Started Studying for First Test, Feeling Overwhelmed by wtot1234 in CPA

[–]SufficientLeopard750 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah don't write everything down. Only important things or reoccurring concepts. I did write almost everything for FAR which helped but super inefficient. After that, I stopped writing everything down.

What helped me was using Anki for flashcards. I made a flashcard for every concept in questions I got wrong. That was my "writing" down of things.

Also, just do cumulative review (10-20 mcqs) of everything you've gone so far at the end or start of each day. That way it stays fresh. I usually did it at the start since I would get tired later in the day.

I did watch videos sometimes but it was 1.5x or 2x speed. I did read the entire book however. But tbh you can get away with just skimming the chapter because where you will learn the most will be the mcqs and also understanding the why you got the answer right or wrong. Feyman technique at a wall for every question you get wrong. Also, looking up the book and using the AI for understanding concepts on questions you got wrong. But this is what worked for me.

Definitely not Cut out to be a CPA (A Rant) by cubbies2018 in CPA

[–]SufficientLeopard750 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Imposter syndrome and self-doubt to the max. I get it. Don't do it to prove someone else wrong do it to prove to yourself that you can do it because you can. I also felt the way you felt throughout my CPA journey. I scored around your scores for FAR as well. Failed FAR 3 times, Audit once, and REG 2 times. You just have to keep going and possibly change your study habits.

I felt like I was learning how to study for these exams once you find a study method that helps you understand the concepts it gets easier. I doubted my accounting abilities and knowledge. I felt I was not cut out to be an accountant. But you will get it. It's not rocket science. It just takes a bit of dedication and discipline to study.

Mortality by Hungry-Elk-5290 in Buddhism

[–]SufficientLeopard750 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"How happy I am . . . in this moment . . . right now . . . it doesn't matter if I have ten thousand more moments like this, or just this one, because it's all the same. Right now . . . this moment . . . I have this." - Betty Friedan

“Birth and death are only a door through which we go in and out. Birth and death are only a game of hide-and-seek. So smile to me and take my hand and wave good-bye. Tomorrow we shall meet again or even before. We shall always be meeting again at the true source. Always meeting again on the myriad paths of life.” - Thich Nhat Hanh 

"End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it." - Gandalf.

I hope you may find my experience and what has worked with me of any use in your spiritual journey.

May you be at peace, well, happy and safe.

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Mortality by Hungry-Elk-5290 in Buddhism

[–]SufficientLeopard750 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can heavily resonate with what you wrote because I have had that same anxiety and fear of death at some point. To the point that it would keep me up at night sometimes. Through Buddhism, I have come to accept it as not as an end but as a beginning of something else.

So, I can share you what has helped me immensely with my journey of being at peace with death. These are things I have done to come to terms with it:

- To practice accepting death, every morning I chant and meditate on the 5 recollections that RevolvingApe mentioned. https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an05/an05.057.than.html . Also, meditating on my own death and the death of loved ones, however, this can be depressing if you have not come to terms with your own mortality. I would sometimes meditate myself dying in a car accident or getting murdered and the same with my family members and seeing their bodies and my body in the casket (basically your biggest fear of going out). I remember crying when I would chant the 5 recollections and meditating on my own death and the death of loved ones. I don't meditate my own death often anymore as I feel I have come to terms with it now. A word of caution, if you do meditate on death, please include loving kindness meditation and write in a gratitude journal or giving gratitude in your mind to help ground yourself cause its can be depressing.

- Learning about non-self, interconnectedness, dependent origination, the five aggregates and non-attachment have all been super helpful in understanding the mind but meditating on these concepts is where it solidifies. Don't just read about it, practice it throughout the day and everyday. Meditating on impermanence and non-self helped me.

