🎙 Cultivating an Environment for CPA Exam Success

Why “Just Start Studying” Fails — and What to Do First Instead

Episode Summary

In this episode, Dawn shares a powerful shift that changes how CPA Exam candidates approach studying — especially when studying “doesn’t fit” into their life right now.

After a conversation with a client who wasn’t studying, it became clear that the issue wasn’t discipline, motivation, or ability. The issue was placement. Studying didn’t yet have a place to live in her life.

Dawn introduces a simple but transformative distinction: studying is the seed. And seeds don’t grow because you keep planting them. They grow when the conditions support growth.

Instead of forcing study sessions into an already full, overwhelmed life, this episode walks you through how to cultivate an environment where studying can actually exist — and eventually thrive.

You’ll learn why “just start studying” so often fails, what needs to come first, and how a simple 15-minute planning block can help you stop starting over and finally build real, sustainable CPA Exam progress.

This episode is for CPA Exam candidates who feel stuck, inconsistent, overwhelmed, or frustrated — and want a practical, grounded way to make studying fit into real life.

🎯 What You’ll Learn in This Episode

1. Why Not Studying Is Not the Real Problem

Dawn explains why lack of studying is usually not a discipline issue — it’s a placement issue. When studying has nowhere to live in your time, mind, or schedule, it disappears. Not because you don’t care, but because the conditions don’t support it.

2. The Seed and Soil Distinction That Changes Everything

Studying is the seed. Your time structure, mindset, and study strategy are the soil. If the environment isn’t prepared, planting more study sessions won’t change the outcome. You’ll learn how to shift from forcing growth to cultivating support.

3. Why the Goal at the Beginning Is Not to Study

Instead of jumping into content, Dawn explains why the first goal is to carve out a small space where studying could live. This reframes the early phase of preparation from performance to preparation of conditions.

4. How to Use 15 Minutes to Create Stability Before Studying

You’ll learn why the first 15-minute block is not for content. It’s for planning, researching, organizing, and building the identity of someone who studies consistently for the CPA Exam. Habit comes before intensity.

5. The Three Environmental Factors That Must Support Study Success

Dawn breaks down the three areas that determine whether studying survives:

• Study strategy — If your approach doesn’t fit your actual life, studying feels pointless.

• Mindset — If your inner dialogue is full of pressure and self-judgment, studying feels unsafe and heavy.

• Time management — If time has no structure, studying has nowhere to go.

If even one of these is misaligned, studying won’t last.

6. Why You Don’t Need Perfect Conditions — Just Good Enough Ones

This episode removes perfection pressure. You are not trying to overhaul your life. You are creating conditions that are good enough for studying to exist and grow steadily over time.

Key Takeaway

You don’t stop starting over by demanding more from yourself. You stop starting over by cultivating an environment where studying can finally grow.

Instead of forcing study sessions into chaos, create a small, intentional space where studying can live. Once the environment supports it, progress becomes sustainable.

👉 Click HERE to get your FREE Ultimate CPA Exam Success Checklist download and custom GPT.

Thanks for listening to today’s episode of the CPA Exam Success Podcast.

You are not behind. You are cultivating.

And once studying has a place to live, you begin.

Ready to Stop Struggling and Start Passing?

Join my CPA Exam Success Mastery Coaching Program and get the strategy, mindset, and support you need to pass your first CPA Exam section—and then the rest—with confidence and ease.

👉 Click HERE to take your first step toward CPA Exam success! (This 🔗 takes you to all currently available free and paid resources.)

Let’s Connect!

💬 Join the Free Facebook Group

📩 Have a question or want to share your breakthrough? Send me a message—I’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Follow & Leave a Review if you found this episode helpful. Your support helps other CPA Exam candidates find this podcast!

🎙 The Simple Study System – Part 4: Reward to Sustain

The 5 Essential Steps to Rewarding Yourself So You Stay Motivated, Confident, and Consistent with the CPA Exam

Episode Summary

In this episode, Dawn completes her Simple Study System with Part 4: Rewarding your CPA Exam study sessions. This step is what keeps the entire system sustainable and helps you stay in the process long enough for it to work. Instead of relying on pressure, self-criticism, or urgency to keep going, you’ll learn how to use rewards to support motivation, confidence, and follow-through.

