UMAT - Steps to UMAT Success!
Steps to Success
Relaxation techniques aim to help the student to:
- Relax anywhere and at any time they wish to
- Accelerate their learning
- Relax for their exams
- Improve their exam results
- Increase their self esteem
- Improve reading speed and comprehension
- Remain calm during conflicts with others
- Increase their memory
- Increase their recall
- Become more creative
- Succeed at goals faster
The student will be able to use it:
- In social situations
- Just before an exam
- Before beginning study for the day
- Before starting to write an essay or assignment
- At debating
- Before an oral presentation
- Before a viva voce assessment
It is very easy for a busy student to become overwhelmed with their studies, often without them even realising it. It becomes apparent when they experience prolonged periods of stress, or inability to concentrate, or a decreased memory or recall. Sometimes it is necessary for the student to take study issues down to the basics. They can ask themselves:
- Why have I been finding learning so difficult lately?
- Can this be made any easier?
- How do I deal with a poor exam or assessment result?
It can become difficult to studyif the student is under an overwhelming amount of stress , if they are placed outside of their comfort zone, if they are feeling inadequate (i.e. loss of confidence), or if they aren’t getting the external support they require (i.e. from family or school).
This can be made easier through relaxation techniques. These allow for goals to be placed into the subconscious mind and therefore can be achieved faster and without stress. This is because:
- Relaxation allows the mind to be alert and the subconscious mind to receive information from the conscious mind easily, while the body is relaxed. The subconscious mind houses memory.
- You can make your subconscious mind believe that you have already achieved the goals you have for the future. Once your subconscious mind has accepted this as the reality, then it becomes real to the conscious mind also.
The key to achieving goals is to stay within a state of calmness, and to allow a decision made by the conscious mind to become transferred and incorporated into the subconscious mind in this relaxed state.
Attitude is the key to dealing with a poor or unexpected result. You can change your perception of the failure by recognising it as a minor glitch in a forward direction. Learning from this failure and then changing the goal to suit the new circumstance is a positive move. The student should always know that they have done their personal best.
Another instance where failure happens is when a goal has been made which does not coincide with our motives or values. This can be recognised if you experience an uncomfortable feeling, which alerts you to the fact that what you are moving towards is against what you know is right. In this case, a failure can be a way of shifting your focus towards what you really want.
If the student feels guilty about allowing distractions to take them away from studying, this can also be a part of that uncomfortable feeling. Realise that guilt is pointless, and if you have let yourself become distracted, then simply refocus and get back on about course.
Increasing your self esteem
We love to label things – good or bad, right or wrong, boring or exciting, etc. When you store a memory in your subconscious under a particular title, you will always remember it as the title you have given it.
Humiliating experiences cause for a damage of self esteem. Your internal dialogue becomes negative regarding that particular experience and your self image becomes affected. It is important to learn to love yourself, as this goes hand in hand with self esteem. Loving yourself unconditionally means that you can truly love others. It is not about being selfish.
You can learn to love yourself by taking more responsibility for your development in your life, by:
- Eating a healthy diet
- Sleep at least 8 hours a day
- Learn to relax frequently
- Learn from your mistakes
- Talk positively to yourself
- Set goals and do everything you can to achieve them
- Congratulate yourself on completing a goal
- Be responsible for your own health
- Avert all negative comments made toward you
Learn to say no to peer pressure, or to the need to conform. Learning to say no is the first step towards loving yourself and increasing your self esteem. This may not be comfortable for the first few times if you are not used to it, but the more you say no it will become easier. Accept that you are in charge of making decisions for your own life and take charge. It is a good idea to think of possible scenarios which will require you to say no to things that go against your values or beliefs. Practice saying no.
You Must Learn To Be Assertive
You have a choice to be either:
- Aggressive,
- Passive, or
- Assertive.
Aggressive people do not realise that they are doing harm to themselves by abusing others. They have certain characteristics:
- They are not good listeners
- They demean others
- They try to control others
- They say and do things to others that are mean and hurtful
- They appear irritable and judgmental
This behaviour can affect their self esteem as they do not have a good opinion of themselves and feel guilty and even ashamed. They also make the other person feel in a similar way.
A passive person allows themselves to be taken advantage of. They also have distinct characteristics:
- They allow themselves to be put down
- They are hesitant to express their opinion
- They are indecisive
- They appear to hold back from others
- They let themselves be controlled by others
This allows other people to control their lives, sometimes without either party being aware of it.