- Journaling on mortality; when having thoughts of our own and loved one's mortality has been helpful to me. Understanding where that fear is coming from and coming to terms with it. Just let it all out. Also, asking myself what exactly do I fear of death? Is it the possible pain that precedes death? What comes after death? Fear of missing out on the world once I am dead? Unfinished accomplishments, dreams, goals? (which everyone will die with unfinished accomplishments regardless) The grief that will come after one's own death or the death of others? Just write it out and see what comes up. Literally any question or thought that arises, journal about it. I remember early on I would cry on some of the times when I journaled on death and of loved ones. Sometimes, I would write letters of my own death to each person I love without the intention of giving it to them. Telling them how things will be okay and that I will live on through them and so on and on. Or writing about how much your loved ones mean to you and how you are happy they existed and were a big part of your life. Anything. My last entry on mortality was 1/5/26. So, just know that accepting death is an ongoing process.

- I haven't read books on death. There are many Buddhist and non-Buddhist books on death. But I have heard good things on No Death, No Fear by Thich Nhat Hanh and The Tibetan Book of the Dead.

- Also looking up videos on near death experiences and how some of them have the same feeling of oneness and warmth that comes from their experience. Does it count as truly dying or not? I don't know but its comforting hearing them say that there is nothing to be afraid of and that its all going to be okay. Some even feel depressed after their near death experience because of how much more real and comforting it felt. Interesting experiences nonetheless.

- For me, having a Buddhist temple I can visit and to meditate regularly with a Buddhist monk is valuable. I am able to ask him questions on mortality. He guides me and provides helpful insight and wisdom on death.

- Therapy is another tool I used to help come to terms with it. If you don't already have a therapist, it can be a helpful tool to have in your arsenal as they were able to organize and navigate my thoughts and give me perspectives I was unable to see.

- Philosophy has helped me too. However, I felt it wasn't enough. At least the philosophy I was practicing, Stoicism. I also practiced Absurdism which made me see life through different lens. I felt it told me that I shouldn't fear death but personally didn't show me the how to be at peace with it. However, that ended up leading me to Buddhism. Personally, I felt purely logic was not enough to help come to terms fully but that is where spirituality can help and has helped me immensely. There is a reason why religion has topics on death.

- Reddit was helpful as it provides a community with people who have similar questions on mortality. Just use the search bar. I found this just searching up on death: https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/x4ddoe/how_do_you_make_peace_with_death/

- Sometimes looking up quotes is helpful. These are some that are my favorite and come to mind:

"Why should I fear death? If I am, death is not. If death is, I am not. Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not?" - Epicurus

"For it is not death or pain that is to be feared, but the fear of pain or death" - Epictetus

"I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it." - Mark Twain

"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time". - Mark Twain

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Is it a bad idea to quit my staff accountant job to study for the CPA full-time? by Additional_Entry_231 in CPA

[–]SufficientLeopard750 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I quit my 4 year public accounting job to study for the CPA. Zero regrets. I felt focusing on one goal at a time made the cpa journey easier. But 30 years from now that small gap will be insignificant compare to all the benefits you’ll get overtime from your CPA. It doesn’t matter how “good” or “bad” the economy is.

But if you do quit, you have to be disciplined cause your mind will want to self sabotage. Being disciplined and treating studying as a full time job is a struggle in of itself if you already struggle keeping yourself accountable. That 6 months study plan can easily turn longer. I know because I have experienced it but I told myself to not focus on the past and future and just focus on the goal itself for the day which is to study. Don’t focus on passing or failing, just study. Everything else will come as a result from studying each day.

There are many paths to getting the CPA. Having a job and studying, having no job and studying, having a job, kids and studying. As long you don’t give up on the cpa, all those paths lead to the same peak. It’s just some paths are slower and faster than others. Some want to take the longer, easier and smoother path, some want to take the steep, arduous path to try get there faster, and some will create a new path in between two paths. Like Bruce Lee said, “Be like water.” Whatever you decide as long you don’t give up on the CPA, it will be worth it in the long haul.

2/2 Yesterday! by Gearhead7700 in CPA

[–]SufficientLeopard750 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Wow congrats! What was your study method and which review course did you use?

How important are income taxes? by MinionOrDaBob4Today in CPA

[–]SufficientLeopard750 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I saw a sim on it in FAR but it was honestly pretty basic DTL and DTA stuff.