Dawn explains why rewarding yourself isn’t about indulgence or bribing yourself to study — it’s about closing the feedback loop so Scheduling, Tracking, and Assessing continue to feel supportive instead of exhausting. You’ll learn how rewards reinforce consistency, protect your energy, and make studying something you want to return to, not something you force yourself through.

This episode is designed for CPA candidates who are doing the work but want a study system that feels sustainable, encouraging, and aligned with long-term CPA Exam Success.

🎯 What You’ll Learn in This Episode

1. Why Rewarding Yourself Is Essential for CPA Exam Success

Dawn explains how rewards keep the Simple Study System energizing instead of draining, and why motivation naturally fades when effort isn’t acknowledged along the way.

2. The Difference Between the Carrot and the Stick

You’ll learn why most CPA candidates rely on pressure, self-criticism, and “shoulds” to study — and why that approach makes consistency harder over time — along with how using rewards creates a gentler, more effective path forward.

3. Why You Reward Effort, Not Outcomes

Dawn walks through why rewarding yourself for showing up matters more than rewarding perfect study sessions or exam scores, and how this shift builds confidence you can rely on.

4. The 5 Essential Steps to Rewarding Yourself

You’ll learn how to:

1. Reward yourself after every study session
2. Put your rewards on your schedule
3. Keep rewards simple and supportive
4. Create a list of small daily rewards
5. Celebrate bigger milestones throughout the CPA Exam process

5. How to Choose Rewards That Support Consistency

This section explains how to choose rewards that support your energy instead of draining it, help you come back clear and focused, and fit into real life without creating more stress.

Key Takeaway

Rewarding yourself isn’t about making studying easier because it’s hard — it’s about reinforcing follow-through and building a sustainable feedback loop. When rewards are intentional and supportive, consistency becomes possible, confidence grows, and progress compounds over time.

👉 Click HERE to access the lesson slide deck.

👉 Click HERE to get your FREE Ultimate CPA Exam Success Checklist download and custom GPT.

Thanks for listening to Part 4 of The Simple Study System. This is the same process you’ll repeat for every section of the CPA Exam — Scheduling, Tracking, Assessing, and Rewarding — as you continue building confidence, consistency, and momentum toward your CPA Exam Success.

Ready to Stop Struggling and Start Passing?

Join my CPA Exam Success Mastery Coaching Program and get the strategy, mindset, and support you need to pass your first CPA Exam section—and then the rest—with confidence and ease.

👉 Click HERE to take your first step toward CPA Exam success! (This 🔗 takes you to all currently available free and paid resources.)

Let’s Connect!

💬 Join the Free Facebook Group

📩 Have a question or want to share your breakthrough? Send me a message—I’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Follow & Leave a Review if you found this episode helpful. Your support helps other CPA Exam candidates find this podcast!

🎙 The 15-Minute Study Session

How to Reduce Resistance, Build Consistency, and Create Real CPA Exam Progress

Episode Summary

In this episode, Dawn introduces The 15-Minute Study Session — a simple, powerful approach to starting (and sustaining) your CPA Exam studying without overwhelm. This lesson breaks down why long, “perfect” study sessions often stop candidates from starting at all, and how a small, consistent commitment creates real momentum and measurable improvement over time.

Dawn explains how the 15-minute study session lowers resistance, builds consistency, and gets you into the feedback loop you need to study more efficiently. You’ll learn how this approach helps you collect real data from your studying, strengthen your ability to show up, and eventually expand your study time naturally — without forcing it.

This episode is designed for CPA candidates who feel stuck, overwhelmed, or inconsistent, and want a realistic way to begin studying that actually works in real life. 

🎯 What You’ll Learn in This Episode

1. What the 15-Minute Study Session Is and Why It Works

Dawn explains how a short, intentional study session helps you overcome all-or-nothing thinking and why 15 minutes is the ideal starting point for reducing resistance and actually beginning.

2. Why Studying Less Can Lead to More CPA Exam Progress

You’ll learn why progress doesn’t come from one long study session, but from small commitments done consistently — and how this approach creates real results over time.

