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.
