A New Month - Preparation Gear On!

A new month has begun. I have decided to start with my preparation (again) for the Level 1 exams. No point waiting for the results as the gut feeling strengthens that I am not going to make level 1 this time too! CFA Level 1 Exams Results will be out on 26th July.

I just opened my book today. The hard copy of two exams back. Has there been much change between the last edition and the one previous to that? Unfortunately just went through a single page. Hope to finsih ethics and SS1 by 7th July.

Here is a bunch of free CFA Level 1 Ethics sample questions to start practicing with.

http://www.complore.com/cfa-level-1-ethics-and-standards-questions

How Not to Prepare for CFA!

Here is an article I originally posted at Xomba.com on my CFA Preparation or rather non - preparation! One thing I would like to say about the CFA preparation. You can cut down the prep from 400 hrs to 250 hours and still have a chance to pass - but you have no hope if you cut down prep time to 40 hours! Of course there may be exceptions - there always are, apparently.

Here is the article (originally posted at xomba.com on 3rd June, 2011 - http://www.xomba.com/top-5-ways-not-prepare-cfa)


I have enrolled for the CFA Level 1 Exam and the exams are just a few dozen hours away. Am I prepared? Of course not! Why not? Well that is what this article is going to be about - how not to prepare for the CFA or for that matter any exam. Let me just clarify something - I am not proud of not being prepared, rather I am disgusted - with self. And would change the situation if I could!

Dont Forget About the Exam

Honestly - for most of April, the exams were the last thing on my mind!
The children had holidays, and when they weren't having holidays - they were staying back at home with allergy, cold and / or cough. Now I know people are going to say that, candidates still prepare and pass the exams after going to office. All I have to say is - try and concentrate when cranky kids are at home and husband is away on tour and you will feel it is better to get away to office - where one can study in cool AC chambers!

I not just couldn't concentrate - the exams absolutely escaped my mind!

Dont Go On Long Holidays

I didnt have one or two - but three long holidays during April and May! There were two trips to the beautiful Borneo Islands and one long trip to India in May. Yes, you heard me right. I was gallivanting around the place when THE CFA exams were less than 30 days away. Candidates will tell you they shut themselves up and do a 4-5 hours a day last moment cramming and revision. All I can say is - oh, yeah?

Dont Follow A Month Long Cricket World Cup and Then IPL!

As if watching just India's matches in the 2011 Cricket WC werent enough, i watched almost all the WC matches. In the end they were worth it! India might not have lifted the trophy if I hadnt watched...some things need to be sacrificed for the greater good after all!
Unfortunately, i have no such excuse for watching so many IPL matches. Just that as soon I opened my laptop to study at night, the bookmarked official Indiatimes IPL channel was too tempting to ignore. And how could one resist those Gayle storms?

Dont Attend a Fitness Boot Camp that Leaves You Half Dead!

I spent March attending a fitness bootcamp. What was wrong with that except improving my abysmal level of fitness? Well I came back from each session of the HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and spent the day in bed with a ice pack on my head!!! It took me 48 hours to recover from each session initially. Here is an article about my first day at the bootcamp.
http://www.xomba.com/bootcamp_day_1_experience_fitness_camp

There were a few advantages though. I lost (really!) 4 kgs and could generally "feel" to be healthier. My recovery time was also improving towards the end when...

Dont Fall Sick

I had a long and severe attack of allergy. The source of the same has not yet been identified. It necessitated being on heavy steroids for almost 15 days. So there went a fortnight feeling drowsy, heavy and irritated!
Now that I have made a compelling case of why I wont clear the Level 1 this time around - I feel much better. And much less like kicking something around!

Holy Sh##**%t - The CFA Exam's Just 2 Days Away!

The CFA countdown on my onboard widget is down to 2 days! Where did the time fly away?

Trip to Cuttack, bootcamp, allergy, children looonggg school holidays, cricket world cup - I feel I have done everything this last 3 months except prepare for the exams! I mean, if I hadn't watched ALL India's matches in the WC  2011 as well as some more - would India EVER have got back the Cup after 28 years? Not a chance! Well... some causes have to be sacrificed for the bigger picture ;-)

Dont know if I will be having the same sentiment though when I flunk again at the first hurdle at - horror of horrors - Score Band 10!

Wish myself luck!