Do Goals Motivate You?

How many say yes, goals motivate you? How many say not all the time?

The answer is not all the time. Because I know some people, when they set their goals, they said they want all these things, but they don’t feel like doing. Goals do not motivate you, goals only give you a direction of where to move towards. Goals only give you the benchmark of where to hit but it is not going to get you there.

Let’s imagine you are a spaceship and you set a goal. You say ‘my goal is to reach the moon.’ So by setting a goal, you give yourself a direction. Gives you a benchmark of where you are going to hit. But what gets you there is not the goal, it is the thrust and the push and this comes from the fuel. In a human being, what is the fuel that pushes us everyday? What creates that fuel? One of them is passion. You see when you set a goal, you are telling yourself, ‘I want this.’ But beside the ‘what’, you also have a ‘how’ right? The technique is ‘how’. But besides the ‘how’, there is another thing called the ‘why’.

Now between the ‘how’ and the ‘why’. Which is more important?

It is the ‘why’. Because it gives you a purpose. You see, when you have a strong ‘why’, will you find the ‘how’? You will find the ‘how’. But I can give you all the ‘how’ and you don’t have the ‘why’, you will never achieve anything.

What is this ‘why’? this ‘why’ is called our values. What do values mean? Values are so called your emotional hot buttons. It is the emotional reasons why you want to do something. There are some people who are very driven very much by freedom. Some are driven very much by competition. Some are driven very much by security.

So, you must know what drives you. What drives you may not be the same thing that drives another. The moment you discover your values and you align them to your goals, you have this thing called natural motivation. Let me put in this way. When we do things with a very clear purpose, all of us become naturally motivated. And you owe it to yourself to find out what is your mission.

Therefore, in my e-book on creating your goals, under Step 2: List All The Benefits & Reason For Achieving that Goal and Step 5: Emotionally Charge Your Goal are essential and important.

NLP - Neuro Linguistic Programming

N stands for this thing called Neuro. What is Neuro? Neuro means our neurons, our nervous system, our brain. It is how your brain works, how the brain functions. Not from a biological perspective but from a psychological perspective. Like for example, why do you think the way you think? Why do we all think differently? Why do you have certain emotional patterns in your life? It is because of the way your brain forms patterns. And it will affect your behaviors and results.

The second part is called Linguistic. What does linguistic means? Language. How language affects your neurology. Not foreign languages but the structure of language. Think about it, is it possible when you talk to someone, let’s say you talk to your client, or you talk to your siblings or friends. Is it possible that something you said can inspire a person, at the same time, is it possible that something you said can totally upset someone? Because words affect people’s thoughts and emotions. So NLP is a study of how your words affect you.

Do you also communicate with yourself? We communicate with ourselves all the time. So if you are always feeling depressed, or you are always feeling motivated, do you know why? It is the way you are constantly communicating with yourself, your language of the mind.

P stands for Programming. The programs you run as a person. Not computer programs, but what you called neurological habitual programs.

How many of you have this thing called the sian program? Do you know what’s the sian program? It is when you tell yourself, I need to do this. I should do this but I am sian. You get into that pattern, it always happens, we called it procrastination. How many of you have this thing called the fear program? You want to do something and before you do something, fear stops you. A lot of people have this thing called the fear of public speaking. And some people when they talked to you, they feel totally comfortable and they can speak to you for hours. But the moment you put them on stage, they see the audience, what happens? Their minds cannot work anymore. Why? Because their brains run certain neurological patterns. They start to imagine themselves screwing up and their legs start shaking. But another person looks at the audience and feels totally relaxed. Why?

Because of the neurological conditioning inside us. If you have certain patterns in your head that sabotages you, can you change this pattern? Yes, you can. But a lot of us were never taught how to do it. We were taught just to work hard, just do it, but how?

By using NLP on yourself, you can program yourselves to feel motivated in just 5 minutes! I highly recommend one to master NLP. It is a powerful program that can change your life!

You can always google search ‘NLP’ to find out more.

Keywords Explained!

Do you want to know the keywords’ definitions?

Do you know what information you should give when you see the words ‘compare’, ‘define’, illustrate’, ‘differentiate’, relate’, ‘discuss’, etc. ?

