CA after 14 Attempt

Many would have heard the title sentence but today would like to share how this statement was transformed into a belief and then into action.

 I would like to share my journey of qualifying Chartered Accountancy after failing for 14 times with the help of below insights.

1. What's Your Why?

For CA Aspirants mainly for those having Exams in coming months I would like them to reflect on a simple but very important question – 'Why you want to become a Chartered Accountant?” And write it down even if it's as simple as – To earn enough money to enjoy life – To make Parents Happy – A stepping stone to build a Career in field of Accounts, Audit & Taxation or any other. Reason for reflecting on this and writing it down is once your 'why” is clear, your journey ahead will be focused and purposeful. Recollecting and reflecting on this will time and again keep you motivated to be on the journey long enough

2. Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is another crucial aspect, as it will help to concentrate more on areas which needs to be worked upon and strategising your study plan accordingly. For me theory subjects (ISCA, Audit) were my weak points as I was not good in memorizing and was not able to score passing marks. I worked upon them by making short keys for headpoints of answers which helped me in recalling it at the exams. I also realized that although practical subjects (FR, SFM, AMA) were my strengths but I wasn't able to score as much as I would like (i.e above 60 mks each), so with limited time in my hand (around 2.5 months) I decided to amend my strategy by focusing more on my weaker subjects (ISCA, Audit) so that I could score atleast 40+ marks in each of them. I scored 64 in ISCA and 54 in Audit.

3. Group Study / Studying with a Colleague

 Some would disagree with the group study / studying with partner idea as it may backfire. I understand, but would suggest following this at least for topics / subjects which require you to concentrate more or are your weaklings. Group Spirit helps in achieving respective goals. However, it is advisable to keep your Study Group consisting of having like-minded people striving to achieve respective individual goals. I indulged myself in this for few topics and it worked wonders for me.

4. Going Back / Revision is the Key Retention

Capacity of our brain generally is very limited. It is always advisable to go back to topics already studied few days ago. Mainly for subjects like Direct and Indirect Tax Laws. Revisionary lectures are available for almost all subjects and uploaded by many professors. Listening to those while walking, having food at regular intervals helped me revising and recapitulating. Doing this repeatedly helped me boost my confidence and also having firm grip on that topic.  

5. Staying in the Game till the End

Needless to say that in this journey, there is going to be bad days, days where we feel like not continuing, days when there is no progress in studies, feeling of giving up, etc. But during these times, remember 'Your Why”. Stop yourself from brooding over the mistake / time wasted, Learn from them, Do Not Stop, Do Not Lose Hope and Keep Moving Ahead. I had approximately 2.5 months for November 2019 attempt. From the beginning my resolve was firm on giving both groups. I wasn't able to cover exhaustively Group II Portion in initial 1.5 months.

I could have easily opted to switch my strategy and my peers would also suggest me to concentrate on one group only. But, it was the risk I was willing to take. It was this risk supported by my past experiences helped me clear both groups, when I had not cleared even one group in my previous 14 attempts.

In the end, I would like to share 2 quotes by learned personalities that inspired me:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful way beyond measure.

We are born to win but conditioned ourselves to lose.

 (Bhavik Shah)