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I survived, I did it! Most every day this month this feeling washes over me at least once/day.
In that moment I saw that last passing score I realized nothing would be as it once was, and that every thing I had been putting off was now available to me.
Like many of you I had high hopes and expectations of rocking this puppy in ~6 months. After failing test attempts 2 & 3 and going through a serious depression that thankfully only lasted 3 weeks, I jumped back on the horse in December and finished Audit. Studied liked crazy for FAR and…failed again! DOH!! Continued with my spring plan and knocked out BEC and doubled down on FAR going into the Summer. Have I added that we had a baby July 2 and I had a 1.5 year old when I started studying?
Was I crazy? probably
Am I driven? definitely
If you are here, you probably are too! I originally though that would be enough to get me through life, but here are some new traits I’ve learned about myself while going through the last 17 months.
1.) I learned how to “fail”, I don’t believe a failing score is truly a failure, but a means of keeping yourself honest, and understanding what it TAKES to succeed. I knew when I was making excuses, and I knew when I was giving 100%. I have learned my boundaries, and what I am really capable of putting myself through, not just in terms of physically, but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually as well.
2.) I’ve learned how to say NO, even when it hurts. I took on teaching a class at church last fall, it seemed like an easy task, just a few hours/week. In that time period I failed both FAR and AUD, and was devastated. I learned that I had to turn down those opportunities going forward until I was done with the test. Even worse was dealing with my pleading wife and 2 year old to spend time with them. Don’t forget for a second that I neglected them, but I had to learn how to be extremely efficient with my time, along the way my wife learned just as much as I did, but definitely in different areas in life.
3.) Going along with the end of point 2, I’ve learned that time is precious, this life is all we have. In the process of the test we sold our TV since we (collectively) were wasting too much time. There is so much more to life than absorbing information, we live in a wonderful country, beauty that desires to be explored! I’ve appreciated any time I’ve had to hike, hunt, or even just walk around the block and take in how awesome we have it!
4.) The challenges are worth, along with a disclaimer. Challenges are here to improve us, grow us, and make us better people. I’m so much more prepared than I was for the future than I was 17 months ago when I started this journey, in doing this exam my wife and I have both matured significantly and in many ways life feels SO EASY compared to the studying months (the dark months 🙂 ). A word of caution for the driven folks, including myself, it is easy to be overtaken by these extreme challenges and lose everything that matters along the way. No certification, degree, business is worth losing family over.
Thanks for the adventures, I was helped by so many folks along the way, and I hope that I will stick around to give encouragement and motivation to the new folks beginning this challenge. I am a forum junky, so me sticking around shouldn’t be too far fetched 🙂
What’s next? I’m starting a craigslist business, flipping appliances as seen by this site:
recraigslist.com
I’ve been doing this very part time for the past year with a friend from church, and it definitely works! I’ve gotten to know the owner and hope to help carve out a basic accounting/bookkeeping system for myself and the other folks that participate and hopefully move to a more full time basis with that in the next 2-3 years. I’m currently employed at a software company in Spokane, WA and will be here for the foreseeable future, but I never know what the future will bring for me, but I am prepared!
Tom
REG- (1) 76
FAR- (2) 64, (5)74, (7)83 (Over achiever!)
AUD- (3) 70, (4) 75
BEC- (6) 75
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