Find Your Why

Key points:

• To do hard things, you need a strong Why

• Figure out your CPA Cathedral

Two bricklayers work together at a construction site every day. They do the same work every single day. They lay bricks all day long. The same monotonous job. 

If you go up to man #1 and ask him “what do you do?” He will respond with, “I am a brick layer. I come to work everyday and lay bricks for this building.”

When you ask him if he enjoys it he grumbles out something along the lines of “it pays the bills.”

However, when you talk to man #2 you get a very different picture of things.

When you ask him what he does a smile lights up across his face as he says “I am a brick layer. I come to work everyday and lay bricks for the new cathedral that is going in. It’s going to be the tallest and most beautiful building in town.”

When you ask him if he enjoys it he responds “Of course! I am honored to be building this Cathedral. My children and grandchildren will enjoy this for decades! There is nothing better than serving one’s family.”

These 2 men do the same work but their outlook on it is far from the same. One man sees only his day to day tasks. The other man sees a purpose which gives him fulfillment. He has his Why.

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Doing hard things is hard. It’s even harder if you don’t know why you’re doing it.

To be successful on the CPA Exam you need to know why you are doing it. Or else you will end up like man #1, mindlessly and purposelessly working day in and day out.

But if you establish your why, your purpose, you will always be working for more than just your CPA license. You will be building your cathedral. You need to find your cathedral.

Maybe it is wanting to provide for your family, and a CPA license would help you do that. Or maybe you want to own your own business someday and you see Accounting as the perfect industry. Or maybe you want to prove to your parents, friends, or even yourself that you can accomplish anything you put your mind to.  

For me, it was the drive to be the best accountant that I could be. Studying hard was a great way to achieve that.

Find your Why. Fall back on your Why. Use it to motivate you. Use it to frame the hard work and dedication so that you remember why it is worth it.