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Stop
Scaring Yourself On Tests!- How Many Of These Stress-Inducing Things
Do You Do?
Some people just work themselves into a frenzy before a test. It
doesn't have to be that way. Read this list of 27 ways people scare
themselves before and during a test, so you can stop creating your
own fear.
485
words.
Stop Scaring Yourself On Tests!
How Many Of These Stress-Inducing Things Do
You Do?
Bill Cole, MS, MA
Founder and CEO
William B. Cole Consultants
Silicon Valley, California
Are you needlessly stressing out about tests?
Some people just work themselves into a frenzy before a test. They
talk themselves out of doing well and often self-destruct. They
don't give themselves a chance to do well. Seems like they have
a death wish when it comes to test taking.
It doesn't have to be that way.
Other people recognize the stress, try to get a handle on it and
don't let it get the best of them. Which camp are you in? Smart
test takers are aware of how they might self-sabotage and avoid
those things. They stay tuned to what they are doing, thinking and
feeling. Once they notice a problem, they take care of it. Right
now, I want you to read this list of 27 ways people scare themselves
before and during a test. I want you to know all of these, and the
next time you notice yourself doing one of them, you should be more
able to quickly stop hurting your chances of success. Here we go.
16 Ways You Scare Yourself Before The Test
- Listening to the negative nightmarish fears of other students.
- Engaging in "what-if" disaster scenarios about failing.
- Telling yourself you are going to do badly.
- Ingesting drugs or alcohol in an effort to reduce stress and
anxiety.
- Going into denial and not studying at all, hoping you will
somehow succeed.
- Having a "failure wish" and deciding you deserve to fail.
- Recalling past times you messed up a test.
- Not eating or hydrating enough.
- Not getting enough sleep or rest.
- Studying far too little.
- Studying far too much, especially at the last minute.
- Trying to memorize impossible amounts of material at the last
moment.
- Studying the wrong ways.
- Rushing in to the test room at the last moment.
- Being disorganized with materials.
- Not listening to the test directions.
11 Ways You Scare Yourself During The Test
- Holding or reducing the volume of your breathing.
- Tightening your muscles.
- Rushing to finish first.
- Starting to blank out and panicking about that.
- Thinking the only way to succeed is to cheat.
- Calling yourself names.
- Wishing you were elsewhere.
- Wondering when this will be over.
- Giving up, thinking this is impossible.
- Telling yourself you have no test taking talent.
- Telling yourself you are a lousy student.
There are many ways you can stress yourself, and
therefore psych yourself out of doing well on a test. Much of how
well you do on a test has to do with you, and not to factors like
timing, your mood and luck. What's the secret here?, Know what things
you can and can't control, take charge of those things you can,
and let go of the rest. Period. You can't control what you can't
control, right?
Good luck in your next test. For now, stop scaring yourself.
Knowing about educational psychology and being test savvy
is certainly an important part of being a good student, but top students who
get consistently high grades also have a knowledge base and applied skills in
stress control and peak performance. You need to know how to manage your mind,
calm your emotions and relax your body so you can get into the “test zone”,
that powerful, deeply focused mind-body state that gives you excellent recall,
mental alertness and clarity. You need to learn these skills and become mentally
tough so you can handle the extreme pressures of academia. Other mental skills
training you need are visualization, confidence-building, mental readiness training
and motivation skills.
To learn this set of mental toughness, zone, and stress control skills, sign
up for our special Test
Anxiety Stress Reduction Program or contact me for a complimentary review
of your test-taking skills.
Copyright © 2011-
Bill Cole, MS, MA. All rights reserved.
Bill Cole, MS, MA, a leading authority
on peak performance, mental toughness and coaching, is founder and
CEO of William B. Cole Consultants, a consulting firm that helps
organizations and professionals achieve more success in business,
life and sports. He is also the Founder and President of the International
Mental Game Coaching Association (www.mentalgamecoaching.com),
an organization dedicated to advancing the research, development,
professionalism and growth of mental game coaching worldwide. He
is a multiple Hall-Of-Fame honoree as an athlete, coach and school
alumnus, an award-winning scholar-athlete, published book author
and articles author, and has coached at the highest levels of major-league
pro sports, big-time college athletics and corporate America. For
a free, extensive article archive, or for questions and comments
visit him at www.MentalGameCoach.com.
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