Just take a look and you will understand better.

Simply Right-Click and Save As on the link below to download now:

>> Keywords Explained <<

Dealing with Exam Nerves

Most people experience some degree of anxiety about exams. Whilst a certain amount of exam stress is and can be used as a motivating force, it is important to keep on top of exam anxiety. The best way to do this is to be organised.

Some people suffer with stress more than others. For those people, it is important to learn some stress reduction techniques as well as using specific study tips for revision.

Useful stress reduction measures:
Don't drink too much coffee, tea and fizzy drinks; the caffeine will 'hype' you and make your thinking less clear. Eat healthily and regularly; your brain will benefit from the nutrients.

The physical symptoms associated with stress are caused by the hormone adrenaline, which is necessary to prepare the body for the 'fight or flight' reaction. When overproduced by chronic stress, it simply causes unpleasant physical symptoms rather than of being any use to you. Physical activity will use up the adrenaline, for the purpose it is intended. This can help to reduce some of the unpleasant physical effects associated with stress, such as racing heart, over-breathing and muscular tension. Build some regular moderate exercise into your day to boost your energy and clear your mind. A brisk walk for 30 minutes is as good a form of exercise as any and doesn't need much planning in advance.

Try out some yoga, tai chi or relaxation techniques. They will help to keep you feeling calm and balanced, improve your concentration levels and help you to sleep better. Get into a sensible sleep pattern; make sure that you stop academic work at least an hour before you go to bed and then do something relaxing so that your sleep is refreshing and useful. Don't work half the night and then get up late instead. Your body rhythms are not designed for this.

Relaxation techniques

Practise tensing and relaxing each of your muscle groups in turn. Begin with your toes. Clench them and hold them tight for a few seconds, concentrating fully on the feeling. Now gradually and slowly relax the muscles, unclenching your toes and letting them go loose. Progressively move up the body doing the same, until you reach the forehead. Frown tightly, screwing up the facial muscles and then relax them.

Practise breathing deeply, evenly and slowly. As you develop this slow rhythm, try to imagine that you are lying on a warm beach, watching the waves. Put the mental picture in tune with your breathing. As you breathe in, imagine the waves washing in: as you breathe out, the waves wash out. Alternatively, invent your own image of a pleasant scene, such as sitting on top of a hill watching the sun go down, or lying in a rocking boat.

Tips for the revision period

• Create an overview of what you want to revise and break each subject down into manageable chunks. Make headings and allocate each section on a monthly or weekly planner.
• Ask your tutors for practice questions/past papers.
• Set definite start and finish times for your revision sessions and have a clear goal for each session.
• Aim to break your revision sessions up with five minutes break every half hour.
• Use active revision techniques to make the best use of your revision time.
• Build a system of regular review into your revision, checking what you know and what you don't know.
• Develop a technique for question analysis and planning answers to use in the exam.
• Practise making plans and answering questions under timed conditions.
• Plan how you will use your time in the exams before-hand.
• Do it with a friend! Try to make some of it fun and reward yourself with treats and leisure time.

General hints

• Believe in yourself. You wouldn't have been given a place on the course if you didn't have the ability to do it. Therefore, if you prepare for the exams properly you should do fine, meaning that there is no need to worry excessively.
• Take steps to overcome problems. Don't battle on alone, get help from a teacher if you don't understand a topic. Every teacher will give advice on study skills and mentoring service. The internet also has a lot of sites offering advice on study skills like my blog. Psychological and counselling services and staff at the health centre are there to help if it all gets too much.
• Don't keep things bottled up. Confiding in someone you trust and who will be supportive is a great way of alleviating stress and worry.
• Keep things in perspective. The exams might seem like the most crucial thing right now, but in the grander scheme of your whole life they are only a small part.
• If nothing seems to be helping. Some people find that despite all their best efforts, anxiety levels simply keep on rising. This can be self-defeating and you can go round and round in circles. If this is happening, try taking a complete break for a couple of days.

On the big day,

• Don't work all night before.
• Make sure you know where and when the exam is.
• Leave plenty of time to get there.
• Make sure you have all your equipment in advance.
• Avoid too much coffee, nicotine and caffeine containing drinks.
• Do some of the relaxation techniques so that you are calm and focused.
• Don't wind each other up with ideas of what might or might not come up in the exam.