3. How Consistency Creates a Powerful Feedback Loop

Dawn walks through how showing up consistently allows you to gather information about focus, confusion, distractions, and progress — information you cannot access if you are not studying.

4. How to Assess Your Study Sessions Without Judgment

This section explains how to take just 1–2 minutes after each session to notice what worked and what didn’t, without self-criticism, so you can study more efficiently moving forward.

5. How to Work With Resistance Instead of Fighting It

You’ll learn why resistance is normal, how to expect it, and how starting with a small, manageable commitment helps you build confidence and strength instead of burning out.

Key Takeaway

The 15-minute study session works because a small commitment done consistently leads to big results. It lowers resistance, builds consistency, creates a feedback loop, and strengthens your ability to show up and study effectively over time.

👉 Click HERE to access the lesson slide deck.

👉 Click HERE to get your FREE Ultimate CPA Exam Success Checklist download and custom GPT.

Thanks for listening to today’s episode of the CPA Exam Success Podcast. The 15-minute study session is a tool you can use at any point in your CPA Exam journey — whether you’re just starting or rebuilding consistency — to stay connected to your progress and move forward with confidence.

Ready to Stop Struggling and Start Passing?

Join my CPA Exam Success Mastery Coaching Program and get the strategy, mindset, and support you need to pass your first CPA Exam section—and then the rest—with confidence and ease.

👉 Click HERE to take your first step toward CPA Exam success! (This 🔗 takes you to all currently available free and paid resources.)

Let’s Connect!

💬 Join the Free Facebook Group

📩 Have a question or want to share your breakthrough? Send me a message—I’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Follow & Leave a Review if you found this episode helpful. Your support helps other CPA Exam candidates find this podcast!

🎙 The Simple Study System – Part 3: Assess to Improve

The 5 Essential Steps to Assess Your CPA Exam Study Sessions and Make Progress Every Time You Study

In this episode, Dawn continues her Simple Study System with Part 3: Assessing your CPA Exam study sessions. This step is where effort turns into real progress. Instead of just showing up and hoping things improve, you’ll learn how to pause after each study session and intentionally learn from what you just did.

Dawn walks you through how to Assess your study sessions in a simple, non-judgmental way so you can improve every single time you study. You’ll learn why Assessment is the missing link for so many CPA candidates who are studying regularly but still feel stuck, and how small, intentional adjustments can help you get off the hamster wheel and move forward with confidence.

This episode is designed for CPA candidates who want their study time to actually pay off — without overhauling their entire plan or questioning their ability.

1. Why Assessment Is Essential for CPA Exam Success

Dawn explains why simply showing up isn’t enough — and how Assessing each study session helps you turn effort into measurable progress instead of repeating the same patterns over and over again.

2. How to Pause and Capture the Value of Each Study Session

You’ll learn why taking just 2–5 minutes at the end of a study session makes such a difference, and how this pause helps you move from “I studied” to “I learned how to study better.”

3. How to Identify What Went Well (Without Ignoring It)

Dawn shows you how to train your brain to notice what’s working so you don’t accidentally throw away progress or start every study session from doubt instead of confidence.

4. How to Spot What Didn’t Work — Without Judgment

This section teaches you how to look honestly at what didn’t give you a return on your time or energy, without slipping into self-criticism, comparison, or “shoulds.”

5. How to Decide What to Do Differently Next Time

You’ll learn how to choose one small, realistic shift to apply in your next study session, adjust your plan immediately, and walk into your next session with clarity instead of confusion.

Assessment isn’t about perfection or fixing yourself — it’s about learning. When you Assess each study session with curiosity and intention, you improve every time you study and build a CPA Exam study system that actually works for you.

👉 Click HERE to access the lesson slide deck.

👉 Click HERE to get your FREE Ultimate CPA Exam Success Checklist download and custom GPT.

Thanks for listening to Part 3 of The Simple Study System. This is the same process you’ll repeat for every section of the CPA Exam — Scheduling, Tracking, Assessing, and Rewarding (Part 4 coming soon) — as you continue building confidence, consistency, and momentum toward your CPA Exam Success.

Ready to Stop Struggling and Start Passing?

Join my CPA Exam Success Mastery Coaching Program and get the strategy, mindset, and support you need to pass your first CPA Exam section—and then the rest—with confidence and ease.

