I would like to start by letting you know that I had never thought about the day I would be interested in learning Data Science and Machine Learning. But, let me tell you this, a little spark is all it takes to get things started, to get things moving. You just need the start and the direction and it all keeps going eventually. I got this "spark" when I first watched "Iron Man"! It was so good! I mean I had never known that such magnificent things can be achieved using Artificial Intelligence.
The word "Artificial Intelligence" is perceived in a different sense by each individual on this planet. I've known people who believe that it is just a result of a fictional mind while others do believe in this concept. So I decided to dive deeper and as a result, I found out it is real! I was just discussing things like this with the wrong people! And as a matter of fact, it's not their fault as well. Everyone has their own mindset. The thing I learned from this is "People around you can be misleading, it's up to you whether you want to listen to them or dig deeper, go further"!
After knowing the endless possibilities and things that can be achieved using Artificial Intelligence, the next thing I knew was I want to make a career in this. The first thing after this is how to proceed? How to make sure you are on the right path? What pre-requisite information do you need, and more questions like this start popping up. Now, Artificial Intelligence is a huge field with a whole lot of applications, and the most interesting part is the problems which we think are unsolvable today, may become a piece of a cakewalk in the near future! I've come across a lot of people who want to pursue this career path but they don't know how to code! They don't have any knowledge of statistics and probability but they are ambitious. If you are one of them, the first thing that you should (or I have done) is to learn a programming language that can take you ahead in this journey and concurrently start building the basics of mathematics as well. Great things take time and effort. You are not going to just wake up as a Data Scientist or a Machine Learning Engineer, there's a whole lot of ground to cover and for that, you need to start somewhere!
I've also come across various sources on Intenet that claim to make you a Data Scientist in just a span of 3-4 months. Now let me tell you this, no life-changing skill(one like Data Science and Machine Learning) can be taught in 3-4 months from scratch. I've gone through a course that took me about 2 months to complete and after that, all I can say is I'm just a beginner! It's going to be a long journey and you may face difficulties but, you need to ask questions, get your concepts clear, and keep experimenting in order to succeed.