Exam Success Secrets Guide - Up Learn

1 Exam Success Secrets GuideBy Nasosand Chapter One -My Story, Nasos8 Chapter Two -My Story, Guy13 Chapter Three -Mindset38 Chapter Four -Habit Creation52 Chapter Five -Health & Lifestyle103 Chapter Six -The Final Week 107 Chapter Seven -The OneMy , *sin12subjectsatGCSE andstraightAsin4subjectsatALevel,whichga inedmeaplacetostudyEconomics& ,GCSEs,ALevelsandUniversityexamsallfeels otrivial butifIgobackintimeandputmyselfintheshoes ofmy16and18-yearoldself, , snotevenconsideringthehundredsofquestion sbouncingaroundmyhead, sthebestwaytotakenotes?WhatshouldIdothew eekbeforetheexam?Whataboutthedaybefore?S houldIcramsoIcanremembermoreorgetagoodni ght ssleep?What sthebestpenthatwillhelpoptimisethespeeda ndstyleofmywriting?5 ,maybethislastone sjustme,andI , , treallymatterinsteadoffocusingonthingsth atdo ,whateveryoudo,thestressandfearoffailure won tgoaway, tmadethistripbefore,sonaturallyyou sjustyouonyourown,right?

2 Dstarttofeelalittlemoreconfident,wouldn tyou?Andyou ,Iamthattraveller,thisguideisthemap,anda ttheendofit, smore,I vehelpedotherstudentsachievesuccessasana cademictutorforthelast2years,allowingmet oidentifywhatworksandwhatdoesn TwoMy ,ratherthanhard, , , quitebright , , tdoanythingwhileIwasill,butwhenIgotbette r, ,you shomework,thisiswhatyouneedtoknowforthet est,thisishowyoushouldrevise, dbeenawayfromteachersforawhile,andinthis week,itwasthefirsttimeIhadtotake learning , ,althoughIhadtositthetest,shewouldn tjudgewhatIgotbecauseIhadmissedallherles sonsandtherewasnowayI , ,hadcompletelyoutperformedmyentireclasse s , ,I !ButIrealised,I ,eventheso-called naturalgeniuses , *sinMaths, ,onwhatisknowntobeoneofthetoughestuniver sitycoursesintheworld, , ,Istartedaneventscompanyandsold-outsomeo fthebiggestvenuesinLondon, , ,Igraduatedwith1stClasshonours inthetop10% ,Ireligiouslyappliedthehabits, ,Iwasrelaxingwatchingamoviewithmygirlfri end, , ,banking, your interest yet?

3 Read It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default. if I Fail? Miss my Grades? ,whichinturnwilldeterminethequalityofyou rlife. Yes,thisiswhatwe sthe timetogetserious timetogetserious vegotatestin4weeks?Well,we ,andalltoooften, ,themaindriverisourfearoffailingandlooki ngstupidinfrontofourteachers, snotmanagedproperly,fearcanactuallyhavet heoppositeeffect ,ourfeartendstorevolvearoundthedreadedqu estion: What happens if I fail? ,youmissyourgradesandyoudon llbeafailureinlife?No,therearecountlesse xamplesofpeoplewhoweren tsuccessfulacademicallyandsucceededinlat erlife-AlbertEinstein, ,AlanSugarandSimonCowellhaveamassedfortu nesandbuiltbusinessempires, ,VirginMoney, soneGCSE hasn tstoppedhimamassinga (GCSEs)andisworth 300m, restartingtogetthepicture Icouldgoonandonlistingexamplesofpeoplewh ohaveachievedbigthingswithoutanyqualific ations, llnevergetagoodjob?

4 Gettingsubparresultsinyourexamsisdefinit elynotagoodthing, , ,Ernst&Young srecentannouncementthattheywillstoprequi ringdegreesforjobapplications, veadmittedthattheywillstilltakeacademicp erformanceintoaccount,thistypeofamovebys uchabigfirmshowsthewaythelabourmarketisg oing,andit ,youcouldfollowtheexamplesofBranson, ,theprogressoftechnologyandthegrowthofth einternetmeansthatit (NasosandGuy) snoreasonthatyoucan ,yourparentswon ,thereisoftenalotoftensionbetweenparents andchildrenaroundacademicperformanceandi t , , , , ,yourresultsdon tstopyoufrombeingtheirsonordaughterandth eywon ,asmuchastheywantyoutosucceed,andasmucha syoumaywanttomakethemproud,you renotdoingthemforyourteachersandyou from the Outcome22 He who would be serene needs but one thing. Detachment. Meister mabouttosuggestwon tsoundrightthefirsttimeyoureadit, , ,I tattachyourentireidentitytogettingstraig htA*sorgettingintoUniversityX,becausebyd oingthatyou llcontinueyourstudiesbutasIsuggestedabov e, ,orgetting2A* ,writedownwhatthescenariolookslikeinpain stakingdetailandimaginewhatwouldhappen veoutlinedtheexamapocalypseaskyourselfth esequestions:1)Whatisthepermanentimpacto fthisonmylife?

