Not a Meltdown. A Slow Unraveling.
I burned out studying for the CFA exams.
Not in some dramatic, movie-worthy collapse.
It was quieter than that. More subtle. More dangerous.
At first, I just felt off. A little flat. Then foggy. Then quietly resentful.
Still, I kept studying. Because that’s what you do, right?
You push through.
You grind harder.
You ignore the exhaustion and cling to the schedule.
When Studying Starts to Feel Like Punishment
But somewhere along the way, it stopped feeling like progress.
It started to feel like punishment.
I’m naturally stoic. The type who pushes through pain and convinces himself that suffering builds character.
But it wasn’t building anything anymore.
I couldn’t absorb the material. Couldn’t focus. Couldn’t stay engaged.
Worse than all of that? I started to dread the process.
That’s the moment when you go from struggling… to slipping.
No One Around Me Understood
Friends didn’t get it.
“It’s just an exam,” they’d say.
But to me, it wasn’t just an exam.
It had become a mirror. A scoreboard. A proxy for self-worth.
I remember one night vividly.
I sat at my desk, staring at the same page for 45 minutes, stuck in mental quicksand.
And a single thought crept in:
“If this is what it takes to pass… maybe it’s not worth it.”
That thought terrified me.
Because deep down, I still wanted the Charter.
I just didn’t know how to get to the other side without losing myself along the way.
So I Stepped Back. Reluctantly.
I didn’t quit. But I stopped pretending the current path was working.
I stepped back. Reassessed everything.
Not the notes. Not the curriculum.
The system.
The way I was doing the work.
I decided, honestly, that if I was going to fail, I’d rather fail on my own terms.
And that gave me freedom.
I stopped chasing volume and started chasing clarity.
I slowed down. Focused on bedding down what I’d already covered instead of rushing to conquer new chapters.
I shifted from panic-mode cramming to deep, thoughtful repetition.
I reminded myself:
This is supposed to be hard.
If it weren’t, every second person and their dog would have the Charter—and it wouldn’t be worth anything.
And Then… It Got Better
Within a few days, something shifted.
The grind became bearable again. Then interesting. Then exciting.
I got my spark back.
And more importantly, I found a way to go all in without losing myself.
Looking back, that burnout didn’t ruin my CFA journey.
It saved it.
Because it forced me to stop brute-forcing something that demanded a smarter, more deliberate approach.
It made me question why I was studying, not just how.
And that single reframe changed the trajectory of everything—my career, my mindset, even the way I coach today.
Strategy Over Stamina
Since then, I’ve coached a lot of CFA candidates.
And I’ve seen it over and over again:
Smart. Capable. Disciplined.
But on the edge.
Not because they’re weak.
Because they’re trying to out-muscle a process that requires more than muscle.
This exam isn’t about raw horsepower.
It’s about systems. Strategy. Resilience that doesn’t drain the tank.
If You’re on the Edge Right Now…
If the CFA grind has become a joyless, soul-sapping treadmill…
If you feel like your identity is tied to a mock exam score…
If you’re pushing but not progressing…
Hear this:
You are not bad at this.
But something needs to change.
When it does?
Everything gets lighter.
You’ll still work hard—but the work will work.
And that’s the difference between burning out… and breaking through.
