Hi Luke,
I have had many reaching out from the group to hear how I cracked the exam, so I am excited to share. First of all...this group! Everyday, while studying for the CISSP, I woke up thinking about it and went to bed thinking about it. The coolest thing was checking to see how others were doing...seeing that I was not alone in this crazy hard endeavor. If you struggle with multiple choice tests, test anxiety, or are just under a lot of pressure to pass in general, staying plugged into this group will keep you from getting lost in the negative, the hard, the impossible...and focus you on the positive, the grit, and success. The mind game is half the battle.
The other half is strategy. The first time I took the exam, I took a bootcamp back in 2019 and did not study on my own. I failed big time. I realized then that this was a beast and it was going to require much more effort. One year later in the summer of 2020, I found this group and started the journey again. I gave it everything I had, books, videos, practice questions. But, I failed again. I cried and cried but I learned something. I had covered all the material. All 8 domains. Now I needed to dig. Luke’s video on what to do after failing the exam helped me start again. Friends and family helped me too.
Attempt 3 I adjusted my strategy. Rather than studying in bulk, I broke it down to two domains a week. I used all the materials mentioned in this group...Sybex 8, Thor mind maps, Sunflower notes, CBK, AIO, but only for two domains a week. Everyday at the end of a study session, I configured Boson to test me on those domains only. Important note: I took hand written notes during this time as well. Then, after I finished the in depth study of each domain, I combined my notes, sunflower notes, and the mind map notes all into my own notes. It ended up being about 45 pages long.
Finally and probably the most important... I believe it was Prabh Nair that said in his webinar with Luke, “No one has failed who has read Think Like A Manager by Luke.” I bought the book that day!! Lol! So, I tested the theory. It proved true for me. I loved that book. I studied it the last week before the exam and I did, indeed, pass. :)
I hope this helps!! All the best to everyone attempting this journey.