The Day Things Changed
I’ll never forget it.
The day my daughter was born, I had my CFA notes next to me on the hospital chair.
It wasn’t some heroic multitasking moment. It was messy, ridiculous, and looking back a bit absurd.
At the time, I was halfway through studying for the CFA Level III exam. I thought I had my schedule sorted.
I thought I could “handle it all.”
What I didn’t account for was the utter unpredictability of becoming a parent.
Even though this wasn’t my first child, nothing prepared me for the disruption that came next.
When Routine Shattered
Sleep vanished.
Routine crumbled.
Flashcards gave way to nappy changes.
Evenings that once belonged to derivatives and portfolio theory were now consumed by trying to get a tiny human to sleep.
And here’s the wild thing:
I still passed.
But it came at a cost.
You Can’t Out-Plan Chaos
What I learned—painfully and personally—is that you can’t out-plan chaos.
You can only out-prioritize it.
The breakthrough didn’t come from squeezing more into the day.
It came from clarity.
I stopped pretending I could do everything.
And I started asking a better question:
“What’s the one thing that matters most today?”
Some days, that meant thirty minutes of focused study while she napped.
Other days, it meant skipping study entirely to be present.
I became ruthless with distractions.
I dropped the guilt.
I learned to say no—even to myself.
And strangely, my brain responded.
In the middle of the madness, I started thinking more clearly.
Because when you only have an hour, you don’t waste it.
You strip away the noise.
You focus.
You execute.
Life Doesn’t Pause for the CFA
If you’re juggling work, relationships, a newborn—or some other curveball—know this:
You’re not the first.
You’re not alone.
And you’re not doomed.
Life doesn’t pause for the CFA exams.
But the exams can fit into a real, messy, beautiful life—if you approach them the right way.
You don’t need perfect conditions.
You need precision.
And permission to stop doing what doesn’t move the needle.
Constraint Can Be the Catalyst
Sometimes constraint is exactly what you need.
It forces you to stop hiding behind busywork.
It forces you to cut the fluff.
It forces you to focus on what actually matters.
I didn’t pass despite the chaos.
I passed because the chaos forced me to get serious about execution.
So if your CFA journey feels like it’s running parallel to real life—
let it.
Let it sharpen you.
Let it focus you.
Let it strip away what doesn’t serve you.
Because you don’t need more time.
You just need to use the time you have better.
And trust me—an hour, done right, can move mountains.