An assertive person realises that he or she must take responsibility for being what they want to be. If they are confronted by a situation that requires assertiveness on their behalf, it is important to relax until they have reached that state of calmness. They are then able to picture how they want the particular event (i.e. a discussion with another person, or a debate) to occur.
It is perfectly acceptable to have all feelings, but it is also important to know how to express them. Even strong feelings like anger and frustration can be articulated in a calm way. You can point out how you feel by just saying that you are hurt or frustrated, etc. Others will probably appreciate you more for it and will most likely be more receptive of your point.
It is important that you know what you want. Be sure of what you need and what you are looking for from others, then ask them clearly. Also be ready to respect others’ point of view and their values, even if they do not coincide with your own.
In order to be assertive it is crucial to have a good self image. Think about what makes you unique, what you like about yourself, what makes you proud of yourself. This could include things such as:
- I am a loving son/daughter, sister/brother
- I am a caring and honest friend
- I am intelligent
- I am loving and lovable
- I am a great piano player
- I am a diligent student
- I am compassionate
- I believe I can achieve anything I put my mind to
You can also ask your family and close friends what they like about you and pat yourself on the back for being such a wonderful person.
The Importance of Attitude
- As a child, you have been programmed to maintain a certain attitude, whether you like it or not.
- Any time you try to take control of your life and change it, the results are only temporary.
- No one is perfect, and neither are you. But remember the list of wonderful qualities you have and have a positive attitude about yourself.
- Remember to forgive yourself as well as others for past mistakes. This will allow you to move on.
- Keep your list of qualities in a special place and keep adding to it whenever you are reminded of another quality you have.
- Exercise will help you feel better when you are feeling down.
- Give thanks daily for all the gifts you have been given, such as your health, family, and your friends.
Know thyself
- Recognise what is important to you, not to your family, friends or coworkers.
- Make decisions which agree with what is important to you and stand up for yourself.
- Make a list of what is important to you, such as:
- Trust
- Honesty
- Patience
- Love
- Loyalty
- Family
- Friends
- Believing in what you value will help you make decisions, for example, when you have a choice to lie to a friend or to be honest. You can ask yourself which of these you value and how you will feel if you act accordingly. Following your values will give you happiness.
- If you feel anger, this can mean that your values weren’t appreciated. A friend of yours may have been let down, or you aren’t receiving the trust you need.
- Knowing your values means that you can:
- Decide on a goal that feels right for you
- Make decisions about where your life is heading
- Be responsible for yourself
- Respect others and their values
- Self-image is your opinion of yourself. All your beliefs contribute to your self-image.
- Your self-image will basically control where you end up in life.
- You are unable to control the events which you live through, but you can change the way you view these events.
- If you want to permanently change your self-image, you must re-program yourself with new information. You must change the way you make decisions in your life, which will ultimately change the direction of your life.
- Past conditioning has a huge impact on your decision making.
- What you believe you can do can seriously hinder your progress at work or in your personal life, or it can help you achieve amazing goals.
- Limiting statements form your beliefs about what your abilities, such as:
- “You won’t achieve anything by putting up a fight.”
- “Women can never get ahead in this line of work.”
- “It’s not what you know in this career, it’s who you know.”
- “The middle child always feels neglected.”
- “Why can’t you be more like your older sister?”
- “You are just as stubborn as your mother was.”
- Realising that your parents can not be blamed for your attitude from now on allows you to take total responsibility for your life.
- Make a list of all the negative self-talk statements you commonly use, such as:
- I can’t handle this anymore.
- I’m too old.
- I’m sick and tired of doing….
- Replace these negative comments with positive ones, such as:
- I am coping well with my circumstances.
- I love my life, I am young and energetic and have a vibrant personality which allows me to explore new things each day.
- I am finding it easier and more enjoyable to do …….. each day.
- Make a commitment to speak positively to yourself or with others from now on.
Setting a Goal
What is a Goal?
- A goal is what you wish to achieve in the future that requires you to learn new things, which will challenge you.
- Fulfilling your goal is only a part of the process – you will receive satisfaction while you are moving towards the goal.
- Keep challenging yourself and setting new goals that require just that extra bit of effort.
- Be happy in the present moment – don’t associate happiness only with the end result.
- Emotion is an important factor in goal setting. This is what the subconscious mind responds to, rather than information.
- Your emotions are stored in memory, so that you can remember a particular moment by remembering the emotion experienced in that moment.
- You can link a physical trigger to positive emotions so that when you experience this physical trigger, you will immediately activate the memories and emotions in your body.