👉 Click HERE to take your first step toward CPA Exam success! (This 🔗 takes you to all currently available free and paid resources.)

Let’s Connect!

💬 Join the Free Facebook Group

📩 Have a question or want to share your breakthrough? Send me a message—I’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Follow & Leave a Review if you found this episode helpful. Your support helps other CPA Exam candidates find this podcast!

🎙 From Self-Doubt to “Yes You Can!”: USOA Miss Texas 2026, Katherine Colig’s CPA Exam Success Journey

The Mindset and Consistency Shifts That Helped Her Succeed on the CPA Exam and Beyond

Episode Summary

In this episode, Dawn is joined by Katherine Colig, United States of America’s Miss Texas 2026 and a licensed CPA in Texas. Katherine shares her CPA Exam Success journey, starting with the moment she decided to pursue the CPA and what happened once she became eligible to sit for the exam.

Katherine explains that once she met the eligibility requirements, she “psyched [herself] out at the beginning,” saying she “got in [her] own way” because she knew “just how challenging the exam was.” She shares that it “instilled a little bit of fear… to even start studying,” and that she struggled with that fear for several months.

She describes sitting with her CPA Exam book for “probably six, seven months,” opening it, getting intimidated by the material, immediately closing it, and “pretend[ing] I didn’t even see it.”

Katherine talks about being a “recovering perfectionist” and says the biggest challenge in her CPA Exam journey was “you getting in your own way.” She shares how she learned to “be comfortable with being uncomfortable” and how that mindset helped her push through difficult material instead of avoiding it.

She also opens up about failing FAR with a 73, calling it “gut-wrenching,” saying she was “two points away” and remembers thinking, “I can’t do this,” before deciding to buckle down and try again because she was “so close.”

Throughout the conversation, Katherine shares how studying for the CPA Exam taught her how to handle doubt, failure, and discomfort — lessons she now uses in her career and in pageantry.

🎯 What You’ll Hear Katherine Share in This Episode

1. One of the biggest things Katherine shares is that the hardest part of the CPA Exam wasn’t always the material — it was what was happening in her own head. She says plainly that “the biggest thing in the CPA journey is you getting in your own way,” and describes how fear and self-doubt made starting feel harder than it needed to be.
2. She talks openly about being a “recovering perfectionist” and how being her own biggest critic slowed her down early on. Knowing how challenging the exam was didn’t motivate her at first — instead, she says it “instilled a little bit of fear” and kept her from even opening her study materials for months.
3. A turning point for her was learning to “be comfortable with being uncomfortable.” She explains this through a fitness analogy: lifting heavier weights feels uncomfortable at first, but that discomfort is how strength is built. She connects this directly to studying — when she stopped avoiding topics she didn’t understand and stayed with them longer, things started to click.
4. She describes moments where she “couldn’t get the concept to save [her] life,” but noticed that the more she threw herself into the material, the more she actually began to understand it. Instead of backing away from what felt hard, she learned to lean into it.
5. That mindset was tested when she failed FAR with a 73. Katherine describes the feeling as gut-wrenching — being two points away made her think, “I can’t do this.” At the same time, she recognized how close she was and decided to buckle down and try again.
6. Another shift came when she heard advice that helped take pressure off FAR: you need to know the material, but you need to know a little bit about a lot. That idea changed how she approached studying and helped her stop chasing perfect understanding of everything.
7. Katherine also shares that she failed every section at least once except BEC. Realizing that failure was common — not a personal flaw — helped her stop personalizing each setback.
8. She talks about “comparisonitis” as well: watching classmates finish faster, thinking she couldn’t keep up, and later realizing she never really knew what their journeys looked like behind the scenes.
9. Throughout it all, she kept coming back to one simple phrase: “yes, you can.” She explains that it wasn’t about forcing confidence — it was about getting herself to do one more page, prep one more week, or simply pick the book back up when she wanted to stop.

Key Takeaways (in Katherine’s Words)

“Once you achieve it, you just feel like you can accomplish anything.”

And: “It’s not so much, are you the smartest to pass — it’s how dedicated are you to studying and finding the ways that work for you.”

