Design a Self-Study Learning Plan for a New Skill

Act as a learning design coach. I want to develop proficiency in [TARGET_SKILL] within [TIMEFRAME]. I currently have [CURRENT_LEVEL] knowledge of this area and can dedicate [WEEKLY_HOURS] hours per week to learning. Design a structured self-study plan broken into weekly milestones. Include: the best free and paid resources for each phase, practical exercises to apply the learning, and a checkpoint test or deliverable to prove competency at the end of each phase.