#144 May 30th, 2024
Blake Carroll, CPA
PwC People Team - Manager | Helping Aspiring CPAs Navigate the CPA Exam with Confidence
I am a huge planner so this article really resonated with me. People like planning because it gives us certainty, and it can diminish our fear of the unknown. Our brains are wired to try to feel safe. Planning isn't bad by nature, but it can become bad if it leads to us becoming inflexible when things don’t go according to plan. At that point it can become a net negative effect.?
Think about how many plans you’ve created that had to change. When do things ever go perfectly according to plan? Part of life is learning how to respond and react when things don’t go the way we expect them to.?
How many times did things not go according to plan but they actually turned out better? I bet some of the best things in your life are things you didn't plan for. So what’s the lesson here? We can’t control if things will go like we plan. What we do control is how we react and how we respond. Fear or excitement. Negativity or optimism. We can choose to make the most of whatever happens.?
This article explores why defining success as more wealth, fame, or status, will actually keep you further from real success. You can never have enough of those things to fully satisfy you. There will always be someone you could compare yourself to that has more than you, unless you’re Elon Musk.
Traditional success measures put you on the never ending hedonic treadmill. Only focusing on money or career advancement can also make you lose the joy in your work or your craft. Initially you got into it simply because you enjoyed it, but then if it becomes about earning and productivity is most likely will not be as fun. It may not be worth it to achieve your goals if you’re not enjoying your day to day life as you work toward them.?
A lot of people self identify as a perfectionist and hold themselves to an impossibly high standard. I think the modern era of social media driven comparison has made perfectionism more common since it has increased how much we feel like we are on display and being judged by other people for how we perform.?
It can be powerful to realize that the root of perfectionism is fear. Not just fear of failing but fear of being seen by others as we fail. It’s kind of ironic to fear others watching us mess up rather than the consequences of the mess up itself. But people are probably not paying as much attention to you as you think they are because they are actually worried about themselves and what others think of them. This mental bias is known as the spotlight effect.?
It’s also helpful to realize that we probably developed perfectionism as we were growing up in order to gain approval from our parents, teachers, or peers. There are definitely some good effects because it can drive you to work hard, but there is a point that it becomes detrimental as it leads to so much pressure on ourselves.?
Perfectionism can also hold you back because unless you know you can do something flawlessly you will not even attempt it. But it’s better to do something mostly right than to never make a move at all. Therefore perfectionism can keep you stuck because you are afraid to take any risk. It’s all about bringing awareness to the aspects of perfectionism that work against us. When we see how it is holding us back if it comes easier to break free from it.?
Have you or someone you care about ever stayed in a situation that everyone knew was bad for them? It could’ve been a job, relationship, or town that did not serve their ultimate goals.?
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Our brains crave certainty, so they will keep us in situations that we know even if the situations are not making us happy. The fear of the unknown and taking risk can be just that strong. It’s so easy to think of everything that could go wrong if we leave our current situation to try to create something better. We think about the worst case scenario happening, but what if the best case scenario actually happens? What if it works out better than you could hope for??
Even if it doesn’t, it’s highly unlikely you’re going to completely destroy your life by making a change, plus you will experience learning and growth by stepping out and trying something new. Don’t stay stuck in the same place your whole life just because you’re afraid of a little uncertainty. Life is going to throw uncertainty at you anyway, so you might as well get to choose what happens to you. We regret the things we don’t do much more than the things we do try.
CPA tip of the week: According to the AICPA, these were the pass rates for the CPA exam sections in 2023:
Section Q1-Q3 cumulative
AUD 46.92%
FAR 42.94%
REG 59.19%
If you got a score back yesterday that was not what you were hoping for it does not mean that you can’t pass.
It means you are going through a very normal part of the journey to becoming a CPA.
Yes it’s frustrating to have to retake a section, but most people who are CPAs went through the same thing at some point!
The only true failure is quitting!
If you need a coach or a mentor on the CPA exam I would love to help you and work together; please check out my website below:
Megan Lewczyk, CPA, CMA on the NASBA releasing CPA scores a week early!