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Self-Paced Online Seminar... has a nice little ring to it, but what the heck does it mean? 

The online part means that the entire seminar takes place online -- the lessons, the discussion, everything (of course, you can feel free to print things out). 

The seminar part means that you learn by doing more than reading. The lessons are designed to help you actually apply what you are learning through interaction and discussion with other real, live people. 

The self-paced part means that you have complete control over when you access the information, how fast or slow you move through it, and what you spend your time learning.  

So how can you maximize your learning experience?  Here are some tips from previous seminar participants:

• Mark a date on your calendar (or in your Palm Pilot, you hipster you) by which you would like to complete the seminar and make it a goal. This will help you stay focused on completing the entire seminar. (Most people thought 2 months gave them enough time to work through the material and not feel pressured.)
  
  
• Move at your own pace. Whether it's fast or slow, find a pace that you're comfortable with and try to stick with it. Most past participants found that tackling one to two lessons per week gave them enough time to read the lessons and complete the homework.
  
  
• Carve out time in your daily schedule to work through the lessons and homework, and to digest and discuss them.
  
  
• Be flexible with yourself. Don't put undo stress on yourself, but don't lose sight of the end goal, and realize that learning is a life-long process -- this seminar is just one little part.
  
  
• If you feel pressed for time, feel free to skim or visit the lesson summaries and homework. You'll be able to sketch out a plan and return to the material to fill in the details later, when life has calmed down (say, after Fluffy's birthday fish-fry extravaganza).
  
  
• Bookmark interesting Web pages or print out current lessons, get a hole puncher, and keep them all in a binder so you can take notes or keep track of questions as you are reading.
  
  
• Do your homework! It's easy to skip the homework and plan to come back to it later, simply to find that you instead curl up on the couch with a bag of Cheez Crunchlins to watch your favorite reality-TV show. The homework provides the opportunity to apply the lesson principles directly to your own life and can be the most rewarding part of the seminar.
  
  
• Don't be afraid of the discussion boards. Chatting with others about what you've learned, what you're thinking about, and what you might have questions about is one of the best ways to understand and apply the lessons to your own life. Interacting on the boards will also help you stay motivated.