- This will help you achieve your goals faster by stimulating the subconscious mind to focus your thoughts and actions towards attaining your goal.
- This trigger can be a number of things, such as:
- Touching your right ear lobe
- Running your hand through your hair
- Patting yourself on the back
- Smiling at yourself in the mirror
- When setting a goal, it is important to think positive thoughts. Your subconscious mind will interpret your language as emotions. This can influence us extremely.
- Word your self talk as if you have already achieved that goal. For example:
- I am comfortable being myself in a large group of strangers
- I am an organised person
- I am happy with the way I look
- I achieve top results in my exams
- Talk to yourself in present tense. This is to prevent procrastinating with what needs to be done. For example:
- I do an hour of exercise each day
- I study effectively for three hours each night
- I get my homework done well before bed time each night
- Always relate your goal to yourself. Even if it is a collective goal of your whole group, focus on what you contribute to the goal.
- Have patience with yourself and keep working towards your goal for as long as it takes.
- The more you think about your goal, the quicker it will settle into your subconscious mind.
- The more feeling you put into thinking about your goal, the less time it will take for your subconscious mind to believe you really want to achieve your goal.
- Think of a number of goals you wish to work towards in your life, such as:
- Education
- Relationships
- Friendships
- Family
- Personal (for example, to reach a certain level of fitness, to improve your diet, to think more positively, etc.)
- Ensure that your goals coincide with your values (check your list) and write them in optimistic and present words.
- To motivate yourself, understand the benefits you will receive from achieving your goal. The more benefits you can think of, the greater your motivation will be.
- Remember that your subconscious mind will believe anything you tell it. You can literally make yourself believe that anything you hate, you love instead. For example, if you don’t feel at all motivated to start on an assignment which you think is pointless, imagine a situation where you are finding the assignment more and more interesting as you go along, and you are learning things from it which you would have never before thought possible. Imagine that you are having a fun time researching for the assignment and that it is going smoothly and efficiently for you.
- Try and write up the benefits you will achieve for the above goals you have set for yourself, for example:
- Education – you will get into the course of your choice
- Relationships – you will be satisfied with an understanding and a caring partner
- Friendships – you will develop an extensive support network which you will always be able to rely on
- Family – you will be satisfied with the relationships you work on with your parents and siblings
- Personal – you will be happy with how fit you have become, you will feel a lot more energetic
- Try and identify what can prevent you from achieving your goal. Identify the external and internal factors.
External Factors:
Internal Factors:
- Low self esteem
- Indecisiveness about your goal
- Loss of motivation
- Negative thinking
You are able to control all of the internal factors which might prevent you from achieving your goal. By changing your self talk to be more positive and motivational, this will settle into your subconscious mind.
By controlling your internal factors, you will also have an influence on some of the external factors. For example, your resolve and motivation in achieving your goals will not be swayed by what others believe your goals should be. Your friends’ pressure will also have less of an impact on your actions.
- If you don’t achieve your goal, it depends on your attitude how you will respond.
- You can look at it as a learning experience, modify your goal, and start over.
- You can also respond negatively, by putting others or yourself down. This will be of no benefit to you.
Imagination
Imagination rehearses your brain to visualise with all your senses what will happen when you achieve your goal. You can motivate yourself by relaxing, picturing the end result and your success.
The time it takes for you to achieve your goal depends on how much you repeat your goal to yourself, and with how much emotion you do this.
Setting Academic Goals for Yourself
Communication
- Communication is achieved through our senses.
- Some people are better listeners than others, other people need to write the information down before they can absorb it, others learn best through diagrams and images.
- To retain information in your long term memory, it is important to utilise all your senses.
- The three main ways of communicating are:
- Visual
- Kinesthetic (feelings and actions)
- Auditory
- To identify your learning style, ask yourself the following questions:
- How would you like something different that you are learning to be presented (i.e. as a diagram, as a lecture, or a group discussion)?
- When you are frustrated, do you yell, throw things or keep it bottled up inside?
- When you spell a word, do you say it to yourself and then spell it, or do you picture the word and then spell it, or do you write down the word in a few different ways to see which feels right?
- Would you more prefer to listen to music, to play outdoors or to watch a movie?
- Do you find it easier to work with your hands, to write a story, or to draw something?
- What is the biggest distraction to you when you are studying: people talking to you, a visual distraction, or being physically uncomfortable?
