Finish well - Getting the best exam results EVER
Gems on exam season success
Welcome back,
It’s been a great start to the week! We launched the #letsgo30dayrun challenge, with over 40 runners attempting to run every day for the next 30 days. The challenge was one of the many random ideas that came to my mind, fearing that this summer I wouldn’t be able to organise the big running program we do in London. Honestly, during my run on Monday, I reconsidered the whole thing.
Who forced me to do this? Why am I running so fast? Where did I get 30 days from?
It’s going to be a long 30 days, but my aim is to just “show” up each morning. Yesterday, I really didn’t want to run and it ended up being one of my quickest 5Ks with only 80% effort. The challenge has forced me to improve my routine, sleeping before 11 pm and waking up at 6 am. What I love about sport is its potential to infiltrate and influence our very lifestyles beyond the activity, fostering life skills and disciplines that translate into other areas of our lives. Particularly during exam season, my first in 2 years, I need all the discipline and consistency I can get. It’s all too easy to neglect passions and interests in intense seasons and I even considered not writing for the next couple of weeks however in this highly pressurized season creative outlets are needed all the more. What I have decided to do is limit my use of social media (making reaching my distractions hard, and the things I need to do easy) so I’m going to need you the ‘Fillling and Pouring’ Fam to push the content out; especially this piece to anyone doing exams (GCSE to degree.)
You can still join the run challenge here: https://nikerunning.app.link/lGPl83qQspb
Last week, I was back with my mentoring group delivering a session titled ‘Getting the best exam results ever.’ I guess if this was Youtube, that would be a clickbait title but the gems delivered genuinely were the foundations that built up my academic success thus far. I’m of the mind that although there’s a large difference in the intensity of GCSE/A-LEVEL and Degree, there are consistent principles that aid success across the board. For a lot of the mentees, they had never sat formal examinations ever (excluding SATS) due to COVID so navigating this period was new to them. Exam periods, for me, always required a lifestyle change to enable you to use time most efficiently. My aim for the session was to deliver a methodology that will bolster their journey to receiving the grades they want; today I’ll share some of those gems as they apply to whatever stage of education you’re at.
“Mark it on the wall”
For almost everything in life, it’s important to have a goal that you’re working towards. Research from Dr. Gail Matthews you become 42% more likely to achieve your goals and dreams, simply by writing them down on a daily basis. Not that I attribute this to “manifestation” (oooo controversial) but mentally there’s a tangible endpoint that you’re driven to work towards. At GCSE and A-level, I literally wrote the grades I wanted on my home-office walls and ended up getting the exact grades/better than I’d desired. Please, if you’ll get in trouble at home just use paper and stick it above your desk (I take no responsibility for any trouble you may get in.) What I encouraged the mentees to do was to write their predicted grades, then next to it write 1 or 2 grades higher. Work as though you’re that A* student although you’re predicted a B. In this life you have to punch higher than you’re aiming for sha, what you’re just ‘happy’ with should be the minimum.
Exam constitution
Unknowingly, I’ve been making exam constitutions all my life and I only gave language to them in preparation for the session. I remember before my GCSEs, I threw my phone at the back of my wardrobe and started using a Nokia brick (strictly for safety purposes.) I had realised that the thing that was between me and those grades I had marked on the wall was ‘Social Media.’ Frankly, my self-control when it comes to that is non-existent so I knew I had to be radical! So what are exam constitutions? I see them as rules or guiding principles you live by until the end of exams that keep you on track to getting those grades you so desire. There’s no success without sacrifice. Me getting top 1% nationally came with sacrifice, that sacrifice was my phone. For your exam constitution, you want to make a set of rules that guide your life in preparation for these exams. Perhaps 10 solid rules that will ensure your success. These principles should make distractions harder to access and the things you need to do (revision) easier. You need to be radical with these, don’t fall into the trap of overestimating yourself in areas that are vital for this period.
Examples of rules
I will not have the TIKTOK app until the end of exams.
I will not attend any ‘motives’ that aren’t close friends or family.
Everyday, including weekends, I will sleep at 10:30pm and wake up at at 6:30am.
Whilst creating these constitutions you want to be as strict with yourself as necessary. These should go up next to the grades you’re working towards. Again, you just want principles that will guide your decision making over the period
Accountability
Results day has always had mixed feelings for me. There were years I genuinely couldn’t enjoy the fruits of my labour because others hadn’t done as well. You don’t want just yourself to succeed, but the people around you to as well. I’m an individual that only likes to work alone, but forcing myself to work with others meant i was able to regurgitate and articulate the content simply, reinforcing my understanding of it. We want to create social environments that thrive and push each other for greatness, and this is where accountability comes in. An accountability partner or group is genuinely defined as people who help ensure an individual is on track and is progressing. Even in scripture like 1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” encourage doing life with people. In a future post I’ll go deeper into some of the importance of community; a main one being to build each other up. With these people, you can symbiotically check on each others progress, aid in studying, and have social interaction, which is essential for the mental. I’ve seen great examples of when people have a “good morning” groupchat where they simply take a picture of themselves out of bed every morning, at a specific time, so they all know each other is awake. Although that method has a key caveat of people being able to go back to sleep after taking the picture, it does create an environment of success that’s needed.
There are a few gems in the tips section at the bottom. I could talk about revision timetabling and stuff but you can find loads of content of that on Youtube and you probably know that already. One thing I would say is to not allow physical activity or creativity to falter due to exams, they in fact contribute to performance. Use the time away from revision for sport or creating, giving your mind the frequent release it needs. Also, don’t spend so much time on this stuff that you actually don’t get around to revising. Please, buckle up your ideas and Lets go!
Remember, success takes sacrifice. Comment rules you’re putting in your Exam Constitution.
Praying this exam season goes well for you all,
NYA
Main thing is to show up to your desk/ place of work/study.
You just want to get there
Make it easy to get there
Habit stack: For example is as soon as I finish eating after school I will get to my desk to revise
If you dislike the library/ study space (sounds stupid) but practice going there for 2min and then you can leave
Want to develop familiarity with the environment
Work in bursts: set timers with breaks
Breaks in between study IS NOT phone time, use it to read or walk around or do something different
Increase your water consumption, try to reach the 2L a day
Exercise frequently
Maintain a solid sleep routine for the whole revision and exam period
From today, make sure you sleep at least 7 hours every day (no more than 8)
Use your teachers, they get paid to do this (sounds moist but do extra work)
Get into the habit of doing extra work and making them mark it, or doing work with them after school so you can get feedback straight away
Don’t study in your bed
If possible, avoid studying in your room all together. Have a place/chair that you know when you enter is strictly work period
Don’t study with music with words
Go to libraries that people wouldn't know off (NOT DALSTON!)
Be accountable to people
Mark the Grades you want on a wall (doesn't have to be literally, can do this on paper)
Don’t revise with your phone nearby, it’s an easy distraction
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail, ideally would want to plan revision from now until exams.
Use Sunday evenings to look over the revision timetable to see if there’s anything you need to change or move around
Reassess commitments and be realistic as to what you can keep doing and what you need a break from
Ultimately, your success in the exam period is dependent on your willingness to sacrifice (short term pain for long term gain, you’ll be thankful in the future you did.) BE RADICAL.
Great read!
I guess it’s time for me to get a routine together