5 2)Howlikelyisthistoactuallyhappen?3)What stepscouldItaketorepairthedamageandgetth ingsundercontrol? :1)Whataresomemorelikelyscenarios?2)Howl ikelyisitthatIcouldproduceatleastanavera gesetofresults?3)Haveequallyorevenlessin telligentpeopletakenexamsbeforeanddonewe ll? , ,sothere snoreasonyoucan verealisedonething:nomatterwhathappensin yourexams, ,takingexamsisanimportantstepforyou,butb yexploringthepossibilityoffailureandreal isingthatitwon tbetheendoftheworld,you ,anotherpopsupandit , ,seehowthey resomeonewhomakesexcusestoyourselfastowh yyoucan tstudy, ) )Yourteacherdidn )You twantyoutobethispersonsolet ,onceyou vewrittenthemalldown,gothrougheachoneand rationallyexplaintoyourselfwhythisisnoth ingmorethananexcuseandthatitcan thaveanimpactonyou, sdone,calmlytakethepieceofpaper, ,realisethatit , Sorryexcuse,I vesentyouawayandIcan tletyoubackinnow. Notethatthisisapractice Action is the foundational key to all Success .

6 Pablo Success OK,sonowyou ,you remuchmorelikelytogetthere you llbeabletorememberwhereyou , ,he llsensetheentirecrowdholdingitsbreath, , , dbegoingtouniversityX, dhaveawholesummertobaskintheknowledgetha tyou ddoneeverythingyoucouldandthatsuccesswas moreaformalitythanaquestion, ,there , , ,you repractisingyourabilitytoshutoutdistract ionsandfocusonwhat , smore,there snothinglikethepleasureyougetfrommeeting atoughchallengeandcomingoutontopsodon tforgettokeepremindingyourselfofthisduri ngtheprocess, llfeelgreatwhenit Onlyusefearasamotivator,don tletitparalyseyou. Examsarenotthebeallandendall. Youareworkingforyourself;notforyourparen ts,teachersorfriends. Eliminateexcuses. Envisionsuccess, FourHabit We become what we repeatedly do. Sean Habits to Your Advantage WhatwasyourlastNewYear sresolution?Researchsuggeststhatonly8%of resolutionsareachievedsothestatisticssug gestyouprobablyweren tthatdifferentfromplanningexamsuccess it , vedealtwitheachoftheseintheprevioussecti onsandnowit stimetofocusononeoftheotherkeydriversofs uccessandfailure tjustapplytopreparingforexamsandit ,hours,days,weeksorevenmonthsatatime,but atsomepointitwilldisappear, ,whatareyougoingtodoifthere snosafetynettostopyoufromfallingintoinac tivity?

7 , tneedtobemotivatedtostudy youjustdoitbecausethat swhatyou ,allyouneedisaminimalamountofwillpowerto starttheactivityandthenyou ,youwon tevenneedwillpower ,youprobablygothroughasimilarroutineeach daybeforeschoolincludinggettingup,gettin gdressed, sjustwhatyoudo you , ,you :first,there sacue, stheroutine,abehaviourthatcanbephysical, ,there sareward, :cue reminder/alarmonphonegoesoffat2pmonSatur day;routine-gotobedroomandstudy; , tdoit,thenitjustwon tfeelrightandyouwon Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practised every day. Jim ProcrastinationTherewillbetimeswhentheal armgoesoffandyoujustdon ,walkthedog, llquicklycheckemail,havealookatwhat sgoingonFacebookandbeforeyouknowit, , llbesurprisedathowoftentheresistanceisju sttheresultoffixatingontheoutcomeyouwant toachieve, ,you lloftengetintotheflowofwhateveryou Importance of Taking BreaksContrarytowhatyoumightimagine, ,ourunconsciousmindisconsolidatingthemat erialwe Pomodoro simplyinvolvesfocusing(withnodistraction s)

