Warning: this post is very motivational and may result in you actually having a life!
This is mainly aimed at those who fail to reach their capabilities with studying, but effectively applies to anyone else who is not reaching their potential in ANY area of their life.
As far as studying goes, I have always felt it was absolutely essential to get something done on time. The ULTIMATE FAILURE in my life would be to refuse to study for an exam or refuse to make a decent effort with any assignment.
I know some people who don't care about not studying for exams (that count) these days and I know that I could never do that, although just recently, I decided to see what it would be like only relying on lectures to pass a mock exam. Yes, I passed it, but it felt REALLY painful since I didn't give anywhere near my best effort.
I have been reading and listening to a lot of Anthony Robbins over the past year and although i will not copy any of his material in this post, however i will use some of his basic principles in my own style.
Here are some principles/beliefs/convictions that have helped me. You should try to have complete conviction in these:
There is nothing so bad that I can't turn around
Instead of saying "I can't turn this around", say "HOW can I turn this around?" This immediately opens your brain up and gets it thinking about ways to turn things around.
What your brain links pain to, it will avoid.
What your brain links pleasure to, it will do it more!
Now, I'm not saying that I've been good at studying forever. I've had some disappointing moments of procrastination, where instead of studying, I’d either play games or go out and pissed or find some other way to keep me occupied, like go out and stay on the golf course all day. Keeping yourself busy is the most common form of laziness. But I've learned and made myself stronger from each experience of procrastination; hell, I even procrastinated for 4 weeks to get round to doing 2 essays, which were due this week. I did one of the essays the whole night before it was due
and the other, 2 nights before. The important thing was that I learned from this. I felt pain on a very real level because I felt like sh!t having stayed up till half4 on Friday morning to write the essay.
Important realisation : You gain experience every time you feel pain.
So how do you create good habits with studying or indeed anything in life?
There are two things you must do: link pain to not studying and link pleasure to studying
Firstly, linking pain to not studying.
Creating a list of this is difficult, but you must nevertheless brainstorm, so get out some paper and think hard about all the bad things that will come from not studying
For example:
1. I will feel like sh!t because I have not performed my best
2. I will prevent myself from becoming smarter and more mentally agile if i don't do any work
3. I will not make as much money in the future
4. I will not be as valuable to future employers
5. I will be devastated when I get poor grades
6. Procrastinating is the worst pain EVER, because I am not becoming all I can be
These aren't all that good, but when I get back to my flat, I'll post you more
Secondly, linking pleasure to studying.
Create a separate list.
1. (Start getting greedy !) I will have so much money and success in the future. I will feel so fvcking proud of myself, feel so damn good and can look down on other dumbasses who never even bothered to take control of their life
2. I will get so much pleasure by having better grades than my peers because it will create an aura of superiority (I know this is very shallow, and on the verge of insecurity, but if it motivates you, just do it)
3. I will gain even more faith in myself if I can control my actions
4. I will become smarter, more intelligent, wittier, more eloquent, more appealing to employers if I study (also applies to reading and writing about anything)
Think along these lines and create some of your own links of pain and pleasure. They are very effective.
Now that you've linked sufficient pain to not studying and pleasure to studying, you will automatically want to study without feeling the pain formerly associated to it.
In addition, you should try to get all your work on your desk. Tidy the room or wherever you're working. Turn all distractions off or put them away. (I don't put music away though, unless I REALLY need to study). Stop doing ANYTHING. Just sit down in your chair or lie on the floor and bore the fvck out of yourself until you are prepared to start studying.
If you can't generate enough pain on a mental level, which is highly unlikely, move to a physical one: start hitting yourself on the head every time you put off studying when you know you shouldn't.
Short and Long Term Pleasure and Pain
One thing that Tony Robbins said that stuck in my mind was about short and long term pleasure and this is where you can develop the most motivation.
Long term pleasure is FAR more potent than short term pleasure. Why? Because it lasts a LOT longer. If you are getting long term pleasure from many areas of your life, what will happen? It will all add up so that you get immense levels of pleasure. This cannot happen in the short term, unless you can do lots of things at once, like watch TV, play computer games, eat lots of chocolate and masturbate simultaneously. If you can without creating a pulley system like in Freddy Got Fingered, I take my cap off to you (Bear in mind that even if you do achieve mass short term pleasure, you will also gain MASSIVE long term pain!)
Short Term Pleasure
Short term pleasure is only pleasurable for a short time (maybe 1 day at the very most). This is the type of pleasure that most idiots (99.9%) of the population seek. It is also the weakest and the type that causes so much pain in the long term.
Examples:
*Masturbation = 2 -30 minutes of pleasure. (Up to 5 days of pain though, because you KNOW it is reduces your sex drive and testosterone levels).
*Watching Television. What are you learning? Nothing in the long term at all! You may get a little insignificant laugh out of it, but eventually, it will not cause you to feel any better about your life; only worse!
*Playing computer games. Same as watching television. It may produce a little entertainment in the short time, but only dismay and frustration in the long term.
*Listening to music is an exception. I think it is necessary to get you motivated in the short term (provided you are listening to the right type of music, not depressing stuff)
* Eating junk food. It might feel good for about a minute or two, but you are ultimately shafting your health and ability to get fit (long term pleasures, discussed later)
So this is the type of pleasure you want to AVOID.