Resource Mentioned

SuperfastCPA Podcast

Guest Info

Katherine Colig, CPA and United States of America’s Miss Texas 2026

Instagram Personal: @katherine.victoria_

Instagram USOA Miss Texas: @usoamisstexas

Ready to Stop Struggling and Start Passing?

Join my CPA Exam Success Mastery Coaching Program and get the strategy, mindset, and support you need to pass your first CPA Exam section—and then the rest—with confidence and ease.

👉 Click HERE to take your first step toward CPA Exam success! (This 🔗 takes you to all currently available free and paid resources.)

Let’s Connect!

💬 Join the Free Facebook Group

📩 Have a question or want to share your breakthrough? Send me a message—I’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Follow & Leave a Review if you found this episode helpful. Your support helps other CPA Exam candidates find this podcast!

🎙 The Simple Study System – Part 2: Track to Stay on Track\

The 5 Essential Steps to Track Your CPA Exam Study Time and Build Real Consistency

Episode Summary

In this episode, Dawn continues Part 2 of her Simple Study System with a focused look at tracking — and why tracking your actual study time is one of the most powerful tools for building consistency, confidence, and momentum on the CPA Exam.

Instead of relying on guesses or judging yourself based on how long you planned to study, this lesson shows you how to track what actually happens when you sit down to study. Dawn explains why tracking creates awareness first, and how that awareness leads to better decisions, less frustration, and more effective study sessions.

This episode is designed for CPA candidates who want to study consistently but keep feeling distracted, discouraged, or unsure if what they’re doing is actually working. Tracking gives you the clarity to stop fighting yourself and start working with how your brain really functions.

🎯 What You’ll Learn in This Episode

1. Why Tracking Matters for CPA Exam Success

Dawn explains why accountants don’t guess — and why your study time shouldn’t be any different. Tracking shows you what’s actually happening, not what you think is happening, so you can make decisions based on facts instead of frustration.

2. How to Track Your Actual Study Time

You’ll learn how to use a simple timer to track only focused study time, when to start and stop the clock, and why distractions don’t count — without turning tracking into a source of pressure or judgment.

3. What Study Stamina Is and How to Work With It

Dawn introduces the concept of study stamina and explains how long your brain can realistically focus before needing a break. You’ll learn why starting with what’s real, not ideal, leads to more consistency and better results.

4. How to Track Without Judgment or Self-Criticism

This section focuses on using tracking as neutral information. Dawn explains how curiosity replaces criticism, why trial and error is part of the process, and how awareness always comes before improvement.

5. How to Use Tracking Data to Make Better Study Decisions

You’ll learn how to adjust your study plan based on real data — not guilt or “shoulds.” Dawn explains how working with your natural focus patterns helps prevent burnout, reduce overwhelm, and build a study system that actually works for you.

Key Takeaway

Tracking isn’t about perfection or discipline — it’s about awareness. When you track your study time without judgment, you stop wasting energy fighting yourself and start building a study system that supports consistent progress all the way to the CPA Exam finish line.

👉 Click HERE to access the lesson slide deck.

👉 Click HERE for the link to purchase the Activity Tracker Dawn uses and recommends. (This is NOT an affiliate link. Any timer/activity tracker will work.)

👉 Click HERE to get your FREE Ultimate CPA Exam Success Checklist download and custom GPT.

Thanks for listening to Part 2 of The Simple Study System. This is the same system you’ll repeat for every section of the CPA Exam as you continue building confidence, consistency, and momentum toward your final passing score.

Ready to Stop Struggling and Start Passing?

Join my CPA Exam Success Mastery Coaching Program and get the strategy, mindset, and support you need to pass your first CPA Exam section—and then the rest—with confidence and ease.

👉 Click HERE to take your first step toward CPA Exam success! (This 🔗 takes you to all currently available free and paid resources.)

Let’s Connect!

💬 Join the Free Facebook Group

📩 Have a question or want to share your breakthrough? Send me a message—I’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Follow & Leave a Review if you found this episode helpful. Your support helps other CPA Exam candidates find this podcast!

Episode 19: Plan Your 2026 CPA Exam Success

Episode Summary

In this episode, Dawn walks you through how to plan your 2026 CPA Exam Success by learning directly from your 2025 experience.

