I trust your experience enough not to argue with you.
Unfortunately, I'm using taking my General by the 21st of this month as a litmus test.
I've been suffering from sleep deprivation (working 3rd shift is NOT fun at my age) and have been attempting to study for my CCNA. My retention of the CCNA material has been garbage, largely due to my sleep issues all this year. I was hoping to take the CCNA prior to 30 Sep, didn't happen.
I think I've got the sleep deprivation beat at this point, but I don't want yet another false start. So I'm using getting my General to see if I can actually start (and finish!) my CCNA.