[75 CPA]

I read the following by Joe Hoyle when I do not feel like studying:

I was recently reading a fictional book about Shakespeare and someone in that book asked him how he could write so many magnificent works. His answer was immediate and to the point: “I worked very hard.”

I think we all give way too much credence to the importance of virtually everything other than hard work. Whether you are playing football or baseball or studying for intermediate accounting or preparing for the CPA Exam, there really is absolutely nothing that takes the place of hard work. It is hard to get successful at anything without hard work.

I have taught in college now for 38 years; I have worked with tens of thousands of students and exam candidates. I have found that virtually all of my students are capable of making an A. However, I already know who WILL make an A. If you teach something for that many years, you learn such things. Almost without exception, the students who get the high grades are the ones who work the hardest. Just like Shakespeare: simple and to the point. It is not about ability; it is not about smarts; it is not about having the knack. It is much more basic than that. The students who work the hardest—put in the most hours and do so with genuine intensity—tend to earn the good grades.

Ray Kroc, the man who built McDonalds into the giant company it is today has a wonderful and famous quote: “Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get.”

How much are you sweating in order to pass the CPA Exam? If you are not sweating, you probably need to work a bit harder.

There is a question that is probably the most important one that you can ask yourself while you are preparing for the CPA Exam: Am I outworking the other candidates or are they outworking me? That is a question that I don’t often hear people asking but I think that is the crucial question. If you can truthfully say “I know there are thousands of people who really want to become CPAs and they are studying very hard but I am still outworking them” then you are on the road to success. Your sweat is making you lucky. However, if you know, deep down in your heart, that lots and lots of people around the world are outworking you, then you know what you have to do. You have to kick it up a notch. You have to push yourself just a little bit more. You have to figure out how to work as hard as they are.

How do you start? How do you work harder? Start by working just 15 more minutes every day. If you usually work 75 minutes each day, then work 90 minutes instead. That doesn’t seem like much of a change but you just increased your time BY 20 PERCENT. Everyone can find 15 free minutes per day. Don’t try to double your time; that is not realistic. Make it your goal over the next week to add 15 minutes per day to your study time. Even that small of a change can add an incredible amount of points to your total.

Okay, I know what you are going to say: “I’m working so hard now, I’m so busy now, I’m so pushed for time now, that I cannot add even 15 minutes per day.”

Well, let me ask you this question. If I said that I would give you $1 million just as soon as you passed the final part of the CPA Exam, what would happen?????

The answer is simple. If the reward is big enough, YOU will make time. You would stop sleeping as much; you would take a shorter lunch break; you would stay on email less; you would cut out all unnecessary activities so you could study. If the reward is big enough, everyone will pass.

So, do not come back and tell me that you just cannot find the time. Everyone makes time for what they really want to do. I am not asking for hours. I am only asking you to add 15 minutes per day. There just has to be some way to squeeze out a few extra minutes during the day.

That is my challenge to each person on our email list for this week: I want 15 minutes more in study time each and every day. Make it happen. Don’t make excuses; make it happen. You will be surprised by how much luckier you start to get when you start to work a bit harder. We can accomplish ever so much by just putting things into priority and working a bit more efficiently and adding those 15 minutes.

[jeff]

I met Joe in New York…seemed like a really nice guy.

[Anonymous]

I’ve seen his videos on You Tube. I love the part when he says “You can get those 75 points”.

Truly inspiring.

[financeguy]

wow I really liked that…who is this guy?

I also really like the quote by the guy who built mcdonalds.

AUD - 81, BEC - 74, 80, FAR - 82, REG - 81
Done!

[Anonymous]

Financeguy, register for cpareviewforfree.com and he will send you emails like 75 CPA posted weekly. He is the co-founder of cpareviewforfree.com and on the accounting faculty at Univ. of Richmond.

[Anonymous]

I have not been studying as much as I should and I keep making excuses. That was just the kick in the butt I needed. Thank you!

[75 CPA]

More from Joe Hoyle…

I have a poster on the wall of my office (here at the University of Richmond). It has been there now for at least 20 years. It is a wonderful essay written by Joe Paterno that first appeared in the Wall Street Journal two decades ago. Even now, I read this essay about every three months. Paterno is one of the true winners in this world and I have always been fascinated by what true winners have to say. I think you can learn more helpful stuff from true winners than you can from anyone else. Losers tell you how to lose; winners tell you how to win.

There are a number of lines in Paterno's essay that I love but the main one (for me) is:

“The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.”

It is a line that-even after 20 years-I think about often. To me, success is all about “the will to prepare.”

