Kay and I were talking the other day and she was discussing an email exchange she was having with a student. She wanted to figure out how to help this student but she wanted to see what I was thinking about it…
I’ll call the student J…
J was saying something like:
“I want to study better but I don’t want to use active recall or flashcards…”
That’s tough for a study “gooroo” like myself to listen to because active recall is kind of like my superpower.
And J doesn’t like it. I get that… I didn’t always love it…
When you use active recall, you feel it. At first it will stress you out a little bit but once you get in a rhythm with it, personally (maybe I’m crazy,) it gets pleasurable.
In fact, even when I’m not in classes, I’m using active recall to study stuff.
So… for me…
Hearing, study better + no active recall…
I’m thinking like a personal trainer that hears, get healthy and fit + no diet or exercise…
At first hear – it just doesn’t compute, right? My gut is saying “it doesn’t work that way.” But…
My gut is wrong…
A few hours after the conversation I felt like a complete doofus for not realizing this earlier…
Most students don’t want “to study.”
I get why you think they do… They say they want “to study,” but that’s not the final goal they are after…
What they really want…
to improve their academic situation.
When someone says, “I need to study more” they’re really saying:
I want to learn more or more likely…
I want to improve my grades.
That’s the real goal here.
Studying is ONE way to achieve that goal.
But there are more ways to improve your grades…
You don’t need to pick up your textbook and stare it down for hours to learn something. In fact, have you ever had classes where you’ve never opened the textbook a single time? I have.
I’ve had classes where I didn’t even have to study to get near the top of my class. And it’s not because I’m gifted or something. I’m a bloke that got D’s in high school (at least early on.)
I got to the top of the class based on the strategies I used.
Anyone that applies these strategies can get similar results.
In fact… this is why I felt like a doofus…
I wrote a whole book on the subject…
101 Strategies To Improve Your Grades Without Studying More
This is an ebook that’s been downloaded tens of thousands of times. I literally have emails in my inbox from readers telling me this book changed their life. I guess it’s easy to get caught up thinking there is only 1 way to do something.
There is a world of possibilities. Don’t miss out.
-Aaron
P.S.
Since J gave me this helpful reminder that I lose focus on the real goals sometimes too, here is a coupon that will get you J’s Super Special Discount until Friday: EXPIRED