Instead of starting over with another “perfect” plan, this episode shows you how to keep what helped, change what didn’t, and build a study plan that actually fits real life. You’ll learn how to break the start–stop cycle by planning with clarity instead of pressure.

This lesson is especially for candidates who have high goals but keep getting pulled off track by work, family, fatigue, or unexpected disruptions.

By the end of the episode, you’ll have a clear process for turning what happened in 2025 into a realistic, sustainable plan for 2026.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why planning for the result without planning for real life leads to repeated setbacks

• How to review your 2025 CPA Exam experience without judgment

• What to keep and what to release from last year

• How to define success for 2026 in a way that feels realistic and motivating

• How to build a study plan that works during normal weeks and fluctuating weeks

• How to create a continuation strategy so life interruptions don’t cause you to stop

• Why smaller, sustainable plans lead to more consistent follow-through

The 5-Step Planning Process Covered

1. Review what actually happened in 2025
2. Identify what helped and what got in the way
3. Set a clear and realistic 2026 goal
4. Build a study plan that matches real life
5. Create a strategy for life’s fluctuations and distractions

Action Step

Set aside one hour this week to work through the five steps covered in this episode. You can do them all at once or break them into smaller sessions. The goal is not speed — the goal is clarity.

Click HERE to download the Workbook.

Click HERE to download the Lesson Slides

Recommended Episodes

For additional support with planning and follow-through, listen to:

• Episode 2 of the CPA Exam Success Podcast: Planning

• Episode 12 of the CPA Exam Success Podcast: Your CPA Exam Passing System – A Real Plan for Real Life

These episodes will help reinforce how to build a plan that fits your life and how to stay engaged when distractions show up.

Click HERE to join my CPA Exam Confident! 30 in 30 Challenge.

Ready to Stop Struggling and Start Passing?

Join my CPA Exam Success Mastery Coaching Program and get the strategy, mindset, and support you need to pass your first CPA Exam section—and then the rest—with confidence and ease.

👉 Click HERE to take your first step toward CPA Exam success! (This 🔗 takes you to all currently available free and paid resources.)

Let’s Connect!

💬 Join the Free Facebook Group

📩 Have a question or want to share your breakthrough? Send me a message—I’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Follow & Leave a Review if you found this episode helpful. Your support helps other CPA Exam candidates find this podcast!

🎙 The Simple Study System – Part 1: Schedule to Make It Real

The 5 Essential Steps to Create a Weekly CPA Exam Study Schedule That Actually Works

Episode Summary

In this episode, Dawn kicks off Part 1 of her Simple Study System with a deep dive into scheduling. Instead of vague advice or overly complicated plans, she walks you step by step through a simple, repeatable process you can complete in just 15 minutes each week.

This episode is designed to help you create a study schedule that fits into your real life. Dawn explains how CPA exam preparation doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and why looking at your entire week is the key to staying consistent without burnout.

You’ll learn how to decide on your weekly study sessions, account for work, family, and personal responsibilities, and intentionally schedule your time so studying stops feeling overwhelming and starts feeling doable.

1. How to Plan Your Weekly Study Schedule in 15 Minutes

Dawn explains how to set aside just 15 minutes each week to plan your study sessions, then rinse and repeat. This approach removes daily decision fatigue and gives you clarity for the entire week.

2. How to Decide on Study Sessions Before Scheduling Them

You’ll learn how to choose the number of study hours for the week, break them into realistic study sessions, and list them before placing anything on your calendar.

3. How to Account for Your Whole Life (Not Just Studying)

Dawn walks you through listing all weekly tasks and activities including work, family responsibilities, self-care, meals, and sleep, then prioritizing them so studying fits into your actual schedule.

4. The Difference Between Fixed, Flexible, and Free Time

You’ll learn how to:

• Identify fixed time that must happen at specific times

• Schedule flexible time for priorities that need consistency but not rigidity

• Protect free time so your schedule doesn’t get overtaken by other people’s urgencies

5. How to Create a Trial Schedule and Adjust It Over Time

Dawn explains why scheduling is a process of trial and error and how, after a few weeks of testing and adjusting, you’ll land on a schedule that supports consistent studying and long-term CPA Exam Success.

