My CPTD Journey: Day 1

Update: On August 10, 2020 I took the exam and passed. Here is a video overview of how I would prepare for the CPTD, knowing what I know now.

If you want to save time and money, you can order the CPTD Success Notebook from my website.

When I wrote my dissertation it took fierce discipline to begin each day with my butt in my chair and write. Often that meant writing a crappy first draft but it was writing nonetheless. I anticipate this experience will require that same level of discipline. Here I go! ~Brandi Maynard

I like to see myself as a pioneer, a pace setter, the one who is constantly pushing the envelope and moving forward in ways others have not yet done. This requires courage, fierce discipline, and relentlessness time on task. When I think of those dispositions those are things I aspire to become. I do not see myself this way yet, but I am often out in front of the pack trying new things that others have yet to try. There is a certain thrill in being the first to accomplish something. I have all of the traits of a firstborn, I was the first one in my entire family to graduate from college, and I am usually quick to ask a question or raise my hand to volunteer to try something new.

The CPTD journey is a new one for me, it is new for all of us. I was planning on getting my CPLP certification, but with COVID-19 among us, testing centers closed and dates for completion expanded. I had to make the decision if I wanted to move forward with that original plan of earning my CPLP or pivot and embrace the new certification—the CPTD pathway. I have 11 weeks until The August pilot test and I decided to set a new pace for myself and tackle the CPTD. This new venture requires fierce discipline and relentless accountability. As an accountability measure, I have decided to journal this experience and share what I am learning along the way. Thank you for joining me, I hope when it is finished, I can look back on the journey with fondness.

Day 1

Today is the first day I am really digging into the prep materials. My first question is “How do I begin?” When I began studying for the CPLP last fall, I was mind mapping all the material using Mindmanager 2020. My mind maps quickly became jumbled with information and practically unusable. This reminds me that I really need to chunk my information into smaller pieces. I am a firm believer in mind mapping as a way the brain learns best. I went upstairs in search of office supplies such as colored pencils, sketchbooks, highlighters anything I could find to make the journey more enjoyable. When I got back to my office with all of my treasures I started by outlining the three domains: personal capability, professional capability, and organizational capability. I quickly realized that I really needed to go back to Mindmanager and chunk my maps down into more usable maps because my handwriting does not support learning!

I found a very large 3 ring notebook and began to print off the different downloadables from the prep site. I decided to print the job aids and use my colored pencils and highlighters to mark up the most important information. My first milestone was my study plan for success. I began noting my goals for the course. Knowing myself, I realized that journaling was the best form of accountability, so I added that into my plan. I also thought back to middle school when I used to make brain tapes to help me remember information. As an auditory learner, I learned best by listening so I decided to create my mind maps and then use Screencastomatic to record myself going through the map and noting the important items allowing me to listen to these recordings as I fall asleep. This is how I passed 7th grade biology so I trust it will work!

The infographic of the prep experience is interesting. I noted that 20% of the exam is building personal capacity, 45% is developing professional capacity, and 35% is impacting organizational capability. The learning experience seems richer with the personalized approach to learning and the exam checkpoints. It seems as though this will be more fluid than the materials I received for the CPLP because I anticipate that is will adapt to my individual needs--we shall see!

I'm also leaning heavily on my love of teaching. My study plan outlines opportunities to share the content with my team members and the world! Research show that we learn the most when we teach it to others, so I plan on reflecting on it through regular articles as well as reteaching it when appropriate.

This is Memorial Day weekend and I am excited to spend more than an hour every day working on the capability model.  We are in the middle of a pandemic, everything in Washington state is still closed up pretty tight, and I love learning.

When I wrote my dissertation is took fierce discipline to begin each day with my butt in my chair writing. Often that meant writing a crappy first draft, but it was writing, nonetheless. I anticipate this experience will require that same level of discipline. Here we go!

Important Update: I wrote this article years ago and I must update it for those who are just beginning the CPTD journey. I am a firm believer that if you KNOW better you can DO better. I spent months discovering the best way to prepare for the exam and want to save you precious time in this process. If you are just starting this journey, I applaud you and want to link arms with you to get you across the finish line. If you haven't passed your #CPTD Test I created a class with 40 lessons that include my favorite tips, tricks, and strategies I used to prepare and pass the exam on the first time.  Check it out at https://brandi.group.app/courses/cptdsuccess

Plan for tomorrow: I completed the confidence meter and marked myself "Somewhat ready." Next, I will introduce myself in the forum (link people to this article) and get an overview of the book of knowledge to see how much of this is going to be new.

#brandified