This was me in 2019. But more interestingly, this was my calendar in 2019. At that time I was working a full time finance job, studying 7 days a week for the CFA program, working on this YouTube channel, and trying to do all the normal things in life.

Link to my course The CFA Study Blueprint:
https://ajsrmeksschool.teachable.c...

Don't get me wrong, 2019 was one of the best years of my life so far. But it was pretty crazy. The routine that I utilized during this time was intense, but simple. And it allowed me to do all of these things pretty successfully. I passed both CFA exams I studied for that year, I made big steps in my career, and planted the seeds for what has now become the 467th best finance YouTube channel.

All kidding aside, the primary reason I was able to pass the CFA exams during that time was attributable to this schedule. And since then, I have seen several people or outlets discuss what is a very similar strategy to this, and why it can be so beneficial to accomplishing goals. So we are going to walk through exactly how this schedule works, showing you the rules and systems that make it so successful.

Keep in mind this is a schedule for a young professional, with a significant other, but before kids. I really don't think I could have studied enough to pass the CFA exams before having kids, but I know there are some people out there who do it, so hats off to them.

The first thing to do when building an effective schedule is to understand how much total time is needed for the priorities. For me and I think many of you watching this video, time spent working is not negotiable, but it's not the main priority we are working around here either. Your work hours are more set in stone, sure they can fluctuate day to day, but what I mean is, working feels more required. It feels like it owns your time more. So we can start there and say, okay I have to spend from 8 am to 6pm commuting to work, working, then commuting home. And 99% of the time, there really isn't any flexibility here. Now I was really lucky to work a job that was mostly 40 hours a week, with maybe 1 or 2 nights going late. I understand for many of you who work more than that, you will need to push this next part of your schedule later on, but it can still work that way too so stay with me.

So if your next priority is studying, like for a CFA exam. You need to really understand the total amount of hours required. We know the average CFA candidate studieds 300 hours, and we also know most CFA candidates fail and will never become charterholder. The reason I found it important to know how many total hours I was going to study, was because we are also going to prioritize THESE hours in the schedule, but more on this in a bit.

Finally, for the third, fourth, or fifth hobby type things can take a backseat, but you still should get an idea on the amount of hours that will go into each. For me these were spending time with my wife (30 minutes per day), playing video games (a few hours on Fridays and the weekend) and working on YouTube videos for about 3 flexible hours per week. These things can be shuffled around, but should still happen just so that your life isn't 100% consumed by the 2 priorities. Let's talk about how that prioritization happens.

If you have an idea of something you want me to cover in depth, please let me know because I take your requests seriously. Will be back with more CFA Exam tips in a couple of weeks so please submit more questions you would like to hear answered. Love you all!

AJ

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** The information in this video is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional financial advice. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained in this video is for general information purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your financial or tax professional**