- When you are deciding on something, do you take most into account how you feel about the options, how you visualise the outcome of each option, or talking about each of the options with yourself or with someone else?
- Do you find it easier to remember a lecture, a diagram, or physical movements?
- What motivates you more, imagining what needs to be done, verbal reminders, or expecting how good you will feel once you have completed your task?
- When someone asks you a question, do you repeat it to yourself, see how you feel about the question first, or visualise what the questions is about?
- Most of the time, do you think with emotions, in words or by visualising your thoughts?
Intelligence
- There are seven different types of intelligence:
- Visual and spatial
- Kinesthetic
- Intrapersonal
- Linguistic
- Musical
- Mathematical and logical
- Interpersonal
- Visual and Spatial Intelligence – this is a characteristic of students who like coloured diagrams.
- They can easily visualise pictures in their heads
- They are able to draw and design
- They can solve puzzles
- They can picture 3D objects and understand them well
- This intelligence can be developed by using colour, making diagrams and flow charts, build models, watch movies and paint
- You can utilise this intelligence to get an overall picture of what the outcome of a certain situation will be
- This intelligence is utilised in careers such as architecture, interior designer, artist, etc.
- Kinesthetic Intelligence – this focuses on physical action as a method of learning. Characteristics are:
- Constantly moving
- Loving your surrounding, dancing, sports
- Constant touching or fiddling
- Being highly emotional
- Express yourself clearly through your body actions
- This intelligence can be developed through physical activity such as sports and dance, drama, stretching, and craft
- You can utilise this intelligence to make experiments, models, diagrams. In general, combine action with your thinking
- This intelligence is utilised in careers such as dancing, mechanics, acting, etc.
- Intrapersonal Intelligence – characteristics include:
- Being reflective, intuitive
- Enjoy your time alone, and activities such as reading, meditating
- Understand your weaknesses and strengths, your emotions, and how you think
- This intelligence can be developed through relaxation, by developing your focusing ability, through self awareness exercises
- You can utilise this intelligence by questioning yourself about how you want the outcome to result
- Careers which utilise this intelligence include psychologists, psychiatrists, etc.
- Linguistic Intelligence – characteristics include;
- Liking to talk to yourself or to others
- Remembering names well
- Being good at abstract thinking
- This intelligence can be developed through debating, role-playing, reading, and composing essays and speeches
- You can utilise this intelligence by using words to describe a subject, re-reading it to yourself, use different words to think about the same subject, etc.
- This intelligence can be utilised in careers such as story-tellers, public speakers, comedians, etc.
- Musical Intelligence – characteristics include:
- Being aware of noises, and being able to distinguish accents
- Being good at foreign languages
- Being good at mimicking noises and sounds in your surroundings
- This intelligence can be developed through singing, musical performances, playing an instrument, using background music for concentration
- This intelligence can be utilised as a study tool through putting study notes in a jingle, etc.
- Careers include musicians, music teachers, language interpreters, etc.
- Mathematical Intelligence – characteristics include:
- Good reasoning ability
- Analytical and problem solving abilities
- Good at details
- Good with visual abstract thinking
- This intelligence can be developed by solving maths problems, experiments, reading.
- This can be utilised in your study to help you think logically, consider all the possibilities for the outcome, and to compare the results.
- Possible careers which utilise this intelligence include accountant, mathematician, bankers, etc.
- Interpersonal Intelligence – characteristics include;
- Loving to communicate
- Loving to influence people
- Good at team work
- Good conflict resolution skills
- Confidence around others
- Empathetic towards others
- This intelligence can be developed through team work, role playing, negotiations, and group discussions
- This intelligence can be utilised by listening to others’ experiences about similar situations, discussing the topics with other students, teachers and others who have a different point of view
- Careers include counsellor, teacher, social workers, customer service, personal consultant, salesperson, politician
Right/Left Sides of the Brain
Certain activities stimulate the right side of your brain, and others stimulate the left side.
- The Left side directs:
- Logic
- Analytical and problem solving skills
- Judgment
- Maths
- Numbers
- Speaking
- The Right side directs:
- Painting
- Music
- Designing
- Shapes and symbols
- Colour
- The right side works much faster than the left side. This is evident as you can remember a picture and all the details about it much quicker than if you had read the exact same information about the picture in a passage.
- Each person usually has one side that is more dominant over the other. There are exercises which you can use to achieve both sides to work together. This increases the speed at which you learn.
Organising your study environment
- It is important to work out if your study environment works to help you to study or if it disrupts your study.