I have worked with thousands of students and CPA exam candidates over the years and the desire to win and succeed and get rich and famous is almost universal. Heck, who wouldn't want that? If you walk into any group and just ask “how many of you folks want to be successful, want to be winners?” they will practically knock you down as they wave their hands in the air.

Don't let anyone tell you there is a shortage of ambition in the world.

However, from my experience, true success comes from what I call “channeled ambition.” That is the deep desire that gives you the strength to get up and do the dull and boring stuff that you have to do in order to be successful. In other words, channeled ambition provides you with the energy needed to prepare yourself for success-not just occasionally but every day. And, that is very tough because preparation can be truly boring so that it can be easy to fall back on shortcuts. We are hyperactive people; we love shortcuts. I'm convinced that most people fool themselves into believing that shortcuts work as well as real preparation (and that just isn't the case). It takes incredible self-discipline to skip the shortcuts and do the preparatory work every day. Do you have channeled ambition?

At this very moment, I am giving a final exam to my Intermediate Accounting II class. It is an extremely hard course covering deferred taxes, defined benefit pension plans, capital leases, earnings per share, statement of cash flows, contingencies, bonds, and the like. I was talking before the test with one of my students who really wants to improve her grade. I knew she had been working quite hard for this exam because I had gotten a number of questions by email from her over the week-end. I asked her how many hours she had studied for this one test. Her response was quick: about 30. Most students simply don't have the self-discipline to study 30 hours for one college test. I don't know how she will do but she has put herself into position where she can do well. That is what I want when the test starts-for her to be in position to do well. Without proper preparation, it is almost impossible to work those intermediate accounting questions. With preparation, she has a great chance to earn a better grade. There are no guarantees but she has a good shot.

Whether it is Intermediate Accounting II or the CPA Exam or just life in general, there is little advice that can be better than what Joe Paterno wrote in the Wall Street Journal about 20 years ago:

“The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.”

[The GaJone]

Reading that definitely helps when you're sitting at home by yourself at 9:00 on a Saturday night trying to study and hating your life!

FAR: 81 (1/20) AUD: 88 (2/27) REG: 91 (4/19) BEC: 75 (5/20)

[Anonymous]

SO TRUE!!!!

I wasn't the best student in undergrad – worked too much, played too much, not enough time/effort put into school.

I worked very hard for my exams. No, I didn't ace them (see signature), however, I am extremely proud that I passed them all on the first go-around in a short time span, while also working on a very challenging client.

I was shocked at how often I was asked by peers that were sitting “So, did you do the Becker homework questions?” Then they were almost shocked when I said yes, and I did them 2-3x's. It's not that I am an awesome accountant, or that I have a photographic memory (I can't remember ANYTHING, ask my wife!), it's that I put the time and effort in.

[Anonymous]

pls can somebody help me with an effective study strategy or guide to tackle far ??? any ideas on flashcards or free note supplements. i cannot take notes with my review bcos they r all over the place NS TEch from the top of their head and solve mcs…especially for chapters 7a,b,c and d… reg was more co-ordinated than far bcos i understood only by watching and had no need to read th wilry book which is a major bore and so voluminous.

uurgent help is needed!!

[Anonymous]

Here's a tip (and I am not being a smarta$$) – there's no secret, there's no “right” way.

Some people learn better by doing questions over and over….some people bu reading and rereading. Some people (me) do best with a combination thereof.

I've never found flashcards to be helpful – as far as I can remember back in school, I hated them and they never helped. So, I didn't use them. Other people need them to pass.

It's all about self-awareness. What works best for you? By the time you're sitting for the CPA you've had plenty of school and should have a vague idea.

Also, don't cheat yourself. After an hour commute each way and working 10-11 hours, I'd find myself physically reading and watching a lecture and absorbing nothing. That's when it's time to call it quits – you're only cheating youself if you consider that “studying”. I completed 95% of my studying on weekends because of the long hours mentioned above.

Oh, and give yourself time. Don't pull the “I passed one, so I deserve two months off BS”. I typically did about a chapter a week, with a 1-2 week break in between exams. Yes, I slacked some weeks and had to make it up. I started studying the last week of June 2009 and was finished with all 4 in Feb. Be diligent, give up your life for a few months.

I started with what I thought would be the hardest and worked my way down. My theory was that I didn't want to pass all but one and then hit the 18 month hurdle. I also knew I'd get burned out. I was right on that one (burned out). I also scheduled all my exams for Monday mornings. I am too worn out at the end of the week. For FAR and REG, I took the Friday before off. I had three full days to just study, and that's all I did. I re-reviewed everything. I'd study for a couple of hours, when I was tired I'd take a 30-60 min nap….then back at it. A nap did wonders for me to recharge the batteries. I am a morning person (as much as I hate to admit it), so I took the exams early. I'd be crashing and burning in a 4:00 exam.

