The original title of this post was “The Story Behind PMESN, and How You Can Benefit From It”. In many of my posts I take my own examples to put a point across. And I have tried to do the same here with the example of PMESN.
There is a simple question that has made or broken companies.
And the question is –
“Why does your company exist?”
Way too many companies start great and then drift without direction into territories that aren’t inline with founders’ vision. They then end up folding, being acquired by companies for pennies, or leading a dilapidated indifferent existence.
This is a great question to ask even if you are an individual (whether working for yourself or others).
Why?
Because, the answer to this question is the mission statement.
I understand, the word ‘mission statement’ is quite often abused and there is some negative context associated around it (sometimes used during appraisal discussions or salary cut announcements 🙂 ). For the rest of this post, it only means to serve the purpose of telling you what you want to accomplish in your career.
In the context of PMESN, I started this blog in 2013 out of my very own frustration. In other words, it started, without my knowledge or plan, with a mission statement.
I was finding it hard to prepare for the PMP exam juggling 4hr commute, 12 hr job, and a family with 2 kids. There was hardly any time for myself, and preparation for PMP was almost out of question – especially, no offenses, with the dry subject as PMBOK made it out to be. I ended up procrastinating for 2 years!
Then finally when I decide that I must appear for the exam, for a long time I researched on the internet for free stuff that could help me towards my exam – comprehensively. I couldn’t find any.
It only wasted more of my scarce and valuable time, and added to frustration.
I found that this thinking of mine was wrong.
Then I ended up investing in Cornelius’s products and found it so simple to understand the subject in a way that didn’t trouble my braincells and prepare well for the exam.
And then I decided to also create a place in the internet which can be a single place to go to, prepare for PMP and pass it easily and quickly. This was a gap I wanted to fill, so many other professionals like me can be benefited.
And PMExamSmartNotes.com was born.
It was a long journey of many months of preparatory work of getting my study notes in publishable format, working till week hours of the morning almost every night – to prepare content, create WordPress site, understand basics of online writing (which is quite different from regular writing), publishing and above all make sure it reached right people.
PMESN has come a long way since those days.
Over this period of time I have,
- shared all of my exam notes,
- created a 11-day PMP Study Blueprint for a quick start to your PMP efforts,
- shared my study and preparation tips, recommendations and techniques,
- encouraged people to invest in valuable study products with free PMP ebooks and my strategy session,
- created online community to maintain the study momentum of students
– basically an eco-system where people can jump in, be engaged for the number of weeks they need to prepare for the exam and then pass it. AND be able to apply the knowledge at their work.
PMESN now also publishes articles with tips and techniques to build one’s career at work place. This was not something I had planned initially, but came into existence based on questions I used to get from people.
You might want to watch this great presentation on this question.
“Was all this effort worth it?”
- More than 43,883 people from 177 countries around the world have and continue visiting this blog.
- People from across the world email/Skype me regularly and ask for advice and help with their exam preparation.
- More than 1803 people access daily PMP questions, and other resources on Facebook community
- PMP presentations at Slidshare have garnered over 54738 views
For me personally, it has given a large amount of satisfaction and a sense of helping people with their career progress and having contributed back to the project management community that has given me so much. Regular testimonials, thank-you mails and facebook updates acknowledging that PMESN has helped them pass the PMP exam – all make it worth the time and effort.
Now, coming back to the question we asked at the beginning…
“Why does your company exist”?
What is the answer for PMESN?
PMESN was born out of a frustration and an unwritten mission statement. To put that into a sentence,
“to make it easy for busy professionals to understand nuances of project management, pass PMP exam quickly and use the knowledge at their workplace”.
“How does this help me, you talked about helping me find my Career Objective?”
Well, it does. You can ask this question to yourself as an individual,“why do I exist”?
Not as a philosophical question, but as applicable to your role at your work place. Ask this question hard enough that you will feel an emotional connect to it. This matters the most.
Take this 10 min exercise. Right now. Take a paper and pencil (this is an exercise you will like).
1. Write at the center – “why do I exist”?
2. Draw a circle around it.
3. Draw a line out from the circle for each thought you get (like kids draw sun’s rays) and write your thought/reason at the end of that line. For instance, it could be something like “to solve customer’s problems”. Now circle that reason. If you get a related thought, draw another line from this new circle and write it at the end of that line.
4. Come back to the central question again, “why do I exist”? Ask yourself the same.
5. Draw second line, and follow point #3.
6. Repeat #1-#5 till you do not have any more thoughts/reasons/answers. Do not hesitate to put your emotion behind it. It really helps!
Congratulations, you just created your Career Focus mindmap.
7. Go over all of them, pick the main points and create a simple sentence that has the gist of the whole mindmap.
The answer you get will be your mission statement that defines your Career Objective.
Write this on a piece of paper and stick at your desk.
This statement aligns you on a daily basis to what you ought to be working on, rather than getting tugged into activities that make you feel like productive but do not produce results.
This helps you avoid activities that do not contribute towards progressing in your career.
This helps you be on the track, and do a quick course correction whenever you veer off the course.
Have you checked out this month’s PM Prepcast discount and additional bonuses?
Remember, what you get here is a career objective with a difference. This will be unique to your situation, your vision and your aspirations. Not like the standard stale answers you see on hundreds of resumes you filter for your recruitment. Moreover, this will be actionable to you.
Go ahead and let me know what is your career objective in the Comments section below.
Thanks for your time and good luck,
Shiv
PS: If you think this post will help any of your friends, do share using the social buttons floating on the left.
PPS: If you want to create a professional blog to share your knowledge with the world and even earn from doing so, I can help. Write to me at shiv@pmexamsmartnotes.com
Image courtesy: vuhung
