Let's talk about the difference between training and practice.

Training is what you're doing when you're watching my videos. Reading. Studying. Learning new concepts. That's the training phase. It's where you're filling your head with new knowledge, figuring out how things work, and hopefully saying, "Oh, that's cool... I didn't know you could do that in Access."

But training is only half the story.

The other half is practice. And that's on you.

You've got to take what you learn and go use it. Build something. Make mistakes. Break things. Then fix them. Start your small business database, or your home inventory, or your baseball card collection if that's your thing. Create something that matters to you. It doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be yours.

Then when you hit a wall, come back for more training. Learn the next thing. Then practice again. The cycle repeats.

The truth is, learning never stops. I'm still learning new things every day. I read, I explore, I experiment. But I also use this stuff every single day. I'm not just sitting in the captain's chair telling you what to do. I'm down in engineering, wrench in hand, getting dirty with the same tools.

I used to try including practice assignments and homework-style exercises in my lessons. But honestly, so few people ever did them that I gave up on that. So now, I just leave the practice part up to you. Build what matters to you, and when you get stuck, ask questions. That's what I'm here for. Between me, the forums, and our awesome moderators, we'll get you pointed in the right direction.

So go out there. Learn. Build. Break stuff. Then build it again. That is how you level up.

Make Scotty proud.

LLAP/RR