Those are my tips. 🙂 If I can do it, anyone can!

Someone once told me the exam isn't a test of knowledge, it's a test of endurance and persistence. I think that's very true in a sense!

[75 CPA]

Be flexible. This is not college. You will never feel like you have mastered the material. These exams cover more than what you had in college.

Schedule two exams at a time. Study FAR first BEFORE the 18 month clock starts ticking. FAR takes the longest preparation time. Be sure to take FAR before AUD.

Accountants are perfectionists. We want to know EXACTLY how many hours it takes to study. There is no answer to that question. Study until you feel comfortable with the material or until you run out of time.

College was a piece of cake. I can teach anyone to be a 4.0 student. These CPA exams are something that I have never faced, however. I am teaching myself 50% of the material and with good review materials, learning the material is not a problem. The problem is the volume of material to learn. It just never ends.

I realize that I never will be “perfectly ready” like I was in college. It is very frustrating for me to miss multiple choice questions because I did not understand the call of the question, etc. The examiners are infamous for using unfamiliar verbiage, using distracter information, etc. I keep reminding myself the perfection is the enemy of good enough, and only the examiners know what “good enough” is. I do not have a clue.

Pick your review materials carefully. You will not pass the CPA exams without good review materials! If I had to pick the best review course, I would pick Yaeger. No one matches his personal help. Yaeger is the only review course, other than Garland at Lambers and Bob Monette at Bisk, that drills down to the multiple choice questions.

No review course can cover all of the subjects tested. Therefore, I am now using the strengths of each review program to help me pass. I would rather spend the money now then have to retake these CPA exams! However, with the exception of AUD, you can only study one review program at a time!

[75 CPA]

14 study days left for AUD – Today's e-mail from Joe:

I know that there are a lot of you reading this email who are studying for the CPA Exam, probably in the current April-May window. I know that it doesn't always go well. In many cases, you mean to study but there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day. Or, you think you know a topic but then you cannot answer the questions. Or, you start to study late at night and you are so tired that you fall asleep. Trust me, there is always a point where every candidate is on the verge of giving up. The desperation cry of the CPA Exam candidate: “This is stupid; I'm just going to quit.”

Well, don't do it!!!

No matter how far down you are, don't give up. I realize that I am an optimistic person but tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow is the chance for you to turn things around. Tomorrow is an opportunity for you to add a point or two and get closer to passing. In fact, today is not over yet. You can begin the climb back up RIGHT NOW.

The past is just that: the past. It has no direct relevance to your work today. Don't let the past ruin the present. All you've got in life is the present. Don't build up excuses for yourself by dwelling in the past.

Okay, you cannot add 25 points in one day. That's impossible-no matter how hard you work. But, regardless of what you have done in the past, there is no reason why you cannot add a point or two today. And, another point or two tomorrow. And, then, you are on a roll. The month of May still has 19 days left. If you can average adding 1.5 points per day (and that is a goal that I think everyone can make), you can turn a 47 today into a passing score by the end of May. It is not a miracle. It is not a dream. It is not impossible. It is just a measly 1.5 points per day.

But, the secret is that you have to get started today and you have to make legitimate progress.

You can't just talk about studying.

You can't just dream about studying.

You can't just pray about studying.

My goal would be that you add one point for every 20 questions that you attempt. That is a very reasonable goal. Thus, to get 1.5 points per day, you need to answer 30 questions and read the answers (very carefully for the ones you miss).

But you can't dream about it – you have to sit down and block out the time and turn off the television and stop drinking the beer and forget about everything but those 30 questions.

For the rest of May, I want you to be a question answering machine. Whether you've been a lazy bum for your entire life or not, for the rest of May, I want you to promise yourself that-at a minimum-you will answer 30 questions per day and you will read those answers and you will take a few quick notes so you can get the question right the next time. “Get the question right the next time” should be your mantra.

Even if you've hit the bottom, there is no reason to give up. That doesn't do you one bit of good. You have to set a reasonable goal for yourself for TODAY and then you have to have the self-discipline to grind out that work. Nothing but today and 30 questions should be on your mind.

Forget what you have done in the past, no matter how bad it has been. Make it happen TODAY – 30 questions and answers and add 1.5 points.

[75 CPA]

Let us get motivated and put it into high gear, folks! My exam in AUD is in 14 days! I am making between 70% and 90% on my Gleim Tests. I need to hit 85% to 90% on those exams before I feel comfortable going into the AUD exam.

I am playing for all of the marbles! This is my last exam. If I pass, I am finished with these exams forever! I am not even going to think about the other possibility.

I said a prayer this morning for myself and all of you. I have my cup of coffee. Let's get to it!

[Author]

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