This article is for all of us who are awaiting results for the examination, which we believe would be the foundation stone for our career. At this moment, there are a million things in your head going on as to what is in store at the end of the day.
Relax, take a chill pill, take a deep breath. Everything would be fine. Is this result important, Oh yes, it gives me that dream job, I can have the fancy car, so on and so forth. What would we do if the result was a damp squib? Don't even bother about it. Seriously, we have a long way to go and somewhere down the way nobody would even bother about the marks you scored. How many of us even remember the grades we got at school? This too will get added to the list.
I say this with my experience of having so many setbacks in my CA exams. I practically lost count of the number of attempts I have given. Those days we had to give the details of last three attempts in CA Exam, and I used to wonder that should I be giving an annexure to the exam form for all the attempts that I wrote. The only place that my marks were useful is attend an interview and get my membership certificate, period. Thereafter, it was only about my technical capabilities and performance and the marks cards have found a secured place in a file. And after passing my CA Exams, I don't even know whether anybody asked how much did I score in Accountancy!.
And believe me these setbacks have only taught me more than the syllabus per se.
Yes, the results are important to indicate that we have acquired a certain level of technical skill set and expect to possess the requisite knowledge to do a job. It does not guarantee that you do well in your career, since it takes more than being a graduate or getting a certificate to be a professional. Getting an academic qualification is just one element, which is essential, but definitely there is a lot more to it. It is a fact that the dreams to make it big in life were not necessarily by those who aced their exams but those who had the courage to face the setbacks and overcome it. People who made big in life did not depend on one thing going right or wrong, but believed in building a character and imbibe qualities which could make them achieve what they did and their ability to take risks all along.
Happiness and Sorrowness is a state of mind. We are conditioned to the fact that 'success = happiness, failure = sorrowness'. We make a concoction of our emotions and circumstance, and fall into a mind game inadvertently. Success is a process of forethought, proper planning, controlled execution, and yes, peppered with a bit of luck. Somewhere down the line things may go wrong and we fail. But that's not the end of the journey. We pick ourselves up and go on. Don't lose the sight of the larger picture.
I, at least, would believe that my destiny is in my hands, the examiner out there can only give marks for the answers I have given in the paper and not for the answers I have for the questions life throws at me at all times and not just in those three hours. Everyday is an examination in life and one has to be prepared for the 'longer format of exam'.
On the flip side, the setbacks have taught me beyond the syllabus. It has taught me to have perseverance, accept the fact that not everything would be going in the direction you thought it would (helps you to do risk management better!),read more in depth and acquire more knowledge (and thereby know better than others and be a strong competitor to your peers),as a result be a better professional. Well, it is a lesson well learnt in life and I am pretty sure that the attitude to take up the challenge and win over is what is life all about. In the words of James Allen, 'The world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going'. If you are confident of what you want in life, nothing can stop you from achieving it. There could be a delay but it will not be denied.
Thomas Alva Edison said, 'I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work'. What a profound perception. It all depends on how you look at half a glass of water. You can either say, the glass if half empty or say the glass if half full of water. Or, might also say, the glass is twice as big as it should have been. There can always be more than one view.
Exactly, that is the way, I believe one should look at success and failures. Do not let success get into mind and failure to your heart. Not all failures are because of our inefficiencies, we might also be victim of some sad soul's foul play, which is beyond me and you. And the fact remains that's how it will be. Try again, may be you are going to be a better person this time.
It is fine to celebrate success but wrong to be terribly sad for failures. Nobody likes setbacks, but it is not as bad as people have made out to be. It is all in the mind, give it a better glass through which one can look, your perspection can change.
If the head droop and there is a feeling that sky has fallen, then this is the right time to change the attitude. Cheer up. You have to jump over bigger hurdles to make a better world for yourself to live in. 'Etdapi Gamishayati', this too shall pass.
Wishing all of you the very best.
The author is a qualified Chartered accountant with 20+ years of experience in his field. He carries immense knowledge in his areas of expertise and interest, namely statutory audit, internal audit and SOX audit gained through numerous and varied client assignments he has dealt with.
CAclubindia
