Ben is a NINJA CPA Blogger.

Hello my fellow NINJAs!

I hope this past week has found you studying hard even amid the busy holidays. With Christmas being a time of family get-togethers I know it can be hard to find time to spend with your family.

My wife and I have recently announced to the world (aka family and friends) that we are having a baby! That’s right, the stork is scheduled for a visit sometime in May.

From a planning stand point I am going to sit for REG again on January 4th and the audit at the end of February. I have to sit for audit by the end of February or my NTS will expire for audit, so wish me luck on both of these exams. I have never sat for audit or BEC yet so it should be interesting.

This leaves me sitting for BEC sometime in April, and being done before the baby arrives in May. If all goes according to plan I will be done with the exam in time for the baby, because it would totally suck to have to study with a newborn at home!

I am trying to have a positive attitude about this plan because it is the only way to approach this exam. I have gotten close every test, which I largely attribute to not doing well enough on the sims. My lowest exam score has been a 71 and my simulation score has always been weaker.

I also do not want to ever re-take FAR so I am trying to study hard and finish this thing up. I think if you go into an exam thinking you won’t pass that you will find out a way to fail, a kind of mental block.

I am determining to make this test a thing of the past. I have determined my weak areas and I am attacking them as hard as I can. My main hurdle this time around has been two things.

First, I think it is easy to pass by certain areas because I have taken it recently and somehow I feel like I know it “well enough”. It is really a lazy way to look at things and I need to make sure I cover all of the areas.

My second struggle this time is studying around Christmas. How many of you have had this issue? I think all of us have in one way or another. Sometimes it kills me when I have to go down in my basement to study, knowing that my family is having fun upstairs.

When it comes down to it, we have to realize that this will not last forever. What would last forever is the pain of regret. Would you rather regret a couple of years of struggle to pass the exam or regret a life of “what if I had passed this exam?”

A guy I work with has told me a number of times that he wishes he had gotten his CPA. Now he has a family of 4 kids and he is so busy at work that he doesn’t have time for the exam. I know if he really wanted it and if it would make a difference that he could go get it, but I can tell that it is a regret of his.

I do not want not having the CPA to get in the way of my career. I do not want to regret not getting it and for it to limit my future career aspirations. Now is the time! There will never be a perfect time for me, so now will have to do.

Good luck studying and remember to never give up and to never surrender!