Are the CPA Exams fun?

The CPA Exams are fun??

Doing things you love is easy, right? It’s not hard to listen to your favorite music, hang out with your friends, watch your favorite tv show, right? These are all easy things to do. But why?

Well, because they don’t take much effort to begin with. But, more importantly, because you love them. Even the things that do take a lot of effort that you love are easy. It’s easy for me to play soccer because I love it. It doesn’t take a lot of convincing and pushing myself to go kick the ball around. No, it’s one of the easiest things that I can do because I love it.

You might be wondering where I’m going with this regarding the CPA Exam but bear with me.

Well, what if… you loved studying for the CPA Exam??... No? ok, that’s fine. That’s a pretty tough sell. But ok, what if you didn’t hate it? That’s a little more realistic.

Doing things we like is much easier, and more enjoyable, than doing things we hate. So, getting “studying for the CPA exam” as close as possible to being enjoyable, would be a huge boost in your ability to prepare for the exam. I think we can all agree on that.

But the question is; how do I get to a place where I enjoy studying for the CPA exam? Trust me, I get it. Accounting isn’t a thrill. It’s not exhilarating. It’s not going to keep you enthralled all night like a Netflix series. I totally understand all that. But there is something you can do that can completely change your mindset on your studies. I like to call it the brick vs. the Cathedral.

Imagine 2 men are working on a construction project together. They both come in everyday and do the same task. They lay bricks all day long. Brick after brick after brick. These two men are doing the same monotonous job.

Man #1 has a pretty negative outlook on the situation. He feels no passion or purpose through laying these bricks every day. When someone asks him what he does he says “I’m a brick layer.” And when they ask him if he enjoys it he grumbles out a response along the lines of “it pays the bills.”

However, if you were to run into man #2 you would come away with a completely different picture of the situation. He is upbeat, driven, and his enthusiasm is clearly evident when you ask what he does and responds with “I am a bricklayer and I’m on a very special project. I’m building a Cathedral that is going to be the biggest and most beautiful building in town.”

So what’s the difference? These 2 men do the same work but clearly have such different views on the work that they do.

The difference is man #2 has a why. He has a purpose. He has something that he enjoys about his work more than just the paycheck. 

So, this begs the question, what is your cathedral? What is the thing that you can look to while you’re studying for the CPA Exam that will allow you to not just see yourself laying bricks, but building something you can be proud of?

Maybe it’s wanting to make your family proud. Maybe you have a dream job that you need to be a CPA for. Maybe it’s about being able to support your family. It can be anything. It can be anything that will let you see the hours of studying as more than just studying, they are bricks that you’re using to build your cathedral.

For me, it was wanting to be the best accountant that I could be. I figured if I am going through all this trouble to become a CPA I may as well be an amazing one. I may as well become as knowledgeable about my future career as I can. I want to be an amazing CPA.

When that switched for me, things changed from the CPA Exam being something I had to do, but rather something I got to do. It was an opportunity for me to build my future, build my cathedral.

I know that when you make this mindset change, studying still won’t be your favorite thing in the world. But I hope it helps you view the exams as a chance for you to do something special and move towards a goal. Because at the end of the day passing the CPA exam and becoming a CPA is just a means to an end, not an end in itself. You want something more than that. Whatever that something is, keep it in mind and remember this exam is your chance to start building towards it.

Have a great new years! See you all in 2024! 🎆🥂🥳