Ghostwriters

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a ghostwriter as a person or persons writing for and in the name of another who is the presumed author.  In a nutshell, someone else is creating and conveying your ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and persona instead of you. Most of you have heard about people ghostwriting for rappers, singers, and authors.  Today I want to talk about how this can sometimes happen in our own personal lives.  Are you the author of your own life, or are you letting someone do the writing for you? In other words, are you trying to fulfill the goals and desires of someone else (i.e., parents, spouse, friends, peers, etc)? If you've been courageous enough to pursue your own goals and desires, are you allowing negative naysayers to kill both your drive and motivation?

I recall the time when I was studying to pass the CPA exam. My plan was to take the first of four exams in August 2008 and take and pass the remaining three by December 2008 so that I could become licensed before I began my public accounting job in January 2009. My reasoning was that it was best to take the exam with all the information I learned in college still fresh in my mind and get it done before I started my job so that my career could be my focus. Sounds like a great idea, right? I thought so too.  Full of inspiration, drive, and motivation, I began to tell all of my friends, family  and classmates about my wonderful plan.  To my surprise, instead of only supportive words, I was given a myriad of reasons why I should give up the goal and choose one that was less ambitious.  Some of my soon-to-be colleagues told me stories about how they had been attempting to pass the exams for years and either gave up or were still in the throes of fruitless pursuit.  Others spoke about the low pass rate for the exam - historically between 46 - 52%.  I didn't let any of the negative commentary affect me...until I failed the first exam.  I started to panic and second guess myself.  Suddenly the low pass rate statistics and advice I was given to choose a less ambitious goal came to the forefront of my mind.  I began to believe that my goal was unattainable. I debated giving up, comforted by the fact that no one would think less of me since they deemed the exam impossible to pass. 

I expressed my sentiments to my father.  I told him I wasn't wasting another dime on the exam, that the exam was too hard, that no one passes anyway, and that instead I might take up basketweaving as my profession.  He told me to keep on trying.  He said that the pass rate statistics were irrelevant and that every year people pass the exam and for that reason I could be amongst those who were successful.  He went on to say that the accounting profession wouldn't create an exam that absolutely no one could pass; therefore, passing was indeed a possibility.  He also pointed out that he barely saw me studying and that I seemed to be outside more than I was ever around any CPA exam preparation book.  He was absolutely right.  After failing the first exam, I stopped believing in myself and started to exert less effort towards studying.  Of course, this only resulted in me failing more exams during the months to come.

I won’t belabor you with all the details of my journey to become a licensed CPA, but I will say that I passed all four parts of the exam within a year.

I realized that while I couldn’t change the exam itself, I could certainly change how I mentally approached the exam.  I decided to take control of my internal environment (my thoughts and my actions) as opposed to waiting for my external environment to change.  If I waited for the exam to become easier or for everyone I met to tell me that I was capable of passing (all external factors) then I would be waiting forever.  I needed to become motivated from within and make things happen for me instead of passively letting things happen to me.  It is no surprise that I finally passed all four parts of the exam once I decided within myself that I could and would pass.  Some of my colleagues that discouraged me are still trying to pass the exam years later.  My story is not their story. To reiterate what I said a few blog posts ago, neither historical statistics nor the failures/opinions of others have anything to do with your own potential.  I recently came across a quote that stated, “Depending on people for your manifestation leaves your future at the mercy of others whose primary objective is to come into their own glory not yours.”  Take back the pen and reclaim your title as the author of your life.