Lessons Learned from Learning Everyday for 4 Years on Pluralsight
Tags: learning, beginners, pluralsight
Published: 2024-02-28 12:41:16

### Disclaimer

Disclaimer mode activated! While my enthusiasm for Pluralsight (and A Cloud Guru) could fuel a rocket launch, I have zero affiliation with either company (present or past). I'm just a passionate learner, that's all!

### Table of Contents
* [Discovery](#discovery)
* [The Power of Learning Everyday ⚡](#power-of-learning)
* [Why Pluralsight?](#why)
    * [Learning Streak 🔥](#why-1)
    * [Certification Prep 📝](#why-2)
    * [Impressive Catalog 📚](#why-3)
    * [Official Training](#why-4)
    * [Skill IQ](#why-5)
* [Favorite Authors 🧑‍🏫](#authors)
    * [A Cloud Guru](#authors-1)
    * [Pluralsight](#authors-2)

---
## <a name="discovery"/> Discovery 🔭

Personally, I owe the start of my learning journey to Verizon and my amazing manager at the time, [Thomas Wise](https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-wise-333578/). Verizon had many programs that enabled me to grow. They provided me with an [A Cloud Guru](https://www.pluralsight.com/cloud-guru) subscription when I started pursuing AWS certifications in 2018. After a while, they switched to [Pluralsight](https://www.pluralsight.com/). I truly don't know why the change was made. Perhaps it was an extended library. 🤷🏻

I chose to maintain my A Cloud Guru subscription on my own and divided my time across the platforms. At the time, I would study cloud technology on A Cloud Guru and literally everything else on Pluralsight. In 2021, I made the tough decision to leave Verizon. Afterwards, I decided to maintain both platforms independently going forward since I knew that I had grown immensely from both platforms. 

It's kind of funny that shortly after I found out that [Pluralsight acquired A Cloud Guru](https://www.startupdaily.net/topic/asx/us-tech-giant-pluralsight-completes-2-billion-acquisition-of-a-cloud-guru/), which was great news for me since my two favorite learning platforms were merging. The future was indeed bright! 

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## <a name="power-of-learning"/> The Power of Learning Everyday ⚡ 

It has been proven time and time again that it is better to learn a little every day than it is to cram a lot of "learning" into one drawn-out session. The brain can retain information a lot better when it is spread out over time. You may not know just how much learning you can do in just a few minutes a day. I recently read a great blog titled ["Learning a Little Leads to Learning a Lot" by Steve Keating](https://stevekeating.me/2021/04/25/learning-a-little-leads-to-learning-a-lot/) that you could quickly read. He states that most people are really busy, but rarely productive. 
> _"One of the most productive things people can do is set aside a few minutes EVERY day to learn something new."_

Furthermore, [Learnerbly](https://www.learnerbly.com/) covers many benefits of learning in their blog, ["Why is Learning Important? A Deep Dive Into the Benefits of Being a Lifelong Learner" by Melissa Malec](https://www.learnerbly.com/articles/why-is-learning-important). This post breaks benefits into those for our wellbeing and those for our careers. 

Some of my favorite quotes from that post are:

**Happiness**
> _"Research suggests that people who practice continuous or lifelong learning are happier on average. This may be because lifelong learning helps people to keep developing their passions and interests, which bring us happiness."_

**Longevity**
> _"Several scientific studies have shown that lifelong learning activities can help people maintain better brain function as they age."_

**Innovation**
> _"Learning also drives innovation, which describes the new ideas and technological and cultural developments that people come up with to solve problems and improve their societies."_

After dedicating time to learning every day for 1,460 days (4 years), I cannot stress enough how beneficial it has been for me. 
* I have been able to excel in every role that I have held due to rapid upskilling.
* I have a different mindset when thinking about technology.
* I have found joy in side projects that leverage technology I have never touched before.
    * [Blazor, Next.js, and Vercel](https://dev.to/wheeleruniverse/getting-hands-on-with-blazor-nextjs-and-vercel-gg0)
    * [PHP and Bref](https://dev.to/aws-builders/creating-serverless-websites-with-aws-bref-and-php-203j)
    * [Azure and Ruby on Rails](https://dev.to/wheeleruniverse/feb-21-cloudguruchallenge-358d)

---
## <a name="why"/> Why Pluralsight?

Pluralsight has some of the highest quality training I have ever seen. On top of that, they have a tremendous number of features. Some of which you may not even know about yet.

### <a name="why-1"/> Learning Streak 🔥

It should be obvious, but there is a built-in learning tracker. Without this, I would not even know that I had studied for 1,460 days. Without this, I don't think I could have done it at all.

![Learning Streak](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/zsjbdv22qg4mze8rp7bk.png)

### <a name="why-2"/> Certification Prep 📝

[Certification Prep](https://www.pluralsight.com/product/cert-prep) offers one of the best ways to tackle technical certifications. 

* Hands-on Labs to build real-world skills.
* Peer Tracker to compare popularity.
* Practice Exams to validate knowledge.
* Program Maps to chart certification pathways.

![Cert Prep](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/v4ugktaeuvc4kq51uah9.png)

### <a name="why-3"/> Impressive Catalog 📚

Pluralsight has more than 7,000 courses in its [catalog](https://www.pluralsight.com/browse). I can always find at least a little content on even obscure topics like _"Quantum Computing."_

![Quantum Search Results](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/0dohy25scd6m4h1j8nnq.png)

### <a name="why-4"/> Official Training

Did you know that Pluralsight has some authors that are official companies? 

- [AWS](https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/aws-authored)
- [Google Cloud](https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/google-cloud)
- [IBM](https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/ibm-z)

The content they share here is truly amazing. It is a beautiful thing to see collaboration with third-party training when each of these companies already has their own training platform they would prefer you use instead. 

### <a name="why-5"/> Skill IQ

Skill IQ is an assessment that measures proficiency in a technology skill in 10 to 15 minutes. They have a large range of tests on just about every technology you would like to be tested on, with more coming all the time.

![Skill IQ 1](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/vlgk2slk24vmq8e9r05v.png)

From the [Pluralsight Help Center](https://help.pluralsight.com/help/what-is-skill-iq),

> _"Skill IQ is a continuous score from 0 to 300. This is based on your percentile in that skill area. Pluralsight's exclusive adaptive skill calculations work by measuring your technical abilities relative to the population of users that have taken that assessment. This doesn't measure your broad intelligence. Your percentile tells you how much more you know than others who have the same skill, on a scale from 0 to 100."_

![Skill IQ 2](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/qhr0osnxeq4efrwgwa2d.png)

After your assessment, Pluralsight can highlight gaps in your knowledge. Better yet, it can link to specific training that you can use to close those gaps right within the Skill IQ assessment page.

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## <a name="authors"/> Favorite Authors 🧑‍🏫

I know that Pluralsight would be nothing without its amazing authors. I would like to end by recognizing my favorite authors. All of these authors have helped me immensely in different ways. You should check out their content so that they can help you as well!

### <a name="authors-1"/> A Cloud Guru
- [Faye Ellis](https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/faye-ellis) for AWS
- [Mattias Andersson](https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/mattias-andersson-ps) for GCP

### <a name="authors-2"/> Pluralsight
- [David Tucker](https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/david-tucker) for Cloud
- [Deborah Kurata] (https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/deborah-kurata) for Angular
- [Kate Gregory](https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/kate-gregory) for C++
- [Sander Mak](https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/sander-mak) for Java

---
As always, if you liked this content, maybe you would like to [Buy Me a Coffee](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wheeleruniverse) or connect with me on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/wheeleruniverse/).