April 2024
Learning over the holidays …
Good morning on this rather lovely spring day. Easter holidays, but for many this is also the season of exams that matter. Whether you are learning for your GCSE’s, A’levels or BTEC’s – I just hope that you are in a rhythm of studying that is working effectively and well.
From a coaching perspective, here are a few questions that I will prompt clients with:
Why do you really want to be studying? What makes this time important for you?
Why do these exams actually matter enough to put the work in?
What if you don’t bother with the learning – how will you feel in 3 months time?
How will you feel if you start TODAY in strategising so that you know in yourself that you have done your very best, no matter what the past stories around learning have been and no matter what the expectations for your teachers and families have been?
What does an excellent student look like to you? How does somebody who enjoys learning, can wrestle with the work, is confident in their skills to learn effectively look like? How would you be talking to yourself if you knew that you are going to succeed in these exams?
How would you be talking to yourself if you really cared about yourself and your work and your future?
What if you just knew yourself to be that person who actually can learn well and can take an exam with a confidence and assurance because you have spent quality time in preparing well for it?
What if you knew that you still have time to make it to make great difference to your exam results?
What if you knew that there are people around you who want to help and support you?
How would feeling satisfaction and accomplishment feel like for you? What could you start doing today to ensure that ‘feeling’ at the end of each day?
Who is the person that you really admire, look up to and respect? Imagine them on the sidelines just cheering you on because they just know that you are very capable and will find a way through the work?
How would you be working today if you really really backed yourself?
I pose these types of questions because the power of feeling is impactful and immense. Feelings trigger the emotions and working well comes from sense of ‘I can do this – I am capable of really applying myself’. And to get started:
“I get to study, learn, revise ….. I choose to ….. I want to …… I am pleased to …….”
Clear the study place and put the distractions out of the way
54321 … blast off … .just start … get going despite the niggling voices that distract.
Keep your mind at the single task at hand. 25 minutes is a good amount of time. Then a proper 5 minutes break (with some movement and a glass of water) …. And then go again … perhaps do this 3 times before a longer break. Every 25 minutes stacks up.
And remember that when your mind wanders, bring it back gently to the work on hand. You know that you can attend to all the fun distractibles at a later stage.
At the end of each study session, remember to give yourself a pat on the back. What went well during that study period. What will you be doing differently when you approach your next study period? How could you be learning better?
I find that starting with small and easier tasks are the trigger to greater momentum. You just need to get started. However, also there will be the harder work, the work that needs more brain power. My suggestion is to do that earlier in the day, when you have energy. The fun things to learn, the easier things to learn, can be work that you can look forward to dong later on in the day.
Also, watch the words that you are using about your leaning like a hawk! Your brain is listening to what you tell it. So say outloud things that will prime your brain for learning. What is your posture like? Your posture reflects your attitude and beliefs around the learning. What can you easily do that demonstrates that you are really wanting to pay great attention to your work and to learn with excellence?
This is just a season of studying. There are times when you will be saying a no to things because you are saying a yes to yourself. Take this day by day. And I promise that progress builds up. I know that you are capable, able and that there is a way to exam success.