How to Turn Desire into Results

Try us FIRST before you spend your hard-earned money.   CPA Review for FREE   Over 2,500 FREE CPA Review Questions and Answers Available to YOU (for FREE)   May 21, 2014   Lesson 151   From:   Joe   How do you turn that intense desire into results?   We all want to be winners.   We all want to be the champion.   We all want to pass the CPA Exam (although that can be an especially difficult goal).   Wanting to succeed is human nature.     How do you turn that intense desire into results?   How do you become a winner?   How do you attain a championship?   I watched a pro basketball game on television recently.   The playoffs are now being played.  Only four teams remain and they are all vying to become the champions.     That particular game was very close and the coach for one of the teams called time out to rally his players for a final push toward victory.   During this game, the coach was wearing a microphone so the fans could listen in to what he had to say to his team.   He looked at each player and said “When this is all over, don’t let anyone be able to say that the other team played smarter or played harder than you did.”     What great advice!!!   My guess is that many of you are preparing to take the CPA Exam in the near future—possibly this summer.   The pass rate on each part of the exam is roughly 50 percent so it is not an easy exam.   Success is tough to attain.   Nevertheless, when you walk away from that testing site, never let anyone be able to say that the other candidates studied smarter or studied harder than you did.     If the rest of the candidates managed to study smarter or if they studied harder than you did, then they have more right to pass than you do.  That’s only fair.   So, how do you study smarter?   How do you study harder?   Let me give you four quick recommendations based on my 35 years in this business. More...   Daily Motivation on Facebook to Pass the CPA Exam   As many of you probably know, we have a Facebook page and send out notes on success virtually every day.   We like to provide a bit of encouragement each day.   It’s just a nice way to start a day.   Here’s one that I sent out a day or two ago:     “In the next 24 hours, how will you be different? Answering that question positively is the first step toward success.“Words from Joe Hoyle, author of Don’t Just Dream About Success: Stack the Odds in Your Favor of CPA Review for FREE. Available on Amazon —either Kindle version or paperback. Only $8.99.”   In my mind, one of the real keys to success is learning how to focus your attention on the current moment.   Many people dwell in the past or become obsessed by the future.   But if you are going to accomplish something meaningful in this life (like adding points toward passing the CPA Exam), it is only the current moment that really counts.   Make sure you have a set plan for each day and then have the self-discipline to make it happen.   Even if you simply start each morning with a list of three or four things you want to achieve, that does provide a plan.   That gives you direction.   If you are planning to take the CPA exam this summer, don’t worry so much about what you will get done in four weeks or how well you did last Tuesday.   Your first question should always be:  What do I need to get done today?   The follow up question is:   When am I going to make that work happen today?     That is why I wrote that particular Facebook post.   We have nearly 3,500 followers.   I wanted to challenge each of them to focus on the upcoming 24 hours.   What can you do in that period of time that will make you different, make you better?     So, before you read another paragraph, take my challenge.   What are you (yes, YOU) going to do in the next 24 hours (from right now) that will make you different?   Don’t just answer this question idly.   Find a piece of paper and write down 3-4 things that you pledge to do over the next day that will make a difference.  For the CPA Exam, what can you accomplish in those 24 hours?   You can worry about the following 24 hours when you get there.   For the moment, focus on the next 24 hours.     In Chapter Nine of my book on Success, I tell a very short little story that I think exemplifies how people make the move toward success:   “John Ruskin, an influential art critic in England during the 19th century, kept a stone on his desk with one word scratched into its surface:     “Today   “Although the sentiment appeals to me, I would have selected an even more immediate admonition:   “Now”   Fast Forward Academy Partnership   Fast Forward Academy is CPA review taken to the highest level.  Why?  Because their CPA review program has the most technologically advanced program on the market.  Text notifications, intelligent learning modules, and at a very competitive price. $265 per part!  If you mention CPAREVIEWFORFREE, you can receive a 10% discount!         Being Productive   A friend of mine on the faculty of the University of Richmond brought me a cartoon the other day that he thought I would enjoy.   It is titled “How My Week Went.”    It shows a pie chart divided into two pieces.     One piece makes up about 20 percent of the pie and is labelled “Amount of time I spent being productive.”   