Stop Taking Classes — Start Managing Something Already
Every few months, someone reaches out to me and says, “I’m thinking about moving into project management!”
And I love that for you.
Really. I do.
But then we chat — and what I get back is a glorious word salad of PM terms.
Scope, stakeholders, risks, dependencies, deliverables, work breakdown structure — all tossed together like a Caesar with too much dressing.
When I start poking at it — “Okay, tell me how you’d actually do that” — it all falls apart faster than a post-launch retrospective.
Here’s the thing: you can’t just take classes.
You can’t just learn project management.
You have to apply it. Repeatedly. Until you can’t not think in inputs, outputs, and impacts.
Stop Memorizing. Start Practicing.
You know what happens when you keep taking courses but never apply them?
You become fluent in PM jargon, not PM judgment.
Project management isn’t about memorizing the PMBOK glossary.
It’s about learning how to think.
How to define, de-risk, decide.
I can always spot someone who’s taken too many courses and not enough action.
When I ask how they’d kick off their project, they’ll confidently tell me:
“I’d start working with stakeholders to build the task list!”
Task list for what, exactly?
You don’t even know the scope yet! You skipped right over initiation like it’s the boring chapter before the dragons show up.
Let’s Make It Real
When people freeze, I switch to my favorite analogy:
“Okay, imagine your mom walks in and says, ‘Plan a party for Aunt Susan,’ then walks away.”
What do you do?
You ask questions, right?
“Is it a birthday party? Surprise or no? Who’s coming? Where’s it happening? Any food allergies? Is Aunt Susan a karaoke person or more of a quiet brunch type?”
Congratulations — that’s project initiation and requirements gathering.
Then you research venues (vendors), estimate costs (budget), invite guests (stakeholders), and build the plan (schedule).
And when the DJ cancels last minute and the cake collapses? That’s risk management in action.
Practice, Practice, Practice
The secret to becoming a real project manager isn’t another certificate.
It’s repetition.
Apply your PM skills to everything:
Planning your weekend trip? That’s a project.
Organizing your kid’s birthday? That’s a project.
Prepping for your next 1:1 with your boss? That’s a project.
Planning meals for the week so you can go grocery shopping? Yep, also a project.
Define the goal.
Gather the inputs.
Identify risks.
Plan the execution.
Reflect on what worked (and what flopped spectacularly).
The more you do, the more natural it becomes. You’ll stop quoting frameworks and start thinking like a PM — adjusting scope before chaos erupts, clarifying expectations before someone volunteers you for something insane, and balancing resources like you’re running the Olympics of coordination.
The Bottom Line
Stop buying more courses hoping the next one will “click.”
It won’t — until you practice.
Project management isn’t theory.
It’s action, alignment, and a whole lot of learning from mistakes (and maybe a collapsed cake or two).
So go plan a party.
Run your errands like a sprint.
Treat your life like a series of projects — because it is.
That’s how you stop studying project management…
and start being a project manager.
