Brain Food: Go Nuts for High Scores
Optimal performance in sports depends on a carefully-calibrated regimen of skills training, conditioning, nutrition, rest, and coaching. Why should optimal performance in academics and tests be any different? Protein is a powerful driver of peak cognitive function, in large part because neurotransmitter activity in the brain runs on amino acids, which come from protein. The better the fuel, the more efficient our brains operate. In addition, good protein boosts energy, mental clarity, and mood, while helping to manage both pain and stress. Of course, these benefits accrue from good sources of protein. So rather than packing Big Macs and Buffalo wings on test day, be more strategic in your selections. For example, nuts are chock full of fiber, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. Researchers seem to uncover new benefits to eating nuts every year, from low blood pressure to weight control to longevity. Experts agree that walnuts are particular…
Teach It to Learn It
Imagine if the only way you were allowed to learn something was to first hear it in a lecture and then study it on your own. Sounds restrictive, doesn’t it? Obviously, lectures prove perfect for certain educational endeavors, but then again, so do lab work, flipped classrooms, independent research, and a host of other multimodal approaches. And yet, no matter how a student is initially taught something, he’s expected to master that information alone, usually by sitting at a desk for hours reviewing notes. Here’s a revelation: maybe self-study isn’t the best path to content mastery for every student… maybe even not for you! One surprisingly effective strategy to learning is devilishly simple: teach it. The infamous Learning Pyramid, based loosely on the work of educator Edgar Dale, touts teaching as the most effective route to knowledge retention. More recent research helps provide the evidence this idea has needed. For…
Mastery Requires Both Impatience and Patience
Author James Clear offers pithy and prolific insights into many aspects of life. His wisdom hits home quite often the realms of productivity and success. I’m partial to this statement about mastery: “Mastery requires both impatience and patience. The impatience to have a bias toward action, to not waste time, and to work with a sense of urgency each day. The patience to delay gratification, to wait for your actions to accumulate, and to trust the process.” Test prep is all about reaching for mastery, attaining mastery for a moment, and displaying mastery when called upon. Be impatient to earn your best test scores: embrace a bias toward action and get to work. Be patient to prove your best test scores: Create a clear plan for success and work that plan. Leverage spaced repetition and the testing effect to improve over time, ideally under the tutelage of an expert coach.…
Muhammad Ali Knows Test Prep
Muhammad Ali is remembered as one of the greatest boxers of his era or any other, and he never tired of reminding the world of his greatness. His enduring fame as an Olympic gold medalist, heavyweight champion, and civil rights leader afforded him a platform from which he shared more than just poetic boasts. Ali communicated the cost of greatness to the world in both words and deeds. Anyone preparing to pit themselves against a tremendous challenge or competitor can learn from his insights… He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. It’s not bragging if you can back it up. Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is…
Can You Accept Criticism?
Like it or not, none of us are born perfect. Even worse, very few of us achieve perfection in any area or task. But those of us who strive to do our best must develop a thick skin, because failure always precedes success. Unfortunately, failure doesn’t always sit well with a person. Neither does criticism, which can be a problem as constructive criticism is one of the essential drivers of incremental improvement. Can anyone really learn or accomplish anything of consequence without dealing with criticism? Research, not to mention experience and common sense, says no: Research has overwhelmingly supported that providing feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and an integral part of the teaching/learning process. Into each life, Longfellow assures us, some rain must fall. Sometimes we’re showered with criticism too. How we handle constructive criticism makes all the difference. Do you see yourself on this…
Self-Control and Score Outcomes
Overcoming adversity and competition to achieve great success always depends, at least in part, on willpower. No less a luminary than the Dalai Lama joined the chorus in praise of this trait when he said, “We all have the power of thought – so what are you lacking? If you have willpower, then you can change anything.” I’ve shared some thoughts on how willpower leads to higher scores as well. Willpower can be defined as the ability to resist urges, impulses, and short-term gratification in pursuit of long-term goals or objectives. We’re always fighting urges to eat what we shouldn’t, pay attention to something other than what is in front of us, or walk away from what we’re doing and just go back to bed. As a limited resource, willpower only lasts so long, especially under sustained stress. Test prep, obviously, demands lots of willpower. For greater success in our…