CFA (or life) needs certain skills in order to outdo. It can be appearing for CFA to become a financial analyst or starting a business. Whether we master the goal we have chosen is pretty much decided by a bunch of skills that we have strengthened over time. These skills are truly needed for becoming a CFA or becoming an achiever. Some of these skills are:

* Initiative - How much do we pay to someone so that they can order us around? Take the case of our mentor or a guitar trainer. This information is available online for free. Yet we need some external push for us to gather and maintain momentum. Having the skill to take initiative means we are always creating and capturing more opportunities that pop up in front of us. And then it goes to next level. So go out and start something. Take initiative and enroll for CFA! Go and create your own detailed notes and methods for financial analysis! Seth Godin talks here about paying the taskmaster premium to someone to order us around.

* Innovation - A clinical definition of being a cuckoo would be to repeat same thing and expect different outcome. How many times have we blamed other things or other people to justify our failure? Maybe this time we should look at what we are doing, and alter it until it works? Instead of bending the world to our wishes and methods, it's easier to become like water and find our way through, around, over or under the obstacle in the road. So innovate on how you study for CFA!

* Perseverance - No endeavor is successful without perseverance. Malcolm Gladwell mentions in his book 'Outliers' that it takes 10,000 hours to become a world class expert in any skill that we are trying to master. Though that's an extreme number, but the message is clear here. However talented we are, put in the hours. Perseverance is not a god's gift; it can be cultivated one baby step at a time. Don't get intimidated by CFA curriculum, hundreds have faced the test and emerged as winner, you can too!

* Perspective - have a view in life. Sometimes we feel our troubles in life are over our level. This gives us a feeling of discouragement; we want to give up our wishes. This is the best time to have a look at others. How many people around have it worse than you? Maybe list down 5 things that you are happy for in life. Basically get a perspective on life we are living. Not succeeding in a CFA exam is not the end of the world, life will give you a chance again!

* Interaction - Create a network around you. It is said that who we are is sum total of the five closest people around us. We have a choice to decide whom to be with. We can choose and approach our mentors for help and guidance. Interacting with diverse people will generate unique ideas. Go out and find people who have already excelled in CFA, seek their help. Ask them how they studied for CFA exam, and how are they enjoying financial analyst career. You will surely get a good knowledge out of this interaction.

Again, I can't avoid quoting a brilliant article of Seth:

You don't know what to do
You don't know how to do it
You don't have the authority or the resources to do it
You're afraid
Once you figure out what's getting in the way, it's far easier to find the answer (or decide to work on a different problem).
Stuck is a state of mind, and it's curable.

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