

Good luck everyone, and don't forget to keep us updated with your certification progress.

Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?
It may just be an exam, but I'm not ashamed to say that the 70-240 exam (Microsoft's Windows 2000 Accelerated Exam for MCPs Certified on Microsoft Windows NT 4.0) has had me scared for quite some time now. I'd only realized this when I was thinking to myself when I should take this exam -- and found myself putting it off again and again.

Like many of you, I've been working with Win2K since the betas, yet I continually find myself surprised by something else new in the product I hadn't been aware of before. So the prospect of sitting an exam that can only be sat once had me somewhat bluffed.

Anyway, the best way to confront a fear is to take it head-on, so I've scheduled my exam for February 12. Sure, it's possible I might fail, but it won't be the end of the world -- it just means some more exams to be done by the end of this year. My two little boys will still love me and the world will keep on turning..... it's only an exam. Anyway, gotta go now and read some more about Group Policy! Wish me luck and I'll see you next month. And don't forget to send your certification questions to