7 Mistakes to avoid in your CA Journey

How would you feel when you want to eat Pizza but the time is not apt for pizza delivery and you have to satisfy yourself will plain Daal-Chaawal?

Kind of same thing happened with me right after my schooling. I wanted to study something else but because of some issues, I opted for CA course because it was my next best alternative (opportunity cost) at that time. I gave ample amount of time to myself to think over my decision and finally enrolled for CPT. Since then, it has been a roller coaster ride for me with so many mistakes with I do not want the upcoming/ new students to commit.

You will get thousands of teachers to teach you about the syllabus and help you out with the queries but very few of them actually bring a student to the right track of becoming a Chartered Accountant in the shortest possible span of time. Here goes my list which is a big no for the new students.

1. Don't start anything which does not live in your heart. Jumping into any field with your heart left behind in something else won't do any good. That thing will always occupy space in your mind and then imagine, how can you concentrate? So, if you had decided to do CA, you are welcome to join this esteemed course with the condition of giving your heart, mind and soul to this field.  
2. Don't act over smart and take coaching classes seriously. I have done self study till date and believed that I can ace this exam too just with self study. No. I was wrong. I faced problems, unresolved doubts, and failures. My peers told me that if I had taken coaching classes, I would have become CA too early. It's a request, to take classes for the weaker subjects and be serious about each and every minute you have to spend in studying because regret is heavier than working hard.
3. Articleship has its own advantages and disadvantages. We get returns from what we invest. Spending too much time in office can cost you an attempt and skipping office can cost you real time professional experience. So make sure you are doing both, i.e. studying and utilizing your articleship opportunity in the right proportion.
4. We all need Dronacharya. Absence of a mentor in my life has been the biggest reason for so many downfalls. I had absolutely no idea for where to begin with, how to go on, how to handle so much stress coming day after another and what not. For you all studying this article, please tell me that how many months before the exam you start searching out for strategies to pass the exam in XYZ days/months? And in almost every strategy, you find them saying 'I assume you have completed your classes and have studied all the topics atleast once'. What about those who had no idea how to plan it out or what does studying the subjects atleast once actually mean? So please, please, please, have a mentor to train you the right way and guide you whenever you go in any wrong direction.
5. Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive. I became too serious and tensed about all that was happening with me. And in that phase, I forgot to actually live my life and be grateful to God for all that I had. I suffered from hormonal imbalance and that added to my woes. The Law of Attraction worked here (refer to book: ‘The Secret' in case you don't know about this law of attraction), and one problem after the other came running towards me, making me even more irritated and frustrated. So please friends, take out some time for YOURSELF on a daily basis. And that time should not be spend with phones or chatting with friends but only SOLITUDE.
6. Pessimistic Approach. There was no ray of hope and I drowned in the ocean of negative energy. My mind was unable to think of any positive thing or result. But it is never too late to mend. With constant effort, we can overcome this too. Try out optimism each and every single day on trial and error basis. You will get to know which method doesn't work out for you. And which is the best way to Rule your own mind because before winning any battle, you have to win over yourself first.
7. Non CAs won't understand our journey. All my non-CA friends and siblings partied hard when I was busy struggling with my modules and making out things right for myself. Their carefree attitude bothered me and I was like, 'Why the hell am I doing this'? Holi and Diwali every year was like a challenge for me. In addition to that my mother was diagnosed with cancer and it became too difficult to manage out everything. But if we prepare the right way, situations can be handled. It will cost just one Holi and one Diwali (for CA-Inter  and CA-Final) or vice versa. Do your thing the right way and then every single day will be Holi and Diwali for your entire life.

Through this article I just want to guide and help out those students who are fighting this all alone. Avoid these 7 major mistakes and I can bet you success.

The author can also be reached at tripathi94shikha@gmail.com.

Good Luck for your exams and all the future endeavors.