Do These 3 Things to Be a Better Student
Do you ever wonder what separates highly successful students from those who have a hard time during each exam, aren’t sure what they are even doing at college, and don’t seem to be spending the rest of their time effectively either?
Here’s what makes a student successful and how to become one yourself:
1. Know what you want to study and why.
Unfortunately, schools and universities are filled with teenagers and young adults who don’t know what they want in life.
Some study to please their family, others to avoid becoming an adult and having to get a real job. Whatever the case, that can turn getting a degree into a nightmare.
While it’s not easy to know exactly what career you want to pursue during high school, you can analyze your strengths, passions and skills and see what you’re truly interested in. Then, you can choose to get a degree in the subject that’s closely related to it.
You also need to know why you do what you do.
Business school, for instance, isn’t necessary in order to start your own business these days as almost anyone can do it online with no experience and little investment.
So to be a good student, make sure you know why you want to get good grades and graduate and how this can affect the rest of your life positively and give you a boost in your career.
2. Switch from a ‘fixed’ to a ‘growth’ mindset.
Researcher Carol Dweck describes 2 types of mindset. A person with a fixed one would think they are born with limited potential and there’s only so much they can achieve in life. They are convinced they can’t change and building new skills isn’t for them if they aren’t already naturally good at something.
Individuals with a growth mindset, on the other hand, believe that our potential is unlimited and by investing enough time and effort into something, they can build any skill.
Students who are growth-oriented are also persistent, open to trying new approaches, thinking outside of the box and testing new ideas. They welcome opportunities and make the most of each. They don’t fear failure as they know that it just takes a bit more time to prepare better and succeed next time.
If you want to be an extraordinary student and unleash your potential, switch from a fixed to a growth mindset.
3. Start managing your time better.
Time management is something you need to master at a young age if you want to make it at school, in business, and in real life.
How you spend your time each day says a lot about your habits, character, aspirations, and priorities. Luckily, it’s yet another skill you can develop over time.
Start by finding out where your time is being invested each hour of the day. You’ll be surprised to see how much of it you’re wasting on things that don’t bring you results.
Once you identify such time-wasting activities, you can eliminate them from your schedule and instead use that time to relax, get more organized, or do more of the things that will help you move forward.
Removing the tasks and bad habits that were taking your precious time away is just one step. The next one is to structure your days better, plan them in advance, and review each one and your whole week when you can.
That allows you to see what slows down your progress, what new things you can start doing to become a better student, and how to reach your goals faster.
Extraordinary students are always looking to learn something new, improve their current skills and form new habits that will allow them to make the most of their time, double their productivity and be more creative.
You can do the same by following the advice above.
