Test Prep Tips from Lou Holtz
Football fans know Lou Holtz (1937–2026) as a legendary American college coach and broadcaster. Over a 33-season collegiate career, he earned 249 wins, not only becoming the only coach to lead six different programs to bowl games but also leading Notre Dame to the 1988 National Championship. Coaching wisdom often applies far more broadly than just to one sport or activity, and Holtz habitually dispensed timeless wisdom that should resonate as strongly with test takers as with play makers on any field: “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” “Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.” “Without self-discipline, success is impossible, period.” “Pressure comes when someone calls on you to perform a task for which…
Deliberate Practice and 4 Not-So-Easy Steps to Success
Over 25+ years as an entrepreneur, author, and publisher of (now-defunct) SUCCESS magazine, Darren Hardy has relentlessly studied and dissected the habits of the most accomplished people on the planet. He can attest that the secret to success isn’t much of a secret at all: practice. However, the kind of practice that drives stratospheric levels of accomplishment and excellence is extremely specific. Deliberate practice requires tremendous commitment and structure over time. But no other path takes you to even the chance of doing your very best when it matters. How do you know if you are practicing properly? Hardy described four essential steps to attacking deliberate practice: You must be motivated to attend to the task and exert effort to improve your performance. The design of the task should take into account your pre-existing knowledge so that the task can be correctly understood after a brief period of instruction. You…
Olympic Athletes Know Test Prep
No matter what else is happening in the world, the Olympics always command attention. If you ever doubt the burning will to exceed all limits inherent in all of us, just look at the dedication these indomitable athletes exemplify. No spectacle captures the world’s imagination on such a grand scale. But we’re not tuning in to catch up on air rifle or luge or any of the other hundreds of sometimes obscure events (race walking… really?) we somehow ignore every other week of the year. No, we thrill to the competition, the effort, and the unquenchable commitment to win. Everyone on the path to their best test scores and grades can learn what being the best really requires from those who have paid the costs and reaped the rewards–including Gold Medals and enshrinement on boxes of Wheaties–of enduring excellence… “Practice creates confidence. Confidence empowers you.” — Simone Biles, most decorated…
Play To The Final Whistle
A restless urge to compete impels all great success in a way that less ambitious emotions cannot. Often, we are competing with others for some coveted prize or championship. Other times, we compete with ourselves, to beat our best time or turn out our most perfect effort. Even when we strive against the seemingly unyielding barriers of space and time, we are competing; those who break speed records or delve impossible depths compete against reality itself, and sometimes even win. The highest test scores often go to the fiercest competitors. Make no mistake: greatness will not simply fall into your lap. Championships, awards, and glory go to those who fight relentlessly for them. On the day of your official ACT or SAT, your competition is far greater and more vast than you can probably imagine. If you want to earn a 99th percentile score, you’ll have to best somewhere between…
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…
Master The Tests…
Don’t let the big tests in life master you.