8 For25minutesbeforetakinga5-minutebreak, ,asitgivesthemindsometimetorestanddigest what ifyoufeelyou regettingintoflowyoucanextendthefocusper iodalittlelongerorifyou refeelingparticularlytired, vefoundthatforessaysubjectsItendtousefoc usperiodsofaround45minuteswhereasforprob lemsolvingsubjectslikemathsI ,asalways, ,youneedtoswitchoffanydistractions(thatm eansclosingyourdoor,turningoffyourphonea ndshuttingdownFacebook).Intherecoverybre aks,youcandoanything,justmakesureyoudon unit , vemetyourobjective, , Motivationcomesandgoesbuthabitsaretheret ostay;makestudyingahabit. Overcometheresistanceandgetstarted,there stwillfollow. FiveHealth & redoingwhenyou ,butifyourlifestyleisn talignedwithwhatyou retryingtodo,youwon , , , restressed,it tgoingtomakeyoufeellessstressed,itwillju stmakeyoufeelsick,andthat mnotheretoadviseyouonyoureatinghabits, ,youmightthinkthatyouneedextrasugartogiv eyoutheenergytostudy,buttheinitialrushyo ugetfromconsumingchocolatebars,sweetsorf izzydrinkswillendquicklyandyou we veallexperiencedthatslumpthatcomesaftera ninitialsugarrushandit ,I snothingwrongwithrewardingyourselfaftera sessionifyoureallywantto,butthetrick,asw ithsomanythings, )Avoidprocessedfoodsandrefinedsugars,esp eciallybeforeandduringstudying2)

9 RewardingyourselfeveryonceinawhileisOK,j ustdon & StimulantsYoumayalreadybeacoffeedrinkera ndthere snothingwrongwiththis Iloveagoodcupofcoffeeasmuchasthenextpers on , ,themoredesensitizedyoubecometoitseffect s, , ,suchasTeeccino, ,justkeepinmindthattoomuchofanythingisus uallyabadthingsojustassuggestedwithsugar , )Controlconsumptionofcaffeine2) sjustleftthepub,I drecommendyoumakethisapriority, , TV, , , , susefultonotethatwesleepin90-minutecycle s, swhyit spossibleforustowakeupfeelinggroggyandgr umpyevenifwe vegotplentyofsleep wakingupinthemiddleofacycle,whenyou' )Avoidscreensforatleast30minutesbeforebe d turnoffyourcomputer,TVandphone2)Makesure yourroomiscompletelydark3) Time & SocialisingAsI vementionedalready, reallaboutworkingsmart,ratherthanworking forthesakeofit,andwhenyou remaintainingbalance,you ,youprobablyshouldn tgoouteveryweekendwithyourfriendsinthefi nalweeksbeforeyourexamsbutthatdoesn snothingwrongwithyouenjoyingacoupleofgui ltfreehoursplayingCallofDutyorFIFA ifyou ,you ,I ,youwillhavetomakesomesacrifices,likespe ndinglesstimeonyourcomputerorgamesconsol eornotgoingtoapartyoneweekend, youshouldn reawareofwhyyou remakingthesechoices, A goal without a plan is just a wish.

10 Antoine de Saint-Exup Your TimeGoodtimemanagementisn tcomplicatedbutit , , llhavedifferentextracurricularactivities goingonatschoolandwillstillwanttoenjoyyo urfreetimeandmaintainyoursociallife,soit simperativethatyouuseasystemthatwillkeep youwellorganised. OK you reprobablythinking, buthowmanyhoursdoIhavetospendplanningand organisingeveryweek? :1)ACalendarThiscanbephysicalordigital ) , SystemFirst,recordallyourto-dosanddeadli nesonyourcalendar, ,oneto-doitemmightbe finishfirstrevisionofEconomicsmodule3 or writequizquestionsforPhysicsmodule1 . , , , :1)Addnewtasksandassignmentstothesecondc olumnofyourlistduringtheday2)Transferthe newitemsfromyourlistontoyourcalendarthef ollowingmorning3) will have a plan that resembles ,thingswillchangeduringthedayandyou ,whichhasbeendiscussedatlengthbyproducti vityexpertProfessorCalNewport, , day in the life of an A Level StudentLet sconsiderasampleSaturdayoftwostudents,Ma rkandSam,atthesameschool,studyingthesame setofALevels Economics, sDayMarkwakesupataround11am, s12amandhe sreallynotinthemoodtogetstarted heopenshistextbook, ,strugglingtoretainhisattentionandhaving tore-readwholeparagraphs, s2pm sDaySamwakesupat9amafteragoodnight.