This is mainly aimed at those who fail to reach their capabilities with studying, but effectively applies to anyone else who is not reaching their potential in ANY area of their life.
As far as studying goes, I have always felt it was absolutely essential to get something done on time. The ULTIMATE FAILURE in my life would be to refuse to study for an exam or refuse to make a decent effort with any assignment.
I know some people who don't care about not studying for exams (that count) these days and I know that I could never do that, although just recently, I decided to see what it would be like only relying on lectures to pass a mock exam. Yes, I passed it, but it felt REALLY painful since I didn't give anywhere near my best effort.
I have been reading and listening to a lot of Anthony Robbins over the past year and although i will not copy any of his material in this post, however i will use some of his basic principles in my own style.
Here are some principles/beliefs/convictions that have helped me. You should try to have complete conviction in these:
There is nothing so bad that I can't turn around
Instead of saying "I can't turn this around", say "HOW can I turn this around?" This immediately opens your brain up and gets it thinking about ways to turn things around.
What your brain links pain to, it will avoid.
What your brain links pleasure to, it will do it more!
Now, I'm not saying that I've been good at studying forever. I've had some disappointing moments of procrastination, where instead of studying, I’d either play games or go out and pissed or find some other way to keep me occupied, like go out and stay on the golf course all day. Keeping yourself busy is the most common form of laziness. But I've learned and made myself stronger from each experience of procrastination; hell, I even procrastinated for 4 weeks to get round to doing 2 essays, which were due this week. I did one of the essays the whole night before it was due
and the other, 2 nights before. The important thing was that I learned from this. I felt pain on a very real level because I felt like sh!t having stayed up till half4 on Friday morning to write the essay. Important realisation : You gain experience every time you feel pain.
So how do you create good habits with studying or indeed anything in life?
There are two things you must do: link pain to not studying and link pleasure to studying
Firstly, linking pain to not studying.
Creating a list of this is difficult, but you must nevertheless brainstorm, so get out some paper and think hard about all the bad things that will come from not studying
For example:
1. I will feel like sh!t because I have not performed my best
2. I will prevent myself from becoming smarter and more mentally agile if i don't do any work
3. I will not make as much money in the future
4. I will not be as valuable to future employers
5. I will be devastated when I get poor grades
6. Procrastinating is the worst pain EVER, because I am not becoming all I can be
These aren't all that good, but when I get back to my flat, I'll post you more
Secondly, linking pleasure to studying.
Create a separate list.
1. (Start getting greedy !) I will have so much money and success in the future. I will feel so fvcking proud of myself, feel so damn good and can look down on other dumbasses who never even bothered to take control of their life
2. I will get so much pleasure by having better grades than my peers because it will create an aura of superiority (I know this is very shallow, and on the verge of insecurity, but if it motivates you, just do it)
3. I will gain even more faith in myself if I can control my actions
4. I will become smarter, more intelligent, wittier, more eloquent, more appealing to employers if I study (also applies to reading and writing about anything)
Think along these lines and create some of your own links of pain and pleasure. They are very effective.
Now that you've linked sufficient pain to not studying and pleasure to studying, you will automatically want to study without feeling the pain formerly associated to it.
In addition, you should try to get all your work on your desk. Tidy the room or wherever you're working. Turn all distractions off or put them away. (I don't put music away though, unless I REALLY need to study). Stop doing ANYTHING. Just sit down in your chair or lie on the floor and bore the fvck out of yourself until you are prepared to start studying.
If you can't generate enough pain on a mental level, which is highly unlikely, move to a physical one: start hitting yourself on the head every time you put off studying when you know you shouldn't.
Short and Long Term Pleasure and Pain
One thing that Tony Robbins said that stuck in my mind was about short and long term pleasure and this is where you can develop the most motivation.
Long term pleasure is FAR more potent than short term pleasure. Why? Because it lasts a LOT longer. If you are getting long term pleasure from many areas of your life, what will happen? It will all add up so that you get immense levels of pleasure. This cannot happen in the short term, unless you can do lots of things at once, like watch TV, play computer games, eat lots of chocolate and masturbate simultaneously. If you can without creating a pulley system like in Freddy Got Fingered, I take my cap off to you
(Bear in mind that even if you do achieve mass short term pleasure, you will also gain MASSIVE long term pain!)Short Term Pleasure
Short term pleasure is only pleasurable for a short time (maybe 1 day at the very most). This is the type of pleasure that most idiots (99.9%) of the population seek. It is also the weakest and the type that causes so much pain in the long term.
Examples:
*Masturbation = 2 -30 minutes of pleasure. (Up to 5 days of pain though, because you KNOW it is reduces your sex drive and testosterone levels).
*Watching Television. What are you learning? Nothing in the long term at all! You may get a little insignificant laugh out of it, but eventually, it will not cause you to feel any better about your life; only worse!
*Playing computer games. Same as watching television. It may produce a little entertainment in the short time, but only dismay and frustration in the long term.
*Listening to music is an exception. I think it is necessary to get you motivated in the short term (provided you are listening to the right type of music, not depressing stuff)
* Eating junk food. It might feel good for about a minute or two, but you are ultimately shafting your health and ability to get fit (long term pleasures, discussed later)
So this is the type of pleasure you want to AVOID.
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