Answering the questions..

There are two rules you should follow in answering any kind of question.
They are:

1. Always Read Critically

Always read each question slowly and carefully before attempting to answer it. Did you experience doing a question that you thought you had done it before in earlier tests before? Students often read the first few words and assume that the question is the same as one that they have done before, in earlier tests and homework. You may end up giving an answer that it is totally off the point.

Remember that it takes only one word to change the meaning of an entire question. If we do not read carefully, we may miss that crucial word and misunderstand the whole question. So, always be alert to critical key words that appear in the question.

For example, do not read 'and' where the questions say 'or'. Also, do not confuse 'which of the following are 'true' with which of the following statements are 'not true'.

2. Give the Right Amount Of Information

Never dive into a question without knowing what is actually required. If you do so, you may give too little information, too much information or information that is totally irrelevant.

The first step is to know how much information to give. The marks allocated to each question are often a very good gauge. If a question is awarded five marks then you would normally required to produce five points, and so on.

For example,
What are the features of an effective thermometer? [3]
You do not need to state down all the features of an effective thermometer. Just state 3 features is sufficient to score full marks for this question.

Approaching the questions..

Easy First, Difficult Last

It is not always a good idea to answer the questions in the sequence in which they are found. This is because, at times, very difficult questions may be put in the beginning while easier ones are at the end. When we encounter such a situation, we may continue trying till we find that we have spent too much time on it. Consequently, we rush through the rest of the paper only to find that we have no more time left to do even the easy questions. The consequence is failure. To avoid this, you should do the following:

• Whenever you find that you are stuck with a difficult question, immediately circle the difficult question and go on to the next one. You can return to it after you have finished answering all the easy ones.
• Answer all the easy questions first before proceeding with the difficult ones. Always leave the ones that require a lot of thinking, analysis and writing to the end, when you have finished most of the paper. This is because these are often best done when your mind is in a more relaxed state.

Don't Get Carried Away

Very often, students get so excited about answering a familiar question that they write on and on until they find out they have wasted too much time on it. Avoid giving too much information.

Never Give Up

Difficult questions, especially if they are put at the beginning of a paper, often have the effect of demoralising you. When this happens, you will probably not even be able to answer the easy questions that come later on because you would have formed the belief that it is a difficult paper you could not handle.

If this happens to you, take a deep breath, relax and do not give up. Skip the problematic questions and tackle the easy ones that would boost your confidence. When you go back to the difficult questions finally and find that you still cannot figure out the answers, never leave the answer space blank because that will guarantee you a zero for that question. Instead, write down whatever you do know as long as it contains a germ of logic. Not only have you nothing to lose but you may still be awarded with some marks and that could make the difference between a pass or a fail mark.

All the best for your examinations! Do not end up 'going blank' during the examinations!

Are you left or right brain dominant?

I have noticed that anywhere around the world, there will always be some students who are more left-brain dominant while others are more right-brain dominant.

LEFT-BRAIN DOMINANT

They are normally very neat and organised. They are the ones with neatly combed hair and shirts tucked in their pants. Without fail, their pencil boxes will be well stocked and items neatly arranged. There will always be pens, pencils, a ruler, erasers, etc. Their tables at home are always clean. They will have a place for everything and they will notice and get upset if anyone borrows their things and does not put it back in the right place. These students generally do well in languages, mathematics, crossword puzzles and IQ tests. As a result, they normally excel in school and are the pride of their parents. However, these students tend to be more insensitive and may lack people skills. They are also generally less imaginative, emotional, sociable and creative.

RIGHT-BRAIN DOMINANT

They are the complete opposite! Their hair is always in a mess and their shirts un-tucked. They day-dream in class and are usually very talkative and are easily distracted. They are normally very disorganised. Their rooms usually look like pigsties and their study desks are usually buried under books and papers thrown about. Right brain dominant students do not do too well in school as they have short attention spans and find mathematics confusing. However, these students usually excel in sports, arts, music, socialising and creative-based activities. They also get along very well with people and tend to be more in tune with others' feelings.

Which category do you think you most likely fit into?

