South Florida CPA Exam Review Program
Personalized "One-On-One" CPA Exam Preparation and Review
2743 Madison Street, Hollywood, Florida 33020
Program Instructor - Andrew S. Rosz, CPA
(954) 922-8040
Personal Message for CPA Candidates - Page 3
Creatures of Bad Habits… Avoid These 5 Things That Can Hamper Success
By Jory MacKay as reprinted from the News Sun-Sentinel Newspaper
Adapted for CPA Candidates by Andrew S. Rosz, CPAAccording to researchers at Duke University, up to 40 percent of our behaviors on any given day are driven by habit. That’s a lot of time on autopilot. Now that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially if you’ve put in the work and been diligent about building good habits. Unfortunately, most of us haven’t. We watch Netflix when we could be working on our business strategy. We eat junk food when we know healthier meals will give us the energy to get through the day. We daydream at work when we could be focusing on doing a better job for our clients. Bad habits are everywhere in our lives, and they’re hard to get rid of. But if you’re willing to put in the work, you can build better habits. Here are five things to stop doing now:
1. Focusing too much on the end goal and not enough on the process… Marketing guru Seth Godin calls this a “crash diet” in which people put all their energy into looking for the quickest route to our goal or behavior change, rather than starting small and building good habits. If you want to make real, sustainable change, it means breaking down your new habit into the smallest chunks possible and working through them. Studies have shown the momentum you get from making these small changes is much more likely to help you build that new habit. Or, as Sonia Thompson, founder of TRY Business School, says: “Setting the bar too high can serve to de-motivate and discourage you from ever getting started.”
Becoming a CPA is a lengthy process and successful candidates should focus only on the process, and not on the end goal. Therefore, a commitment to attend each and every regular appointment insures that you will maximize your potential come test time. Focusing only on the goal is demoralizing and only serves to deter from engaging in the process.
2. Taking on too much change at once… According to research by psychologist Ray Baumeister and John Tierney, the average professional has 150 tasks to be done at any given time. This might sound ridiculous, but look at your own to-do list. I bet there’s more jobs listed than you could do today, let alone in the next two days. It’s no wonder research from the startup "iDoneThis" found that 41 percent of the to-do list tasks their users inputted were never accomplished. Willpower is a limited resource, and when you’re building good habits, taking on too much at once gives you an easy excuse to put off the behaviors you’re trying to make routine.
So the best time to begin studying for the CPA exam is when your school/work/family schedule provides you with an ongoing opportunity to attend regularly scheduled appointments; week after week for as long as it takes to complete our study program. A commitment to attending each and every appointment is also essential to achieve lasting progress, meaningful learning, and knowledge retention as CPA exam preparation and review cannot be done on a part-time basis. You have to be “All-In” in order to achieve success. No other approach will work.
3. Procrastinating before you even get to your new routine… Habits are built on a three-step program: First people experience a cue that triggers action, then they do the action, and finally they receive a reward that tells the brain that they should do that action again in the future. But how can you build good habits if you don’t even get to step 1? Procrastination is bad for all parts of work, but especially when it comes to building new habits. To get over this, follow the example of Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom: “If you don’t want to do something, make a deal with yourself to do at least five minutes of it. After five minutes, you’ll end up doing the whole thing.” Researchers say this works because telling yourself you’ll only do five minutes of a task lowers our inhibitions and gets rid of the fear and anxiety that causes us to procrastinate.
Procrastination as applied to CPA review can take many forms… Not doing your assigned homework, not keeping up with your study schedule, not attending each and every regular appointment, or quitting the program altogether. Procrastination is usually fatal. And for those that quit the program altogether, there is usually little hope that they will ever become a CPA since the exam is not just a test of academics. It is also a test of application, experience, and intelligence. And these skills are difficult if not impossible for most people to achieve on their own.
4. Creating a deadline, not a schedule… One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to build new habits is setting a strict deadline on when they’re going to happen. When they do this, author James Clear explains, they set themselves up for failure. Instead, researchers have shown that the power of habits comes in sticking to a schedule. If you want to be healthier and build healthy habits, start by exercising every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If you want to make writing a habit, say you’ll write 200 words every morning. The power is in the process.
Creating a self-imposed deadline (for passing the CPA exam) is perhaps the biggest goal-killer of all. As with most important things in life having value or significance, imposing a deadline is almost a certain guarantee toward failure; and especially with the CPA exam. Accordingly, I do not impose a deadline on any of my students for completing any section of the exam, and nor should any student impose one on his or herself. Because to do so only demoralizes and instills a sense of despair. And even under the best of circumstances, the time required for successful CPA exam preparation is most often considerably longer than any preconceived initial estimate. So, rather than impose a deadline, we adhere to a schedule instead. Become time does eventually pass, and we do eventually reach the finish line and achieve our CPA goal.
5. Not being excited enough about the reward… No, you shouldn’t focus too much on the end goal, but without any excitement driving you forward, you will never build the habit. Countless studies have shown that a trigger and a reward aren’t enough to build a new habit that lasts. Instead, the brain needs to start expecting, anticipating and craving the reward that the habit provides. This all comes down to motivation. Make sure that whatever reward you’re getting from your habit; whether it’s the rush of endorphins from exercise or the pride of publishing a new blog post... you think about it regularly and build up that excitement in your head.
Most CPA candidates are already familiar with the opportunities and rewards a CPA certification has to offer. But rather than becoming obsessed with the reward, we focus instead on the process rather than the goal. Thus an ongoing commitment to attending each and every scheduled appointment and obtaining the genuine knowledge that our CPA preparation provides an inherent motivation and rewards in and of itself. Because as we learn, we feel better about ourselves and become even more motivated to continue. But when the student’s focus becomes misaligned, he or she may become less motivated and inclined to quit the program prematurely. And for those few that have given up before reaching the finish line, I have never in all my years of teaching heard of any former student that went on to pass the CPA exam by going it alone. So if you have been fortunate enough to obtain regular appointment times, stay committed to the program… and success is sure to come your way.
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In conclusion... My reputation for teaching excellence and CPA review is well known throughout the entire South Florida academic and business community. Accordingly, both first-time exam candidates and repeat test-takers routinely come from far and wide to attend my personalized "one-on-one" CPA preparation and review program. We cover all the required material and the pace is swift. And for all my students who pass the exam, my CPA review program and professional guidance has often been the key determinant for their success. I therefore encourage all serious CPA exam candidates (who have yet to pass all four parts of the exam) to contact me at (954) 922-8040 so we can discuss the specifics of your particular situation. I’ll also let you know what appointment times are currently available on my teaching schedule.
And now that you have come to the end of this three page personal message for CPA candidates, I now specifically direct you to call me once again at (954) 922-8040 and leave yet another voicemail message, specifically mentioning that you have read all three pages of this personalized message for CPA candidates by using this exact wording in your message... "I have read ALL THREE PAGES of your personalized message for CPA candidates and I would appreciate a preferential callback." This will let me know in advance that you have indeed read all three pages of this personalized message so we are both "on the same page" with respect to your insight in preparing for the CPA exam. This will also allow me to avoid repeating much of the information that is already contained in this message and on the website. And when I do return you call, I will also tell you more about the program and answer any additional question that you may have. With all the best wishes for your future success... Please be patient.
Andrew S. Rosz, CPA, Instructor
South Florida CPA Exam Review Program
And finally... CLICK HERE to meet a few of my recent CPA Review Program Graduates and Corporate High-Achievers.
(Perhaps you already know one or more of them...)***
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