What's your body doing?

Let’s start out with this rule of thumb: 

When you are thinking of of an upcoming test (or anything else in the future), remember to breathe.

Here’s a very common experience for test-takers:  “My test is next Tuesday (or tomorrow). YIKES!” Your heart rate goes up, your blood starts rushing, your stomach wrenches. You know the routine.

I don’t know about you, but often, when I’m thinking about something that I have coming up later today or tomorrow or next week (and it doesn’t have to be as stressful as a test), I find myself getting a little amped up. What do I mean by “amped up”? 

When I check in with my body while I’m thinking about what I have to do, I do notice that maybe my heartbeat has speeded up, maybe a little sweat is breaking on my upper lip or my legs feel a little twitchy. What’s going on here? I think of it as launching myself into the future. As if I were a cannonball on my way to whatever the future event is, I’m speeding through the air, only to explode on the other end.

“Amped up” or “worked up” – whatever you call it –  it’s not a comfortable feeling. Some people think it’s energy that’s preparing you for the event. Yes, that’s true– to a point. But chances are you are simply getting a bit anxious—thinking about something that hasn’t happened yet and imagining all the possible scenarios and outcomes (how come most of those tend to be not-so-positive?)  While we can’t control what thoughts come to us—try not thinking about the test you have to take next week—we can, while having the thought about the future, stay calm.

The simplest way?  Just breathe. You notice you’re thinking about the test, you notice your stomach starts to knot up.  Stop. Breathe deeply down to your belly. Ground your feet on the floor. Open up your senses to what is around you right now. The future event (that pesky test) won’t go away, but all those anxious feelings will. And wouldn’t that be a relief?

Remember: it’s a 3 legged stool. Your mind-leg takes over and throws your body-leg and spirit-leg out of balance. Get back in touch with your body. I’ll talk about getting back in touch with your spirit in another post.

Let me know your experiences with getting “amped up”. What happens to do? What do you do for relief?

He never loses his cool, he never seems dejected or bitter at a loss, and it certainly doesn’t make him lose steam and he is never off-message.

He is a good role model for facing important tests: staying calm, keeping confident, and being focused is the key.

These are the skills that should be part of any leadership training. Leaders are constantly tested. They have to face moment-by-moment challenges, and we trust that they will do that. Have you ever considered that we are really trusting them to stay calm, confident and focused?  Imagine a leader who is tense, doubtful and distracted.  That doesn’t define “leader.”  Calm, confident and focused do.

If you are in a leadership position, or you are training others to be leaders, consider that for the vitality of the organization and the well-being of its members, you want to cultivate the three qualities in The Workbook. We want, and value, leaders who stand on a sturdy three-legged stool. Leaders who are calm, confident and focused.

What are the qualities you value in a leader?

These discussions, Hernandez stated, gave the students “an intellectual diversion from preparing for the Maryland School Assessment, the examinations in reading and math that are a near-obsession for administrators and teachers.”

Hernandez goes on to describe the lively and engaging philosophical discussions — started by forward-thinking teacher Kathy Gregory — that students get into over lunch. To me what was most interesting was this activity is seen — at the school and by the reporter– as a balance to test prep.  After reading the article (which I recommend you do), you’ll see that in an activity like this one students are gaining exactly the foundation skills they need to be successful test takers. In other words, they are learning to be calm, confident and focused. This real life training is invaluable and it carries right over into test taking.

When students come together to discuss important issues, on which they have to take a personal stance, they need exactly the skills described in The Workbook for Test Success. It’s a living example of the 3 legged stool.

One of the biggest problems with standardized state tests (like the Maryland School Assessment or the STAR test in California) is that many students find it very hard to be motivated for these tests. My guess is that engaging group activities in school, like the one described in the article, aren’t a diversion, they are building performance and achievement skills that can serve as a springboard for wanting to do well in other activities (like standardized tests).

Thank you Nelson Hernandez for writing about uplifting, nurturing stories like this one. And thank you teacher Kathy Gregory– and Kenmoor principal Maha Fadli — for supporting student growth, To read the article go to: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/03/AR2010010301690.html?hpid%3Dtopnews

Charles make the model his own

Want the best way to reduce your test anxiety?  Personalize the training model I present in the book.

I gave a talk at Oregon Health Sciences University, School of Dentistry, last week and one of the 3rd year students, Charles Nguyen, took the 3 legged stool and ran with it.

He made it about EBT (Evidence Based Dentistry), with the “legs” an integration of (1) clinical evidence, (2) clinician expertise, and (3) patient preference and needs. When all three legs are strong you get excellent health care.

When a student understands and appreciates the model and makes it his/her own, it means real learning is taking place.

Charles used his 3 legged stool in a class presentation (the same students who had been at my talk). By seeing what Charles did with it he inspired all of his fellow classmates to personalize it in their own way.

Here’s the test prep tip: if you want to reduce your test stress and lower your test anxiety, use any of the tips I offer here in the blog, and in the book, in a way that applies to your life. Then you are making sense of what you are learning in a way that will help you in your life.  It’s the best way to learn and consolidate that learning.  Make it useful to you, for you!

How are you personalizing the tips and tools?  Which ones are you using and how are they working for you?

I remember a high school student  brought in by her parents. I asked her, “Do you know why you are here?” She immediately replied, “Yes. My parents want me to get higher SAT score. And I don’t want to work for it.”

Then the three of them leaned in. All eyes were on me…

I took down a glass bottle of gold glitter from my shelf. I shook it up and down and said to her, with a small smile, “This is magic dust. Take it home. Every night before you go to sleep, sprinkle it over your head. Your scores may go up.”

She laughed heartily. Then we began working together. I gave her some tools to practice with.

At our next coaching session she came in and shrugged, “I didn’t do any of the things you said.”

I was patient and understanding. Again, at the end of the second session I gave her some tools to practice with.

She came back and again, the same thing, “I didn’t do any of the things you said.”

I looked her in the eye and said, “You are a bright kid. But I can’t work with you anymore. This is a waste of your time, my time, your parents’ money.”

She was shocked. We started a dialogue. I found out there was a school that she wanted to go to. But to get into that school she needed to get her SAT to a certain level.

Bingo! In that moment she got it. She wasn’t doing it for her parents. She was doing it to get to where she wanted to go.

From then on she really worked with me on the performance model. And she got into the college of her choice.

This is what President Obama said about his daughter Malia doing better on a test, “what was happening was she had started wanting it more than us. Now, once you get to that point, our kids are on our [sic] way. But the only way they get to that point is if we’re helping them get to that point.”

If your child is facing and important test, talk about the test together. Make sure that the goal of a higher score is your child’s goal, not just yours. Help them see that it’s about their future and what they want for themselves. There’s more for you in Chapter 9: Help for Parents.

Send in your experiences and questions.

This is a familiar feeling to anyone who is or has been a student. (In fact, it’s a familiar feeling to everyone. We all have too much going on and too little time to get it all done).

My advice to the student is simple: “Start somewhere. You are sitting there feeling overwhelmed, so of course you have a problem with feeling overwhelmed. Start doing something.  Take out one book for one subject and read one chapter or a part of the chapter. This will put you on course for feeling like you’re doing something because… you are!”

This touches on issues of confidence, calm and focus. In my book I talk about the three legged stool– one leg each for each of the qualities. If you say “I can’t…” you are having a confidence problem. It will make you feel all nervous (lack of calm), and you will be distracted (inability to focus). The solution I am proposing is taking a step (focus), making it small and manageable (to build your confidence), and all of that will help you calm down.  Try it.