Also, there are students who display both characteristics. These are the people who are able to use both sides of the brain. Some of them may not realise it and thought they are right brain dominant.

Those who are trained to use both sides of the brain at all times are usually known as geniuses. By learning how to use both sides of the brain simultaneously to learn, you can more than double your brain power!

Your Beliefs Are True...Only to You!

When I tell some people to change their beliefs, they often say, 'are you crazy? What do you mean change my beliefs? How can I change my beliefs? My beliefs are true! What if I really am lousy and forgetful? What if learning is really boring? I cannot change that!'

What you must remember is that beliefs are never real! They are only true to the person who believes it. If it were really true, it would be a fact! Instead, beliefs are nothing but opinions. And no matter what beliefs you have, there is always someone else that believes something opposite. For every person that believes that mathematics is boring, there is someone else who believes it is fun.

So, instead of asking if a belief is really true (it is only true if you believe it), you must ask if the beliefs will empower you to succeed. If they empower you, then you must adopt the belief. If it limits you, then you have to abandon the belief.

START BY CHANGING TO MORE EMPOWERING BELIEFS

Do you really want to succeed?

In life, we always think that it is almost impossible to achieve your dream. Many people doubt they can ever make it. The fact is that if you put in your 101% in pursuing your dreams, you will eventually achieve it.

WINNER'S & LOSER'S FRAME OF MIND

Some people will TRY to succeed in what they do. They WOULD LIKE to score 'A's and they WISH to produce great results. This is a loser 's frame of mind. Losers when they don't do well, the first thing they always do is they like to give a lot of excuses like 'the test too difficult', 'no time to study' or 'my maths teacher not good in teaching'. After they gave these excuses, they always blame the whole galaxy except themselves. It is not their fault! Instead of improving, all they like to do is to bitch and complain.

When winners WANT to succeed, it means that it is a MUST for them! They will not accept anything less. If they do get anything less, they will do whatever it takes to get what they want (provided it is ethical). What does this mean? It means if you have to study 10 hours a day, you will study 10 hours a day. If it means that you have to totally change the way you study, you will do it! If it means that you have to sacrifice your favourite computer games, you will do it. You will do whatever it takes to get those 'A's. If you are that committed to achieve something, you will definitely achieve it!

Unfortunately, many students do not WANT to succeed. They simply WOULD LIKE to succeed or think they SHOULD succeed. To these students, scoring 'A's and getting into top universities will be great. But it is not a MUST for them. There is hardly any commitment and power behind their desire. As a result, they will only try things as long as it is not too difficult, too much work or outside their comfort zone.

As a friend, I urge you to read my Blog from the Frame of Mind of a Winner. I believe you can achieve great things but you must make it a MUST for yourself! You must be willing to do whatever it takes, no matter how uncomfortable or tough it may be!

Below is a cartoon for your entertainment. the top picture illustrates a Winner's Frame of Mind: The mountain is the mountain he MUST climb. The below picture is just for your laughter. =)

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

My-Recommendations Blog

If you really inspired by my blog, then you should check out this Blog!

I have created a new Blog which I will post my recommendations to you. All the recommendations are all worth it! I hope my recommendations will help or assist you in whatever ways!

Many people do not know what to do to get the things they wanted. Maybe you had read all my posts in this blog, but you still do not know how to start DOING all these.

Don’t worry!

You can start off by viewing my recommendations! It sure helps!

http://my-recommendations.blogspot.com/

*Don’t forget to check the blog for new recommendations!

Do you get confused?...GOOD!

Let me ask you a question. Is it good to be confused? Most people think it is bad to be confused or to not understand something. In fact, being confused is the key to getting smarter and better at something. When you are confused about something, it means your brain is facing something beyond its present ability. When this happens, your brain is forced to think and try to figure things out. This process of stimulating your brain actually makes you smarter. The next time you encounter that same problem, it would be easily understood.

The biggest problem is most students hate to be confused and they avoid confusing and difficult subjects and chapters. As a result, they only study those topics that are easily understood for the exam. Obviously, they are not able to answer any of the difficult questions in the exams. This typically happens to the 'lousy student'.

