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CFA is
hectic. You need to be very smart to go about this course which is also very thorough.
As a matter of fact, being behind schedule in terms of reading has contributed
in yours truly having to give blog posting some form of discontinuity until
that point in time in life when the course work will have eased till the wee
stages of completion. Whether I will pass the exam or not, something remains
for sure, it has taught me a lot in terms of self-discipline. Getting the
knowledge is far more enriching as it makes you realize you are a rookie in the
financial domain. If life was only tied to passing exams and you sure are going
to live a life of merry, then that would be a reason as to why most would be
passing the same. But the current world has reinvented itself. You no longer
need to pass exams to make it in life like it is an eventuality. You need to
find something different that will segregate you from the rest. You can be an
actor, play football like the football magician Messi, sell your wares- master
the skill and own a flourishing chain of businesses many would want to
franchise.
With
dedication and patience, everything is possible. Hope that the study timetable
I have put in place will be a reason why I will be smiling at the end of a six
hour exam that awaits me mid-June in the coming year. As of now, I am pursuing
my course of choice. This is a study whose intent was conjured even before I
went to campus more than five years ago. Only that the start was unveiled this
year.
So what
has life taught me up until this point in time?
The
first thing has to do with discovery of the self. The greatest investment is to
invest in yourself. You never will regret it. What you aim at achieving is only
curtailed by the setbacks you create at your own volition. Making important and
instrumental decisions earlier on ensures you have enough time to achieve that
which you wanted to accomplish early. You become a master of your destiny at
the end of it all. Society also, has a way of aiding in that quest. It’s up to
you to take the mantle and decide to change your serendipity using all the
available machinery you can surmount be it technical, mechanical or electronic.
Again, it is of paramount necessity to ensure that people play a crucial role
in the course of your achievement because it is they that matter. They can
break or make you.
Free-rider mentality.
Who does not want
freebies? It’s human nature to love free products and services, which also
comes at a social cost. The price of anything that is free or cheap is that the
worth you get from it is never satiating as there is always a compromise on
standards and quality. Until you develop the taste and preference of finer
things in life, living the normal Jane and Joe everyday life will be your
eventual respite. They say, when you want something, go for it. Like the Veblen
goods, it’s mostly important that life be pegged on continuous development. The
most satisfying things in life are worth the penny you spend on the acquisition
of the same. The more you spend, however may not be directly related to the
much you expect. Life lessons will open your eyes as to what is good and what
is not. But at the end of the day, it is also important to take advantage of
freely available forms of development. They help save you a lot in terms of
time and money. Saving means more wealth. Economics 101 in practice. Right.
Saving
The value of having
a saving culture is directly related to prosperity. Though the time value for
money is always the inverse of saving, there is greater value in saving some
pence no matter how little. The little you save become more and sooner or
later, you slowly realize you dream. Those who save really cushion themselves
against the rigors of a financial turmoil that is usually unprecedented on a
rainy day. There is surety in having a savings culture. From saving, you can
turn the little into an investment stream or find worthy advice on what you can
engage in with the little. Like the Chinese say, “The journey of a thousand
miles stars with a single step.” Quit that unnecessary consumption and
spenditure. Punish yourself sometimes so that you do not indulge in that which
robs you of your hard earned money. A penny saved is penny earned. For in
saving there is a way of evading debt.
Working
Working as opposed
to staying idle is something that is very important. Each day, you see
different people (as you commute or walk the streets) and observe queer
tendencies that are developing gradually. You may sometimes be disinterested in
you work looking for an option but the reality is that it is better to stick
around for some time. You never know, just when you are on the verge of
quitting, is when some godsend comes. However, also staying does not guarantee
that you will change much in life. When you are experiencing periods of
stagnation without much progress, it is important to review your strategy. The
most important workplace in the world is the aura you create for yourself.
Working for yourself is tentatively the best thing in life. You get
satisfaction if the results are progressive. Soon or later, you gain ground and
have the nerves to do just about anything. Life is about moving forward. When you
become a stickler to the status quo, you lose a lot.
Blogging/
Writing
Hitherto, my
thoughts on this was that I would make it just like that. This is hell. This though,
caught my eye and really is a reflection of what I am experiencing personally,
“I am like a violinist whose ear is true, but
whose fingers refuse to reproduce precisely the sound he hears within.”-
Gustave Flaubert.
There are times when
as a writer, doing my blog post, am forced to steal one or two phrases because
I lack the diction of how to give my all when another has done it easily much
to my envy. Writing is one of the best things life has bestowed upon mankind.
When you write, you enter into a world of the unknown then progressively enter
the world of the known. Thoughts are usually skewed and muddled before piecing
up everything. The only recourse is that you are never alone. There is always
that déjà vu moment. Writing is addictive, like Indian hemp, you need a rehab
to stop the devastating effects of its hallucinations from making you habituated.
In fact, getting an inkling is itself a retrospection about how you view where
you are headed in general. Thus everything about writing has a muse in it. Like
a duck you remain calm on the surface, but underneath, you paddle like hell.
Obviously every writer or pen pusher has a predilection and creed.
Studying
There is no
procedure on how to study effectively. One man’s poison is another man’s meat.
As such, it goes without doubt that the tactics one employs may not necessarily
work for another. Studying for exams is a complex affair. However the major facet
of it in intensive reading. How one peruses is ideally best determined by him
or her. For purposes of this writing, I also have just started to muster the
hours I am productive. There is always a brighter side to gaining
knowledge. The best thing about is that
you never lose it. It is the only possession that a brigand can never rob you,
unless you are incapacitated. So knowledge is power. The only inhibition is
that to acquire it, you sometimes need enough backs in this capitalistic world.
Studying even for leisure is fair enough. So getting informed is an enriching
venture after all.
Entertainment
There is no enough measure
of entertainment. The definition of the same also varies. What makes one lively
makes another sullen and predisposed. However, there is this thing called ale that inebriates.
Boozing is not bad if it does not the body and brain devastatingly. However, when it is not done right, it fails to elicit its
intended purpose. Drinking cheap liquor has devastating consequences. The
downside of it is in the fact that you are not able to sometimes control your mental
sanity. You end up spitting vile or acting incongruous as opposed to being
sane. Those are the times you find yourself in dingy places where the average
person has no better form of purpose other than drinking away all the worries
and stigma away. You may end up drinking illicit concoctions, or worse find yourself
under the arm of a seductress who you took advantage of or the inverse and you
spend like a nouveau riche thinking you have but only leading yourself to
obscurity. At best, drinking fine liquor with brand names work out fine. You
never wake up with a hangover after a few tots. Over indulging in the same is
comparable to taking cheap liquor.
Avoiding alcohol
when you can at all costs is the surest way out of trouble.
Maybe, I should have
tweaked this life lessons a little bit to give the reflection of the everyday
guy. But this is the best that I can give in my current state. Like I have said
earlier, I serve all the purposes in this blog. I am the number reader of the
content that is available on it and also the editor, the graphic designer, web
designer and all that. I am taking a brief leave to concentrate on my studies
as earlier intimated maybe until next year if I will not have the push from
some inner calling to write.
Na juu ya hiyo
story, Buda Boss Sinakafunge juu kamenyuria.
Hasta La Vista Baby.
[Picture Source: My Own]
