fe exam tips

Prioritizing your Mental Capacity when studying for the FE EXAM

Whether you’re just starting or you’re currently preparing for your FE exam, I want you to be fully aware of your most important resource. It’s your mental capacity. Studying and learning are both mentally draining and mentally rewarding. The struggle and reward go hand in hand, and for the most part, we cannot have one without the other. I would argue that if you’re constantly feeling like you’re struggling without feeling the internal rewards that naturally come with learning, then it’s time to think about reframing your thinking about studying for this FE exam as a whole.

Some of us have the implicit belief that the more, the better. If we study more, we will get better. It’s somehow ingrained in us. By studying more, we believe we are efficiently accelerating our learning. There’s always this constant urge to study, to do something, or to just do anything.

On the opposite side of the spectrum. We think too much about things. We keep delaying that next study session. We worry too much about knowing everything to the point where we feel like we are “not doing good enough” because we haven’t developed a perfect study routine or perfected that next practice problem.

In both cases, we are consuming our own mental capacity to unhealthy levels without thinking about the conditions that sustain our capacity. The consequence of this is a state of “rushing”, “worrying”, “panicking”, “overthinking”, “stressing”, etc. These emotions are necessary to feel because they make us who we are. A lot of times, it’s these emotions that make us do things we never thought we were capable of.

Remember, what you’re preparing for is huge. You already have a busy life, and studying for the FE exam shouldn’t make your life stressful to the point of stagnation or overdoing things. Give yourself the mental space, the time, and the right environment to stick to a long-term plan. You want to focus on the quality of your practice and not the quantity. Quality entails building a supportive environment around yourself, and most importantly, it involves taking plenty of breaks to get your mind off studying to help you retain all your learning for the long term. This is what we mean by sustaining your capacity.

In summary, from time to time, you will need to examine your study structure. Really think about whether you’re being too hard on yourself in an unsustainable way. Can you take it easy? Do you feel like it’s better to take a break? If you’re always feeling like you’re close to your maximum capacity, then I advise you to ease back a bit because good learning takes place when the mind isn’t in a constant state of stress. Mind you, it could be the opposite. Maybe you’re not pushing yourself to your full potential for specific reasons. What are these reasons? Can you point them out? Is it your environment? What’s in your control? What can you do differently today to make sure you’re slowly building a quality study routine that’s just right for you?

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