You are the guardian of your time. When you intentionally schedule fixed time, flexible time, and free time, you stop reacting to your week and start leading it. This process helps you build consistency without sacrificing the rest of your life.

👉 Click HERE to access the lesson slide deck.

👉 Click HERE for your FREE 🎁: Custom GPT Scheduler that walks you through this entire process step-by-step.

👉 Click HERE to get your FREE Ultimate CPA Exam Success Checklist download and custom GPT.

Thanks for listening to Part 1 of The Simple Study System. In upcoming episodes, Dawn will continue breaking down her Simple Study System so you know exactly how to Track, Assess, and Reward your progress all the way to the CPA Exam finish line 🏁.

Ready to Stop Struggling and Start Passing?

Join my CPA Exam Success Mastery Coaching Program and get the strategy, mindset, and support you need to pass your first CPA Exam section—and then the rest—with confidence and ease.

👉 Click HERE to take your first step toward CPA Exam success! (This 🔗 takes you to all currently available free and paid resources.)

Let’s Connect!

💬 Join the Free Facebook Group

📩 Have a question or want to share your breakthrough? Send me a message—I’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Follow & Leave a Review if you found this episode helpful. Your support helps other CPA Exam candidates find this podcast!

Episode 17 — Finding Time You Didn’t Know You Had

So many CPA candidates tell me they “just can’t find the time,” and I hear this more often than any other challenge. The truth is: it’s rarely about discipline. It’s usually about having a plan that matches your real life — and most people don’t.

In this episode, we explore a simple, compassionate approach to understanding where your time is actually going. Not with restriction or pressure, but with curiosity. Once you become aware of how your day is truly unfolding, pockets of time begin to reveal themselves — often without changing anything in your life.

We also talk about the different ways people relate to time: the time optimist, the time pessimist, and the time realist. Seeing yourself in one of these patterns can help you create a schedule that supports you instead of stressing you.

If you’ve been feeling behind, overwhelmed, or unsure how to fit studying into an already full schedule, this episode will help you see your time in a new, more empowering way. A few small adjustments can make consistency so much easier.

Quick reflection: What’s one small window of time you’re ready to reclaim for something that truly matters to you?

Tune in to Episode 17 to learn how to uncover the time you already have — and use it with more clarity, confidence, and ease.

Ready to Stop Struggling and Start Passing?

Join my CPA Exam Success Mastery Coaching Program and get the strategy, mindset, and support you need to pass your first CPA Exam section—and then the rest—with confidence and ease.

👉 Click HERE to take your first step toward CPA Exam success! (This 🔗 takes you to all currently available free and paid resources.)

Let’s Connect!

💬 Join the Free Facebook Group

📩 Have a question or want to share your breakthrough? Send me a message—I’d love to hear from you!

🎧 Follow & Leave a Review if you found this episode helpful. Your support helps other CPA Exam candidates find this podcast!

🎙️ 5 Simple Ways to Study Without Stress and Enjoy the Holidays

The holiday season can leave many CPA Exam candidates feeling stretched thin. End-of-year deadlines, family commitments, travel, and social plans all collide with your study goals—and it’s easy to feel like you have to choose one or the other.

But you don’t have to. You can enjoy the holidays and make meaningful progress toward your CPA Exam Success with clarity, intention, and ease.

In this episode, I walk you through five simple ways to study without stress and still enjoy the season—so you can stop second-guessing yourself and start following through in a way that supports your life and your goals.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

🎯 How to define a realistic year-end goal using duration—not completion

📅 How to schedule your study time so it supports both progress and celebration

🪷 How to set up a study space that feels calm, clear, and easy to return to

🎁 Why mini rewards help you stay consistent without added pressure

🛡️ How boundaries protect your energy, your time, and your commitments

You’ll also hear real stories from candidates navigating this season—like the client who found a test date that gave her both the review time she wanted and the family time she valued simply by looking at her calendar with intention.

And we finish with three gentle reminders:

⚖️ Support your energy in ways that keep you steady

✨ Let small, consistent steps work in your favor

🏁 Stay connected to the bigger goal you’re moving toward

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🎧 Listen now and learn how to move through this season with clarity, consistency, and confidence—so you can enjoy what matters most to you and stay connected to your CPA Exam Success.

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