Do you think 'A' students do not get confused? A lot of people have this impression that 'A' students are just smart and probably understand things faster. The fact is that they do get confused most of the time, but they reacted differently. They approached teachers or peers for assistance. Also, they may not understand after 1 explanation. But they did not just give up after 1 attempt. They keep on asking the teachers to explain over and over again until they got it. They spent hours and hours figuring out the solution. As a result, they slowly understand the whole concept and figured out the solution. In the end, they became smarter and continue to score 'A' for exams.

Do not afraid to get confused. Instead, you should think that you have encountered an challenging problem and solve it enthusiastically. In this way, you will slowly become smarter and smarter!

What are you labelled as?

Throughout our lives, we constantly make generalisations about all sorts of things, based on our past experiences. We especially make these generalisations about ourselves and they end up becoming beliefs we have about ourselves.

As a result, we collect a whole lot of labels which we then stick onto ourselves. Some of these labels are 'I'm lousy in Maths', 'I'm forgetful' or I can't do it'.

Some of the labels are given by people such as teachers, parents and friends. Over time, we forget that these labels are just generalisations and inaccurate beliefs. We are so used to them that we treat them as realities that we live by. The quality of life you are living right now is a direct results of the labels you have collected and pasted on yourself.

My labels

When I was in primary school, I was forced to memorise the multiplication tables (up to multipes of 12). It was so tough at that point of time. At that point, I do not understand what is multiplication. I just memorise blindly the tables. I only can remember the multiplication table for multiples of 10 as it seems to be the easiest.

Everyone in my class seems to have memorised it so easily. At that point, I gave myself 2 labels which are: 'lousy in memorising' and 'I have no talents for Maths'.

Then something happened that changed my beliefs for Maths forever. During my first Maths test in Secondary One, I scored the highest in the class! Everyone looked at me in shock and a few comments filled the air, 'this guy's really smart', 'he's a natural at Maths', 'he's a maths genius.' The feeling was so good that it motivated me to keep studying so I would go in as a 'genius'. My friends began asking me for help with their homework and I kept receiving praise from the teachers. People began giving me a new label as 'a maths genius' and gradually I began to expect that of myself. Maths suddenly became fun. Eventually, I scored 'A's for both additional and elementary maths for the Ordinary level exams and went on to major in maths in junior college.

Even in junior college, I was also labelled as a genius in maths. My name always appear in the top 10 list for every examination. I became famous. Even people, who I do not know, know about me.

One advice from me: Why wait until someone gives you a 'gifted' label? You can give it to yourself now!

Cool Forum!

Recently, I found a forum online and like to share with you!

It is a free membership forum where students get together and share their school lives.

You can also post your queries regarding your school work under the Study Forum.

Of course it is not only school related stuffs! It has more to it! Too much more that I can explain in my post here!

Basically you can post anything under the sun!

Why don’t take a look at this forum?

It is just a click away!

SGEduLab Forum

See you there! =)

6 Steps to Create Powerful Goals

You have to set GOALS. Yes, many of us set goals, BUT most people don’t ever do them the RIGHT way and that’s why most people are just setting yourself up for failure right from the very beginning!

Have you tried setting goals and forgot all about it after a week?

The goals did not motivate you to achieve it?

Always procrastinate about achieving your goals?

Don’t worry!

This FREE e-book teaches you how to create powerful goals the RIGHT way!

Simply Right-Click and Save As on the link below to download now:

> > 6 Steps to Create Powerful Goals < <

If you want a more details about planning an effective goal, Click Here to find out more!

I don't know.exe

Do you know the way to stop your brain from thinking? It is the virus named ‘I don’t know.exe’. When you say I do not know, you are actually telling your brain to stop thinking. I know you are guilty of it because I must admit I have done it a few times myself. When you are faced with a question and you answer, ‘I do not know!’. your brain will stop thinking of any solutions. Instead you should respond by saying ‘Let me think about it’ and start thinking!

Giving a bad answer is better than no answer at all because at least it starts the thinking process.

There are some other ways that stop brain stimulation that you may not know that you commited:

1. Skipping chapters or information you think are too difficult or confusing.
2. Being afraid of asking questions when you do not know of something.
3. Only learn things you find easy.
4. Copying answers from friends without finding out how to solve the questions.
5. Being afraid of asking or answering questions in class.
   

