What a Museum of Illusions Taught Me About CFA Exam Prep
Last week, we took the kids to the Museum of Illusions.
It was everything you’d expect: floating bodies, disappearing heads, upside-down rooms. Total sensory confusion. The kids were mesmerized.
They knew it wasn’t real. But their eyes kept telling them otherwise.
And that’s what got me thinking—what else in life feels real, but isn’t?
Your Thoughts Can Lie to You
Not everything your mind tells you is true.
Not every thought deserves your belief.
This is especially important when you’re deep in the trenches of CFA exam prep.
You miss a few practice questions, and suddenly you’re thinking:
“I’m not cut out for this.”
“Other people are smarter.”
“I’ll probably fail anyway.”
It feels like truth. But it’s not.
These are illusions. Mental tricks. Projections shaped by exhaustion, doubt, and pressure—not facts.
The Mind Builds Stories
The human brain is a storytelling machine. It’s incredible at constructing meaning from patterns, events, and emotions.
But it’s not always great at verifying whether those stories are true.
And if you’re not careful, those false narratives become your default setting.
You start believing you’re behind.
That you’re not good enough.
That your progress isn’t real.
But these thoughts aren’t reality—they’re distortions.
Perception Isn’t Truth
That’s what the museum reminded me.
Perception can lie.
Just like your eyes can trick you into seeing a room flip upside down, your mind can trick you into thinking failure is inevitable.
In those moments of overwhelm and self-doubt, stop and ask:
Is this real?
Or is it just a mental illusion I’ve accidentally bought into?
Because what matters isn’t the fear you feel in a single moment—it’s the belief you choose to hold next.
Final Thoughts
CFA exam prep will stretch you. It will test your knowledge, your time, and your emotional bandwidth.
But never forget this: your thoughts aren’t facts by default. You get to choose which ones you accept—and which ones you challenge.
Because success on this journey doesn’t start with getting everything right. It starts with learning to see clearly, even when your mind tries to convince you otherwise.
Keep going. The real victory is on the other side of the illusion.
