Part I
Releasing Your Potential to Pass Exams
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In this part . . .
Find out how your brain works and explore the mechanics of what happens in your brain when you are learning and studying for exams.
Discover key principles to get your brain switched on and working to improve how you review, retain, and recall information.
Explore your ideal learning states and styles to help make learning and study easier.
Get essential tips on how to keep motivated, manage your study time, and concentrate effectively.
Understand how your mind works and how to harness the power of an
exam performance mindset to improve your preparation and ultimately your results.
Chapter 1
Passing Exams: Preparation Is Everything!
In This Chapter
Adjusting your exam performance mindset
Exploring the features and functions of your brain
Discovering how to learn more effectively and efficiently
Using thinking strategies to improve your exam preparation and performance
Taking a look at the four steps to effective preparation
Have you ever thought of taking a test as giving a performance? If youâre into music, sports, or drama then you already know the benefits of thinking this way: Preparing beforehand improves your abilities, so that when you get to the podium, the field, or the stage, you can give your best performance.
You can approach exams the same way. During an exam you sit at a desk for several hours, concentrating and writing as fast as you can. Your preparation beforehand determines how well you perform in the exam.
In this chapter, I help you gain an understanding of where you are right now with regard to your exam performance mindset. This understanding can help you develop strategies to enhance your thinking and use techniques that enable you to perform at your peak on exam day.
Developing Your Exam Performance Mindset
No matter what subjects youâre studying, whether youâre in high school, in college, at university, or facing vocational or entrance exams, to pass your exams you need to do these things:
Attend classes, pay attention, and make notes for later review.
Teachers only present information â they donât put it in your head. Thatâs your task and, usually, youâre required to follow up with research or further reading.
Organize your class notes and plan your study time.
Become well acquainted with the subject matter. This involves improving your ability to study and to retain information â two different skill-sets. Right now, you may simply call it study, but to answer exam questions you need to know how to retain information and access it when you need it.
Demonstrate your knowledge by performing well on the exam. If you donât perform well on the exam, your results wonât reflect how well you know the subject.
Obviously, accomplishing all this takes work, and developing an exam performance mindset gives you a good start and helps you
Maintain an attitude of excellence.
Know very clearly what you want and why you want to pass your exams (which is your goal, after all).
Identify and address how and why you may be holding yourself back.
With the right mindset, you can discover your capabilities, clarify your motives, and gain a better understanding of yourself. Learning and studying then become much easier â and fun!
Cultivating the right attitude
The famous Greek philosopher Aristotle said, âWe are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.â What he meant is that the quality and quantity of your thinking determine how your life goes. If your predominant thoughts are affirming, positive, constructive, and generally optimistic, the quality of your decisions, actions, and ultimately what happens to you will be great as well.
Think about whether your thoughts drive you forward towards being the best you can or make you feel defeated before youâve even started.
All meaningful and lasting change begins on the inside, then slowly becomes a reality. Change involves addressing your thinking processes. Becoming aware of what youâre telling yourself on the inside helps bring constructive, affirming, positive thoughts to the forefront of your mind. Through repetition, you can make them a habit. You can train your subconscious mind so that you naturally perform at your best no matter what youâre doing.
Setting your purpose
Sailing through life without purpose is like sailing the oceans without a destination. A rogue sailorâs life may interest some people, but a successful career requires direction. To do well in exams you need to know very clearly why you want to achieve good results (or, what you want to do next).
I didnât do very well in my high school exams, mainly because I had no clear-set academic goals and therefore no real reason why I should pass. I didnât know what I was going to do when I left school, so it didnât matter to me how well I did.
The trick is deciding what you want, and then deciding why you want it. Take a moment to visualize achieving your exam goals, then explore all the benefits that follow. Clarifying your purpose in this way helps maintain your motivation when the going gets tough â and when exam time rolls round and you have more than one test to prepare for, the going will get tough!
Clearing roadblocks
Sometimes you may consciously choose a goal (for example, to pass an exam so that youâre qualified to do a job youâve been offered), but for some reason, you unconsciously sabotage a good outcome. Perhaps youâre beset by self-defeating, critical thoughts that point out why you wonât do as well in the exam as you hope. Or you may procrastinate, putting your preparation off until the last minute, then discover you need more time. The small amount of reviewing you do is inefficient and leads to a poor result.
The way around problems like self-defeating thoughts is to identify and analyze all the reasons you may be trying to hinder your own progress. Listing what you perceive to be lacking in your knowledge or skills helps you pinpoint your negative attitudes and beliefs. This requires digging deep and being honest with yourself.
When you become aware of the ways you limit yourself, you can take steps to rectify your behavior so that youâre not working again...