Why am i not as motivated for L2?

L2 is supposed to be harder than L1, so far I still have FI, Derivative and PM to cover but I am not as motivated as I was for L1. I am also not worried either because I think i am top of what I have covered so far. Are you as motivated as you were for L1?

I was as motivated as all get out when I took the exams, and I passed each the first time.

As for motivating yourself, just ask yourself this question: If you don’t really want to study now, how much do you think you’ll want to study next year when you repeat Level II?

Now . . . crack those books!

Even i am like that sad

Thx man, it will be horrible to retake this exam and like I said I am not worried. I think that part of my issue is that I had such a huge expectation as far as the difficulty of the L2 material and now I feel like it’s not that hard (of course I will have to pass to confirm that). The equity part which is supposed to be the biggest part to me is like a big review of stuff I already know (probably has to do with my job). I guess I need to focus on the pain I will feel if I had to retake it to staty motivated…

Please don’t let that feeling lead you to complacency.

When I was studying for my Level I exam I could look at nearly every topic area and say that I either had a degree (or two) in that area, or I did it every day at work:

Quant, Corporate Finance, Equity, Fixed Income, Derivatives, Alternative Investments, Portfolio Management - two degrees in mathematics

Econ - studied it for two years in my undergrad business (accounting) degree

FRA - degree in accounting

Corporate Finance - studied it in my business degree

Fixed Income - working as a mortgage securities analyst at PIMCO

Despite all that, I probably spent 300 hours studying for the Level I exam. I hated the studing, but I knew that I’d hate it ten times as much if I had to do it a second time.

When you think you know all the Level II material, keep studying. If you don’t, and you don’t pass, you’ll hate yourself; if you do, and you do pass, you’ll say that it was worth it.

Trust me man, I know there is no short cut here…I put about 500 hours in L1 and I crushed; plan to do the same or more in L2. I know PHD in finance who failed L2, so I know I can’t afford to be complacent.

Thx for the encouragement…

I really thought I was the only one with less motivation. I think passing L1 on the first attempt made me subconciounsly think I’m smart (ofcourse that is NOT the case). This time last year, I covered everything and was doing questions, I still haven’t managed to cover the syllabus yet. Time to get a move on.

Yeah I think that passing the L1 bring some sense of over confidence. Last year I finished covering the L1 material 10 days before the exam, and i had more than 70% in every section so I am not really worried about the time, but I should note that I study deeply before I move to the next reading so I don’t really need a second pass. I think that this year I will have more time to practice…

Keep it up Vicky yes

I can only speak for myself- but it has a lot to do with the “career jadedness” I had during L1. I was fresh out of UG, and accordingly, still had the “effort in = result out” mindset. Then you spend some time in the real world and realize it’s all just noise. It’s super easy to be motivated when you think your successes while “change” things, super difficult when you eventually realize it isn’t the case at all. I’m literally just going through the motions like a robot at this point and fully expect NOTHING to change from passing either L2 OR L3. And fwiw, I know I’m not alone in feeling this way.

When I was taking the exams I did so because my employer - PIMCO - insisted on it. I certainly did not expect things to change (e.g., raise in salary) because I passed the exams.

That said, things have certainly changed. I’m now teaching review courses for the exams, and I have gotten to teach in Los Angeles, Irvine, Washington, DC, Toronto, Vancouver, Zürich, Frankfurt, Paris, Geneva, London, Moscow, and Kiev, and I’ll add Atlanta, Windsor, ON and San Francisco to that list later this Spring. None of that would have been possible had I not passed these tests.

In short, you never know where this may lead. Why not give it your best shot and see?

I feel you man, but the way I look at it is that it’s better to have it long term and also you really learn some helpful stuff for your day to day job…Keep your head up…

You teach full time or just on the side?

I just finished a 16-month consulting gig, so all I’m doing it teaching right now (well, and the occasional magic show), but I’m going to be talking to some folks tomorrow about another possible consulting gig.

Teach CFA classes for Kaplan?

Primarily, though occasionally I teach for others as well.

That was kind of depressing. Probably more depressing because I agree with you :slight_smile:

My apologies: I had intended it as uplifting, not depressing. New vistas being opened, that sort of thing.

Gosh, you must be in the minority… I took L1 thinking I didn’t pass and passed by a fair margin… which really boosted my confidence for L2 as opposed to, say, barely passing.

I should say that I was not worried about L1 result…matter of fact I tought it was a little too easy for example compare to the mock exam…I think I finished the morning exam in 2h20 min but it took me the entire time to finish le afternoon exam cause I was going a little slower but really when I left the room that day I knew I was gonna pass. Again I think that My lack of motivation is a combination of that L1 exam and the fact that the L2 material is not that hard…I don’t take it for granted anyway…I study hard but not as hard as when I was preparing L1.