Obviously the anti-virus program for these ways are:

1. Never ever skip difficult topics and chaoters, but get excited to figure out the answer!
2. Exposing your mind to information beyond the textbooks by reading outside the curriculum.
3. Understand that the only way to get smarter is to make mistakes and get confused first.
4. Challenge yourself by attempting new and more difficult questions and materials everyday.
5. Keep asking and answering lots of questions in the classroom.
   

After you installed the anti-virus program in your brain, you will realise that you become smarter than before and you will think that studying is challenging instead of boring.

How I know? I tried it before! =)

The beliefs of successful students

There is no failure, only feedback

Sucessful students encounter failure too, but they always regards failure as ‘feedback’. They believe they can learn from and constantly change their study techniques or strategies until they succeed. Unlike other students, they do not allow failures to discourage them.

Take Responsibility

It is useful to believe that you are responsible for whatever is happening in your life. If you are getting bad grades, if your teacher hates you or your parents treat you like a child, then you must have been responsible for their beliefs either by your actions or by your negative thoughts. By putting the responsibility on yourself, you are putting yourself in charge of your life. Since you created the situations, you can change them.

If others can, so do I!

Successful students basically has the same brain capacity or neurological make-up. So why are successful students able to score straight ‘A’s while the others keep failing? It is because they use different strategies! By following the same strategies as them, you can likely achieve the same results as them!

So?
Now you know the beliefs of those successful students, you too can adopt the same beliefs and achieve the results you want! If you are at the bottom of the school right now, there will be no harm trying out these beliefs and strategies!

How to change your mindset and take control of your mind!

You often hear people complain that they are not as smart as other people. They say they have a slower brain, a less creative brain or one that just cannot absorb anything. ‘If I was smarter, I would do a lot better in school’ is one of the most common excuses I hear.

Here, I will give you tips to train a person’s intelligence. There is no such thing as ‘not intelligent’. If you are not intelligent, it is your fault! It is the tedious process that most people hate to do to become ‘intelligent’.

If you are lousy at something, do more of it!

What is the implication? If you are lousy at maths, what should you do? That’s right! You have got to keep doing more and more maths! By doing more and more, maths will become easier and easier! The first time you tried ice-skating, I bet it seemed really difficult to balance. After a few rounds, it became effortless! Your brain learned to balance. This sounds really simple but most students do not follow this basic principle. We tend to hate and avoid subjects we are lousy at, giving the excuse that they are boring or that we are just not interested in that subject. At the same time, we tend to do more and more of what we are good at like playing computer games. That’s why we get better and better!

The more you use your brain the better it gets. Your brain is just like a muscle. The only way to grow a muscle and get it big and bulging is to stress it, challenge it and carry things that are heavier than what you normally take. It’s the same thing with your brain. Everyday, find something that you find really difficult to understand or learn and challenge yourself to figure it out. That’s the secret to getting smarter!

DARE TO DREAM: THE POWER OF GOALS

Goals create the driving force behind every success. You must dare to dream! You must understand that everything happens by design, not chance. All the millionaires out there do not happen by chance. They set their goals to achieve that! For example, Bill Clinton, Tiger Woods and Steven Spielberg!

You may be wondering to yourself, ‘Wow, if setting goals so powerful in helping you succeed, then why everybody doesn’t set goals?’ When we were young, we all had big dreams and goals about our future. We dreamed about being doctors, firemen, movie stars and heroes. Unfortunately, as we grew up many of us gave up continuing to think about our goals and we stopped setting new ones… There are reasons why people do not set goals. The main reason is…

They Have Low Self Esteem.

When you ask students to aim for the best results and the best colleges, some would say that they could never achieve those results or enter those top colleges. Others would say that it was not for them, that those great results were only reserved for ‘other students’. It could be because in the past, we were told by our parents, teachers or friends that we were lousy or not good enough. All this may have caused us to have low self-esteem.

Remember that all this is not true. In fact, you have tremendous potential within you and that if others can, so can you! You deserve to have the very best in life. Once you understand this, you will begin to set high goals for yourself.

After setting goals for yourself, you must take action to achieve that!