- It can be your goal to create an environment which creates a relaxing, learning and creatively-stimulating atmosphere.
- The key is to focus on your goal and on your study whenever you are in the room. Speak to your subconscious mind about it and this will help you focus on and achieve the goal much faster.
- Keep in mind that the colours, the objects and the sounds in your bedroom all communicate with your subconscious mind depending on what they mean to you.
- For example, a photograph of your deceased grandfather may bring feelings of grief and regret, a poorly lit room can make you feel claustrophobic and depressed, and a picture of a beautiful forest can be relaxing and soothing.
- You must recognise these non-verbal messages and remove the disruptive ones from your environment.
- This means that you can design a room that allows you to concentrate on your study.
- This way you are allowing your environment to support you in your steps to success.
- If you allow your study materials to become mixed with personal items or if books are spread all over your bed or dressing table, this can send mixed signals to your subconscious mind which would find it difficult to focus on only one thing.
- This can interfere with your study as well as with your sleep!
- Physically divide your bedroom into two separate areas: one for study and the other for relaxation. You can use different colours in the two areas to help you distinguish between the two.
- Each colour has a particular use:
- Bright and warm colours such as peach and lemon best stimulate young children to learn
- Cooler colours such as aqua, pale blue best stimulate older children to focus
- Yellow stimulates the nervous system and increases learning
- Pink and beige induce relaxation and sleep
- Lemon, blue and white are refreshing colours for your relaxation space
- Remember to store away things which you aren’t currently using, to help you keep a tidy space and maintain maximum focus.
- If you listen to music, ensure that it is instrumental and without words, which also breaks focus.
- Ensure that your room is well lit as to prevent lethargy and headaches.
- Ensure that you have enough air passing through your room, to help you maintain your concentration.
- You may choose to display a drawing or a poster of what you visualise your goal to be long term.
Memory
What helps place information into long term memory?
- Communication needs to occur between left and right brain through pictures and words.
- Meditation and relaxation exercises allow for memory to be stored long-term.
- Placing yourself into the Alpha state prior to study, allows you to maintain your focus.
- Mind charts are a great tool for utilising both left and right brain in information storing processes.
- To create a mind chart, first write the challenge or the name of the topic in the centre of the page
- Add topics you need to cover in order to complete the challenge, as arrows coming off the central challenge
- Add subtopics coming off the topics, which you will need to cover to understand the topics more completely
- You can use symbols in your mind charts, as well as pictures, different colours, key words, designs
- You can use mind charts for essays, shopping, study, solving a problem, or writing a speech
- The basic principles of creating a mind chart are as follows:
- Decide what the purpose of studying the text is for you
- Write this purpose as a title for your mind chart
- Skin through the text and identify what you find necessary. There is no need to go into too much detail at this stage
- Write down what you can remember from the text as an arrow attached to the initial title of your mind chart
- Read the text more closely and add to the mind chart anything extra from the text that you find important
- Redraw the chart if you need to, and include the more important words which represent a whole group of words
- Use a different colour in your new mind chart for a separate grouping of words
- Add many pictures to your mind chart. These will help you remember.
- Review your mind chart and explain to yourself the relevance of the different colours and pictures used. Find connections with the words and the pictures
- It is important to review this mind chart at a later stage. Try to explain it to yourself out loud.
- Remember to explain the connection between the colours and pictures you used in your mind chart
- Review the mind chart the next day also. Check if you remember everything, and review only what you are unsure of.
- Do this again on a regular basis before your exam.
- Display your mind charts all around your room, so that your subconscious mind is aware of them even if you don’t consciously look at them.
Exams
- Decide on you long term goal, for example “I effortlessly achieve 95% in my end of year Geography exam paper.
- Make a list of all that you will need to achieve this goal, such as:
- I effectively study for three hours each night
- I complete each Geography assignment well ahead of the due date
- I revise my Geography mind charts on a weekly basis
- Focus on relaxing before the exam, and do not think about how hard it will be or that you are not prepared enough for it.
- Keep talking to yourself in a positive way, and feel good about the amount of preparation you have done for this exam.
- During the exam, remember to:
- Visualise achieving your goal
- Be happy with the exam you are taking
- Be confident
- Remain calm and focused
- If you forget a question, relax and come back to the question later. By this stage you will have remembered what you have studied
- After the exam, congratulate yourself and tell yourself that you will achieve your goal
With reference to “Learn Faster, Now!” by Jeffrey Hodges B.Sc. (AES) ©1992
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