The real question:  How do you do it?

Many times individuals will ask me how I have went from not knowing much about networking to a CCNA and now a CCNP.  My response to them is determination.  There are many individuals out there that will just dump their certifications to have credentials, and in the Cisco market, that normally will end up hurting you in the end.  What happens when an individual does this and gets on the job and can't login to a router, can't fix an issue, can't answer a question?  They end up getting caught with their pants down and it could hurt them with this position and future positions to come.

My answer to how I did it is I picked up a book and I never looked back, I studied for countless hours reading, labbing, watching debugs, and many other things it took to understand the theory behind the madness.  Any questions I had, I had a wonderful mentor to ask and I am grateful for that individual that is willing to answer any questions that I may run into.