here will be days when the CFA curriculum feels impossible.
The topics look dry.
Your energy is gone.
Work was brutal.
Your phone is pulling you in every direction.
You know you need to study.
But everything inside you wants to avoid it.
This isn’t rare.
It’s normal.
The key to long-term CFA success is not avoiding these days.
It’s knowing how to start — even when you really, really don’t feel like it.
The Problem: Starting Is the Hardest Part
Once most candidates begin a session, they usually get into it.
But starting? That’s where everything stalls.
This is what we call “ignition failure.”
You sit down, look at the book or the screen, and feel… nothing.
No energy. No momentum. No spark.
And so you delay.
You decide to check Instagram.
You grab a snack.
You tell yourself you’ll start in 10 minutes.
Then 10 becomes 40.
Then the night disappears.
The Myth of Motivation
The biggest trap CFA candidates fall into is waiting to feel ready.
Waiting for motivation.
Waiting for some mental shift that says, “Okay, now I want to study.”
But the brain doesn’t work like that.
Motivation is a side effect of action, not a prerequisite for it.
If you wait until you feel like studying, you’ll spend most of the journey stuck.
The only reliable strategy is to design your way into motion.
The Solution: Design Your Ignition System
You need a plan that removes hesitation.
Here are four tools I give my coaching clients:
1. Set a Clear Starting Point in Advance
Don’t leave “what should I study tonight?” until the moment you sit down.
Decide the exact starting action before the session begins.
Example:
“Open Reading 15. Recopy the four core formulas. Explain each one aloud.”
When your brain knows exactly what to do, it resists less.
Vagueness fuels procrastination.
Clarity kills it.
2. Use the 2-Minute Rule
Commit to just two minutes.
Not two hours. Two minutes.
Tell yourself:
“I’ll start the timer. I only need to do this for 2 minutes. If I want to stop after that, I can.”
Most of the time, you’ll keep going.
You just need to break the seal.
The 2-minute rule defeats inertia without triggering overwhelm.
3. Start with the Hardest Thing (Eat the Frog)
It sounds counterintuitive, but it works:
Start your session with the topic you’re dreading most.
Why?
Because avoided tasks carry mental weight.
They hover in the background, draining your focus.
When you knock them out first, everything else flows more easily.
Example:
“Start with 15 minutes of derivatives. Then move to easier ground.”
You don’t need to finish the hard topic — just confront it early.
4. Shrink the Session, Not the Standard
If a full 90-minute study block feels impossible tonight, fine.
But that doesn’t mean the session should be skipped.
Instead:
Shorten it to 30 minutes
Focus on a single task
Do it with intensity
Then stop
What matters is that you show up.
Momentum is built through motion, not scale.
Final Thoughts
Every CFA candidate has days they don’t feel like studying.
The difference is what happens next.
Weak candidates wait to feel ready.
Strong candidates start anyway.
You don’t need energy.
You don’t need inspiration.
You need a system that gets the engine running.
Start small.
Start specifically.
Start now.
Your future self will thank you.