The other piece makes up the remaining 80 percent of the pie and is labelled “Amount of time I spent doing things I thought would make me more productive.”   Isn’t that the truth?   We spend so much time getting ready to work that we don’t have any time left to actually get real work accomplished.   In truth, work is hard.   Preparing to work is kind of fun.   It feels productive without requiring much work.   We clean off our desk and take out the trash and pay the bills and sharpen the pencils.   That provides a sense of accomplishment without really adding any points to our score.     When I used to teach live CPA Review courses, I was always amazed by how many people would say that they really planned to study as soon as they got a few necessary preliminary actions finished up.   “If I can just get the bills paid and mow the grass, then I can study without being distracted.”     But the number of things that get in the way can just be amazing.   For that reason, I constantly told the candidates:   “Always study first.   Get that done.   The bills will eventually get paid.   The grass will manage to get cut.   The trash will be taken out some time.   But if you wait until everything else is done before you start to study, then you might never get around to the important stuff.   The study time has to be your priority.   Do it first.”   I believed that statement then.   I believe it now.    The very biggest part of your daily pie chart has to show:  “Amount of time I spent being truly productive and adding points.”     Speaking of adding points   Let’s do some practice.   FAR   According to US GAAP, the liquidation basis of accounting must be used in reporting a company when liquidation becomes imminent.   Which of the following is most likely to meet the definition of the term “imminent” as established in US GAAP? A.   The company fails to pay debts as they come due. B.   The company files for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 rules. C.   The court grants an order for relief following the petition for bankruptcy. D.   The court approves a plan for liquidating the company.     Auditing   A client has asked a CPA firm to help with its XBRL implementation.   To what does XBRL implementation refer?   A.    The creation of adequate financial accounting controls to meet standards established by the AICPA. B.   The tagging of data reported to the SEC so that it can be more easily analyzed and compared. C.   The transition of specified financial data from reporting according to US GAAP to reporting according to IFRS. D.   The reporting of information in the management’s discussion and analysis so that it more closely conforms to standards of the PCAOB.     Regulation   Susan Aritand is filing her latest federal income tax return.    During the tax year, she received $12,300 in ordinary income from a trust fund established by her mother before the mother’s death.   The income is taxable.   On what schedule of the form 1040 is this income most likely to be reported? A.   Schedule B B.   Schedule C C.   Schedule D D.   Schedule E     BEC   The United States measures its gross national product.   It also measures its gross domestic product.   What is the difference? A.   There is no difference.   The terms are interchangeable.  B.   Gross national product only measures manufacturing.   Gross domestic product also measures the value of some specified services. C.   Gross national product measures the value of products and services produced by the citizens of the country.   Gross domestic product measures the value of products and services produced within the country. D   Gross national product measures the value of products and services produced within the boundaries of the US.   Gross domestic product is the gross national product adjusted for inflationary factors.     Answers   FAR   Answer is D   According to US GAAP, liquidation is said to be imminent when a plan of liquidation has been approved by the court, or by the people who have such authority (likely the board of directors if the company is not in bankruptcy), and the chance that this plan will be blocked or that the entity will return from liquidation is remote.   In other words, the liquidation basis is used for reporting once liquidation of the company becomes virtually assured.   Auditing   Answer is B   XBRL is an information format for reporting used by the SEC.   The data formatted by a reporting entity using XBRL can be downloaded so that the users can compare information between companies and in many other ways.   Tagging the data in this way simplifies the analysis of reported information.     Regulation   Answer is D   Schedule B is for the reporting of interest and ordinary dividends.   Schedule C is for the reporting of profit and loss from a sole proprietorship.   Schedule D is for the reporting of capital gains and losses.   Schedule E is for the reporting of supplemental income and loss.   Part III of the Schedule E is specifically for the reporting of income and loss from estates and trusts.       BEC   Answer is C   Gross national product (GNP) is a measurement of the total market value of all final goods produced by the citizens of a country.   GNP is tied to people.   Gross domestic product (GDP) is a measurement of the total market value of all final goods produced within a country.   GDP is tied to geography.   Practice, practice, practice!   Joe Hoyle