Motivation

I think the most difficult part of taking this exam is staying motivated to finish it. The information is never-ending and difficult for most which makes it increasingly difficult to maintain a steady study schedule. We start out focused and driven to complete this goal we have set for ourselves and somewhere along the line we get distracted or burned out. Other things in life seem more appealing and we forget the things which kept us driven to achieve this goal in the first place.

The difficulty of these exams can make us feel less self-confident in ourselves which can also hinder our motivation. When we are feeling low it can seem almost impossible to focus or concentrate. I need a daily dose of motivation to keep myself focused on this goal. I can't look far into the distance and see how far I have to go, that for me is discouraging. It feels like I will never be able to finish, the road is to long, to hard, or has to many bumps in it. Instead I need to focus on one day at a time. Accomplishing my small goals that are right in front of me today. That makes me feel successful and keeps me motivated to do it again tomorrow.

What motivates you? I am motivated by competition, I strive to be the best at whatever I do. I try to be so good that they can't ignore me. Instead of striving for a 75 I plan to get as close a 99 as possible. I will learn each section and not move onto another section until I feel that I am so good that I can get a 99 on that section. At the end of each section I plan to assess how good I am. If I feel 100% confident about the material then I shouldn't have any problems when I review the material. For me, being the best at something is motivating for me. If I feel confident about what I am doing and can get 95% on the tests this gives me motivation to move on and master the next section. Motivation is contagious. Surround yourself with positive motivation in every aspect of your life.

"Success or failure is caused more by mental attitude than my mental capacity"

Priorities and the CPA exam

In life, we choose whether or not we want to be a winner or a loser by the simple choices we make day in and day out. We choose to study or not, we choose to focus on whats important or slack off for a day.


I would rather watch the special television shows that my daughter and me love so much instead of outlining a chapter and making notes on it.
I would rather teach my son how to make a broccoli and chicken casserole instead of listening to the lectures on the chapter I just outlined.
I would rather go to the Harry Potter premier with my bestest friend and then go for massages after than study for the entire day to finish a review of an entire section.
I would rather spend the evenings in my husbands arms laughing at our comedy shows and playing games together than making flashcards on the questions that are difficult for me.


Priorities are difficult for me to see the difference between. My children are 14 & 17 and they still like me, they think I am smart and come to be for guidance (for the moment) and I hope to keep those relationships intact.


My priority are always my family first, so how can I put my family first and still study enough to pass the CPA exam? I thought about this for quite some time and realized that passing the exam will greatly benefit my entire family more in the long run of things. I need to think of the benefits this will provide my family in the years to come and not what its taking away from them here today. 


Benefits in future - potential employment opportunities: my own business, my daughter to work with me, larger income, more vacations, retire sooner.


Now that I have my head screwed on straight it will become easier for me to spend the time studying because I know its an investment into our future.


"Purposeful work means you care deeply about something. You're passionate about doing it."

Still learning/regrouping from my failure

Success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.


I am still regrouping from my score that came in. I still can't believe it, I really thought I had nailed audit this time. Somehow I got a lower score. I did change some things this time, so going back to what I was doing before. 


Now its time to keep my focus on the present and future and not so much on my past. Failures are learning experiences. They are here for us to learn something from. I learned that I need to become more focused and study with more focus. Most of the time when I would study I was tired and drained from work. I need to go workout for a bit before my exams so that I have a clearer mind and have more energy.


I have a poor long-term memory, so I plan to review/cram for the last 2-3 days before the exam instead of relaxing. My test scores show I did good in area's that I studied more recently so I think this will benefit me tremendously.