Mindset for studying

Defining your mindset and goals is the first step towards effective learning and great achievements!

Motivation

Motivation is key. You need to know why you are doing what you are doing so that you can stay on track even when things get tough. The best form of motivation is something internal. For example, you want to get a good grade because you want to make yourself proud, or because you love what you are studying and want to get better at it. However, in the case that you have to study something you do not like so much, it may help to have an external form of motivation, such as making your parents proud or competing with a friend to help you stay accountable to your task when you really don't feel like studying. Never underestimate the power of having someone hold you accountable for yourself. We are inherently social beings, and we like to care about what others think of us. Although too much external pressure is not good for us, a little bit of external pressure is beneficial as it is amazing how many things we are willing to do for others that we would never do for ourselves!

Goals

Once you know what motivates you, you can then define your motivation by writing a specific goal. Having a large final goal that is then broken down into smaller monthly, weekly and daily goals can help you organise your time so that you do not waste a single moment! When writing goals, it is key to ensure that they are achievable as goals that seem too hard to achieve lead to procrastination and nothing being done. I would go so far as to say it is better to make goals so ridiculously small and easy to achieve rather than large and ambitious because not only are you more likely to start in that case, but you will also finish what you intended to do. This builds confidence in yourself, and it makes you know that you are the kind of person who achieves the goals they set themself rather than someone who does not achieve their goals. Identity is another important aspect when it comes to studying, because the mindset you have about what kind of person you are when it comes to studying dictates the actions you take when you get tired or things get hard. Although large and ambitious goals seem impressive, if they are not serving their purpose, it is much better to set many small goals you can work through and achieve to get to where you want to be rather than incapacitate yourself with too daunting a task. Small goals also means you have more wins along the way, and these wins will lead to good feelings that will keep on motivating yourself - a positive feedback loop!

Now that you have the right mindset and goals, here is the next article to read about how to actually learn!

6 Tips for effective study