Advice to Myself

After finishing a one-year program at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill to get a master’s degree in accounting in May 2015 I spent a great deal of time in 2016 and 2017 studying for CPA exams.

There are four parts to the test. I passed the first two (which I had studied for properly), in May and June 2016, and failed the next two (which I had not studied for properly), in July and August 2016. Upon receiving the results I felt like if I studied for the last two the way I had studied for the first two I would be able to pass, so I started studying in fall 2016 and studied very diligently for a number of months then took a little break then got back to it over the summer and re-took the tests in August 2017. I passed both of the remaining tests the second time around. Hooray for me.

After getting through those and feeling officially done with school — and also no longer being self-employed, and also dealing with many complications in both my personal life and my professional for the next several years — I closed the door to my office and didn’t go back for … a while. Like maybe three years. (The office is in the upper level of a detached garage in the back of my property so it is pretty easy to ignore.)

When I finally managed to get around to getting back out there to try to clean things up and reorganize, I found the note shown in the picture above amongst the piles of paper on my desk. This was a note I had written to myself when wrapping up studying and doing my final preparations for re-taking the tests in August 2017.

One of the problems I had the first time around, when I was seriously underprepared for the second two exams, was that I would skim the question then start freaking out when I didn’t know anything about that question. Like, anything. On multiple occasions I felt like I didn’t even know what they were talking about. But even if you don’t know what they are talking about, you still have to give an answer. So this was my step-by-step plan for managing the situation that had sunk me the first time around.

Step One: Don’t Panic. Do not let your brain jump the fence and run away. You cannot do anything when you are panicking, your mind goes completely blank. And while it may seem like not enough to simply tell yourself to not panic, I have actually found telling yourself not to panic to be an effective strategy. DON’T PANIC.

The next step is to go back and actually read the question. Don’t just skim it and freak out. Actually read it. Carefully. What are they asking? What is the topic? Break it down as much as you can to get to the actual subject of the question, and to understand what they are specifically asking for. READ THE QUESTION.

The next step, now that you have read the question calmly, with the part of your brain that is inclined to panic firmly tethered, and have a better understanding of what the question actually says, is to think about what you know about that topic. Even if it feels like you don’t know anything, you probably know something, however small and insignificant. Whatever thing you can remember on that topic, just start with that. Write it down.Then keep going. THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU KNOW.

This was good advice for the exams, it helped me pass. And upon seeing it again, lo those many years later, it struck me as good advice in general.

Because even when you think you don’t know what to do, you think you don’t know anything, you probably know something.

So take a deep breath, calm your mind, look closely at what is being asked of you: What, exactly, do you need to do here?

Start with what you know, the smallest thing you can think of, and move forward from there.