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How to find motivation during exam preparation

    Many students quickly lose steam during exam preparations. I am going to suggest a way to very quickly help you find motivation during exam preparation in such trying circumstances.

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    Why you need to find motivation during exam preparation

    In my years of teaching, I have seen many students start out strong but quickly fizzle out in the journey to big exams.

    Not only do they lose appetite for the final preparations, worse still they begin forgetting concepts.

    This then creates a snowball effect.

    Where he/she sees that they are not ready for the exams and as a result begin telling themselves negative things.

    Which in turn further aggravates the preparations until finally, they give up altogether.

    Students who are suffering in this manner need to quickly get out of the funk in order to get on with the exam preparations.

    So that they can go on to achieve the grades they want on the graduation transcript.

    Which in turn open doors either to university admissions or for them to proceed on to the next stage of their life certification in hand.

    And I am writing this to help you find motivation during exam preparation.

    Ask yourself WHY?!

    Ironically, and most importantly the first step to beating self defeat and find motivation during exam preparation is to ask the question WHY?

    Why are you doing what you are doing now.

    A lot of students do not start out defining their reasons, instead, they drag their feets through the motion of education.

    Frequently, the students are not able to muster much if any enthusiasm for life.

    Worse still, there’s nothing they can look forward to after graduation.

    Conversely, defining the reasons why you are doing what you are doing helps you to generate the motivation to tide through the pain you are suffering right this moment.

    It makes the journey through the exams a little better. As a result, that will start a positive feedback loop beating out the downward spiral.

    However, you will need guidance to properly define your reasons of why you are doing what you are doing.

    7 questions of WHY, to find motivation during exam preparation

    It’s very easy to come up with a politically correct answer for yourself.

    In addition, your first answer is one that is usually a reflection of the other people’s reasons.

    This reason may be real but will not generate the motivation you need to push through the difficult period.

    Because this does not come from a place of desperation since you do not personally identify from it.

    Let me explain with my example.

    If friends ask me right now why I am doing what I do providing H2 Biology tuition, my standard answer will be that I have seen students suffer from the low standards in school.

    Therefore I want to help my students gain subject mastery and lift them out of their misery as well as find direction in life.

    It sounds great right? And this is something I truly believe in as well since I have been doing this since 2004.

    However, this is not intrinsically motivating to me.

    This is because the students are in their moment of desperation trying to get through exams. Not me.

    As such, you have got to continue the line of asking why after the first reason.

    Like in my circumstance, ‘why do you want to help your students gain subject mastery and …’

    Usually by the 5th time of the question, the answer becomes more and more desperate as you dribble down 2 times more.

    By the 7th WHY question, you will have found your reason and true motivation.

    Remember the story of a desperate mother successfully lifting a 1400kg car to free her pinned child?

    Desperation can create immense strength and motivation.

    Precisely the solution to blast you off to the moon during exam preparations.

    Let me tell you my reason.

    My true reason for doing what I am doing

    Back when I am teaching in school, I hit a ceiling in my teaching career.

    Even though I have made tremendous strides, I was refused promotion because it was not my time yet.

    Why did I want to keep pushing on even as a young person who has just started his teaching career?

    I remember even to this day an event when I was primary 1 that is permanently etched in my mind.

    It was a huge quarrel between my parents.

    My father who visits us from time to time alternating between his 2 families decided he had enough and he decided to go back to the other family. (Yes, I grew up knowing that I was a bastard).

    That’s not before my mum who packed up her bags screaming that she is going to leave first.

    I was tugging and pulling both of them at their legs.

    At that moment, what I felt was extreme fear.

    What am I going to do, all alone, no support, no money, no NOTHING. Zilch.

    From that moment on, I learnt I need to become independent. I need to be on top of my game and become resource rich.

    With that mentality, I left the cushy school teacher job, joined startups to gain the skillset needed to open my own business and finally be in the position where I can help my students gain subject mastery and direction in life by offering H2 Biology tuition.

    Every time, I lack motivation, I relive the frightening event and am quivering a little as I write this.

    What if you cannot find that reason?

    In the past when I do the exercise with my students, some say that they cannot find such a reason.

    Such are the times of prosperity that we live in!

    Then let me help you create one.

    The next time you go to the toilet to take a dump, I want you to imagine the toilet flush is gone.

    Instead, you have a weak shower head to flush off your dump in the toilet bowl.

    find motivation during exam preparation shit in toilet

    Unfortunately, you cannot leave until you have sorted out and someone is knocking on the door urgently wanting in so that they can take a dump.

    How do you feel? Anxious? Extreme embarrassment? Wishing you were not there? Praying that you were dreaming?

    What if this is something that you have to content with forever?

    Do this for real and you have a strong reason to help find motivation during exam preparation!

    Find motivation during exam preparation – bottomline

    I know you cannot unsee the picture above.

    But still, the dramatic effect is pertinent to bring my point across and to help you quickly find motivation during exam preparation.

    This is because time is running out and you need to have every minute ahead of you used productively.

    I wish you every success in your upcoming exams and you can check out other tips in the section below.

    Read my other posts