This is my First post in CAclubindia, a site I referred a lot during my articleship days and for my CA final preparations as well. Till now I am at the receiving end, and now I decided to give one for you guys.
I cleared my CA final in May 2015 completing the course with the minimum duration that it takes from Class 12. This is stated to make you comfortable that I am not too old and I equally understand your position well from your perspective.
The article is intended to give you positive energy as I see the confidence in CA students is lacking much, perceiving CA as the toughest exam to clear and single digit pass % adds value to this myth.
CA exam or life for instance is tough when you perceive it so. If you think it’s easy, then it’s easy. Your Perception matters.
You should have proper planning with good execution along with confidence and good energy.
Planning:
The CA exam requires proper study plan and I am not the one to tell you study 16 hrs a day with no break, dictating what you should do during the study holidays from morning to night and bla bla things. (you would have heard/read this many times.)
It’s your life. You are at the driving seat, you make your own comfortable study plan. So simply ignore those nerds feeling that the day has got only 24 hrs to study. Let them follow their strategy and you make special one for you.
It’s never too late to start for your preparation. My Recommendation is 3 months. If you have more than 3 months, Tap it right now, don’t wait for any auspicious day to start with. Start with a small step today.
If you have less than 3 Months when you read this article, Don’t Worry. Give your best shot and crack it. It depends on you when it comes to the number of months preparation.
Don’t compare your preparation time with your friends. I got 4 months leave and I know a friend who cleared up in his 3 months leave and other one not fortunate to make it up with 6 months leave. The period doesn’t matter, It’s all YOU that matters.
(The above period of 3 months is based on the Assumption that you have base level knowledge and you know your syllabus and preferably completed your classes if you wished to attend those)
Recommended Guidelines for Planning:
i.Don’t refer multiple books. Believe in the book you read. All books are good if you find it to be good. But you have choice to select one for you. Don’t give this choice to your friend.
ii. Take care while selecting the book. Go to CA book shops, check all available books for a particular subject, give all a quick screening and select the book which convinced you. Consider ICAI books also while selecting.
iii. Try to make a study plan with available time and try to cover atleast 85-90% of the subject.
iv. The above % coverage should be on all subjects. Remember you have 8 papers and all are equally important for you to clear.
v. Spend less time for favourite subjects and work on your weak or uncomfortable chapters.
vi. Plan your time for Revision as well. Recommended is 1 Revision, More than once is good depending upon your available time.
vii. Plan in such a way that a subject can be revised in full in the day before exam.
viii. Don’t compromise on your daily lifestyle much for the exams. Sleep for at least 7 hrs.
Execution of Plan:
Now, you are ready with your own plan. The plan should be broken into small executable targets. Please Review your plans frequently (Recommended- at least 3-4 days once).Review is necessary to find whether you are on the right track.
Go ahead and finish it off in your own style.
If you cannot achieve your plans/targets you made, you are absolutely NORMAL. Don’t panic. Failing in a study plan is normal loss as you study in costing.
Many Persons fail in their plans. You are not the one. I failed miserably in my study plan not once, twice, thrice. It’s as many times that I could not even remember that.
If you understand that you missed your plans in your review, then you are on the right track. Check the possible reason why you have failed. It can be anything, may be setting unachievable plans, lack of self believe, peer pressure, etc,.
Try to overcome the reason which stopped you achieve your target. Don’t ask me how to overcome that, Remember It’s your life, You are the ultimate boss to decide what you are going to do.
Confidence and Positive Energy:
The confidence is lacking in the preparation stage as you feel you don’t have enough time and much lacking after giving the first one or two papers and a paper with little toughness. It happens to all. You are one among the group.
This happened to me after writing my Financial Reporting paper, it’s lengthy the Question paper ran to 24 pages and even few experts commented it’s not the paper to complete in 3 hours, students asked for some moderation and all stuffs going around all sites. I was disappointed and could not estimate my marks. The question to me and my friends (and guess for many) is whether to concentrate on Group 2 as we get other week to strongly rock the next group atleast.
At that point, I decided to simply shift my focus on next papers as Past is not in your hands and if I get at least 40 in FR my other papers have to give me the aggregate of 50%. I had confidence on me to move ahead.
Think Had I quit I would have appeared for my second attempt.
You would have struggled a lot in your life for attaining this Qualification, you would have possibly sacrificed some things which your other Non CA friends do because of your course, articleship, early morning classes etc. Think why are you making these sacrifices?
Today you could think you sacrificed a lot but remember the benefits you will definitely reap in future. Continue your sacrifice for the exams as well composing yourself for some more months forward and then no one can stop you from being a successful Chartered Accountant.
Keep your energy level high. Don’t think it’s not possible for you. Think in a positive way. If you are not clearing then who else can do.
To get motivated, you can surf youtube for motivational and inspiring videos. Watch them.
Do prepare well for the exams.
Summary:
You are the driver of your life.
Don’t compare your preparation with your peers. Don’t bother about the society for little time at least.
Follow your own style of planning.
Don’t skip much portions. Don’t change your life style much for exams.
Follow a single book for a subject. Plan for at least 1 revision. Make 1 day enough to revise all concepts of a subject.
Execute your own plan. Review frequently. Analyse the reason for your target being missed.
Your perception and confidence matters.
Don’t lose faith on yourself. Boost yourself by surfing internet to tap positive energy.
Study well and you are studying for YOU. It is you going to be a Chartered Accountant, the cream layer of the society. So put your efforts to reap the benefits.
All the Very Best Guys. Go ahead and rock.
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