Going into exams excited
My Biggest Super power
We are now well and truly in exam season.
Which means stress and tension is in the air.
At ILS,
We believe that you will swing your grade 5% either way during the 24 hours leading up to an exam based on your mindset.
For all of the work that a student has put in,
A whole grade boundary can be swung based on how a student mentally approaches an exam.
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If you say you can, or if you say you can’t … You’re right
There are many quotes to this effect.
They tell us how powerful self-belief is.
But the problem is they never really tell us how you can control your inner voice.
Your beliefs.
And I think it is interesting,
That when reading this,
You or I might believe in this sentiment in one aspect of our lives,
For example, in exams,
But when it comes to sport,
Or talking to members of the opposite sex when you were growing up,
There would be a very different inner voice.
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What I am trying to get at,
Is I suspect most of us are self-confident at something in life.
Whether it is gaming, sport, drama or something else.
Self-confidence comes from proof.
Other people telling you over the years that you are good subsequently makes you believe it, and then become even better.
But proof also comes from self-confidence …
It’s a chicken and egg scenario,
And you have to start somewhere.
So you may as well fake it until you make it.
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How did this work for me in exams?
And more importantly,
How can this work for your teenager?
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As the title of the email suggests,
I went into exams excited.
Was this because I felt like I put in enough work,
Yes, I’m sure,
Was this because I had previously done well in exams,
Yes, I’m sure,
But really, I think the most defining factor was a psychological choice.
I chose that I was going to be someone who did comparatively well in exams.
They beauty of this statement is no one else can really refute it.
I wasn’t saying something clearly untrue like I am going to get the best grade in the year.
Instead, I made it part of my identity to be someone who executed better when it was an exam.
I know it sounds silly,
And if this is currently the opposite for your teenager I completely understand if you choose to stop reading this email.
Maybe it’s not for you.
But I do believe that this works in life.
For example,
If the story you tell yourself is that you are a late person or an early person,
You double down on what you say you are.
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An Important Practical Tip
If you have read this far perhaps you don’t think I am talking complete rubbish.
So I would like to give you an actionable way of implementing this which for me took it beyond normal positive self-talk.
I made the self-talk competitive.
Perhaps this is going to sound callous to some of you,
But I would say to myself,
“Gosh I am going to do some much better than Bobby,”
“Damn, I wouldn’t want to be Oliver right now,”
And if I was in the exam and it was a tough one,
I would look up and see one of the people in front of me and think,
“If I am finding this difficult, my gosh Johnny must be freaking out, this is going to make the grade boundaries so low.”
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If I had to attempt to analyse why I think this worked,
I would suggest that when most people are in an exam,
They are battling against their own mind telling them they are not good enough.
Whereas I was battling against Bobby, Oliver and Johnny.
Making it competitive really focused my mind and kept me positive.
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I hope you all have a great week ahead,
Best,
Joel