#73 December 1st, 2022
Blake Carroll, CPA
PwC People Team - Manager | Helping Aspiring CPAs Navigate the CPA Exam with Confidence
Thought of the Newsletter: I absolutely believe that anyone who puts in the necessary time and effort studying and preparing for the CPA exam is capable of passing all four sections. It gets at the idea that it is a test of endurance and grit as much as it is a test of intelligence, if not more so. It’s also very normal to experience doubt, stress, or worry along the way. There is a ton of information and it is a path that takes many months, but if you stick with it and just keep working at it you will get there.
If you’re struggling with trying to figure out how to delegate more at work this article is perfect for you. There is simply no getting around it that as you?move up the leadership chain and into management positions you are going to have to learn how to delegate. The highest positions are going to require a time and skill set that will not allow for things that people underneath you can do. It can be really tough to give up control, but you need to have faith in the people around you. It also speaks to the importance of hiring the right people, because if you do that and trust them that makes delegating much easier. When was the last time you really focused and thought about what you do that brings the most value to your organization, and what you do that no one else can do? What if you went all in on those areas, then how valuable could you be? After you delegate make sure you do not micromanage. Give people the time and freedom and trust to do the tasks in the way that they think is best. If you let people have a say in things like that they will be much better workers than if it is all ordered from you. You just need to make sure to double check that they do understand the task and what success looks like. Then give them the freedom to get it done!?
This is a short but powerful read about how crazy it is how often information workers let themselves get distracted. So many other professions never involve multitasking, but for some reason a lot of information workers think they can just task switch nonstop all day and be effective. For some reason we feel so much more valuable by responding to emails and chats as opposed to actually doing our jobs. The author also presents time blocking as a solution and describes how to do it.
This article captures a lot of the reasons why I am so skeptical of the financial advising industry. I completely agree with the author that much of it can be self-taught these days from free online resources. Unfortunately, I also agree that a lot of financial advisors are really sales people who do not know much about personal finance at all. It’s easy for people to be swayed by the illusion of expertise. The results can be buying a bunch of financial products you don’t really need, or having fees really erode your investment returns. There are better ways, and it will require doing some homework yourself, but in my opinion it’s totally worth it.?
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A lot of diets and meal plans use the concepts of cheat meals or cheat days, but this article gets into why that might not be a helpful tactic. The reason is all around the concept of certain foods being prohibited and off-limits, which creates a lot of danger of guilt and shame. Often,?people may be more drawn to something simply because it is forbidden; it makes us want the thing more than we would otherwise just because we can’t have it. It’s common for people to crave or daydream about certain foods even if they know they will be able to eat it on their cheat day. It also introduces feelings of guilt or shame if we over indulge or if we have a “forbidden” food on a non-cheat day. We need to take the time to really evaluate if cheat meals are helpful or if they just create additional stress. The author advocates for guilt free intuitive eating instead.
People are familiar with the ideas of spring cleaning, cleaning out your home, or decluttering your?possessions, but what about decluttering your schedule and getting rid of all time commitments? Busyness is a badge of honor nowadays, but it doesn’t have to be. We often give up much of our time to things that really aren’t important, and time is one of the few things we can never truly get back. Many of us are unconsciously carrying beliefs that we have to say yes to everything and do everything. When opportunities come up you don’t have to say yes right away. You can pause to truly evaluate if this new thing aligns with your goals and what you care about. If it does not it is OK, and even encouraged, to say no. You’re not going to be happy if you’re constantly sacrificing your time and what you care about simply to placate others. Write your priorities down, write your calendar down, and see if they really reflect the life you want for yourself.?
A lot of people have heard the commonly cited statistic that millionaires have at least seven streams of income, but do we actually know what those income streams are? This article will inform you of that, and maybe help you figure out which ones you should try to get into first. Maybe you also already have more than you think. Diversification can definitely help you, as being too dependent on any one source can really backfire if you lose it unexpectedly. The different income streams also enable you to take advantage of different kinds of tax breaks. This is good, solid, foundational personal finance knowledge that is the type of thing that everybody should have to learn at some point.