Hello Again All,
Following up on my post from last month, I am excited to share that I successfully passed the exam this past Friday afternoon. After coming up short on my first attempt in March, it was such an unbelievable relief and validation of the hard work I had put in to receive the preliminary pass message upon hitting submit.
First, I wanted to echo so many others in saying thank you to everyone on this forum for your support and guidance over the past couple of months. I am so appreciative of all the caring and supportive folks that reached out publicly and privately to offer words of wisdom, candid advice, and encouragement. THANK YOU! This forum is a great support network and a great tool to be utilized as part of your exam prep. I was a bit hesitant to put myself out there and share my insecurities last month, but am so glad I did. I felt so much less alone leading up to last week!
I also would echo others in stressing the value of a review course leading up to the exam. I went through Brett Danko's online review both times and found his roadmaps, short hand references, study schedule, and mock exams / cases to be invaluable resources. As I mentioned in my prior post, I am a career changer, so the sheer quantity of new information to learn was, at times, overwhelming. Brett was able to put that in perspective for me, help devise a strategy for identifying my strengths and weaknesses, and aided me in learning a tremendous amount in a limited period of time. I am so grateful to him and the entire team at the Boston Institute of Finance.
The main reason I'm posting, though, is to share what may have been the biggest takeaway for me in this entire process: the importance of staying positive and persevering. For me, the process was almost more a test of my resilience, resolve and mental fortitude than it was a test of my knowledge of financial planning. Don't get me wrong: I studied my behind off, and would not have been successful without learning a ton between March and now. My understanding of the concepts was night and day going in to the exam on Friday, and, after feeling completely lost a few months ago, I was so much more comfortable with the material time around. However, I would argue, just as Brett reiterates throughout his review, that the test does "weird stuff" with your head.
I'm not necessarily the first person to subscribe to the notion that "You've got to stay positive," as I've always been more of the opinion that I will succeed through sheer effort and will power. But there really is something to it: the process of passing the CFP® exam is a roller coaster and is filled with highs and lows. My study habits were obsessive and often neurotic over the past seven months, and I'm so lucky and grateful to have had a supportive and patient wife beside me throughout. I wrestled constantly with concerns that I wasn't learning enough: was I studying hard enough, was I studying smart enough?! And, constantly, in the back of my mind, I was berating myself for wasting time and energy thinking this way. I know... not productive.
I share all of this to say that I think it's totally normal to have those doubts. I've never wanted something so badly in my professional life than to pass this exam. I had a couple of folks reassure me that, not only were my feelings and anxieties normal, but they simply illustrated how badly I cared and, ultimately, how successful I will be in serving my clients in the future. Picking myself off the mat after getting walloped by the exam in March, and doing my best to stay positive and not get cynical as I rededicated myself to those cursed review books in April, May and June was a tremendous challenge. But I learned a ton about myself through that failure, about my mental toughness and what I'm capable of when faced with true adversity. And I'm certain this will aid me in every facet of my life moving forward, as a professional, as a husband and a father.
Lastly, I'd just reiterate that this exam is passable! You can, and will, do this. Heck, if a liberal arts English major / former screenwriter / former Kindergarten teacher / community activist and dad of twin toddlers can pull this off, and live to reflect about it, you're practically guaranteed to pass. Best of luck to everyone, congratulations to those that have already succeeded, and let me know if I'm totally nuts...
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Mike Primiani
Barrington RI
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