Students' Successful Journey Of Conquering Test Anxiety

By Carolina Carvalho Goncalves


What Is Test Anxiety?Test anxiety is the experience of feeling anxious, distracted, upset and overwhelmed in anticipation of an exam and the results that might occur. Just like most other types of anxiety, test anxiety stems from a panic type feeling that usually centers on the future and results from how you've chosen to think and focus over time.

What Are Bad Anxiety Habits?Most people only think of bad habits as having to do only with small actions that we either do or don't do. Not brushing our teeth daily etc... Mental habits however are the thoughts that we continue to focus on over time. Just like a physical muscle, our brain is also plastic and malleable. Our habitual neuron signals are like sleds that follow the exact same snow tracks over and over. Pretty soon those sleds cling naturally to the same pathway, coasting fast with difficulty taking changing route.

Test Anxiety Defined.An alarming type of performance anxiety, test anxiety makes someone feel terribly pressured to perform well in a test. Butterflies in the stomach which eventually turns into a stomachache or tension worsened to a headache are among its effects. Some people may shake or sweat a lot. Others can hear their hearts beat really fast even before the test papers are distributed to them. The worst case of someone having this type of anxiety is the feeling of throwing up or passing out.

So if you want to overcome test anxiety that might cause you to bomb on the ACT test, keep in mind these three causes of bombing on tests and learn more by taking a good ACT test prep course that will teach you how to score your best on the ACT.

By the way, you can watch free 60 second ACT Test Tip Videos without having to give your name or email address by going here: ACT Test Tips.Studying for the ACT anywhere, online with short video clips makes the ACT a breeze.Perhaps you are approaching your senior year in high school, narrowing down your choice of schools, filling out applications and signing up for the SAT test. Most likely you are planning to take it more than once. Did your stomach just do a flip-flop thinking about the test? Are you worried about it because so much rides on how well you do?

Unfortunately, the presence of anxiety literally does make us dumber! Anxiety is fear about a future event. When you are in a state of fear there is a carefully and automatically orchestrated series of events that occur in the body. Long ago it was needed to ensure a human's survival. Today it can be more of a hindrance for most of us because it is rare that our life is actually in danger. Unfortunately, our brain doesn't know the difference between an actual threat (a tiger chasing us) and a perceived threat (not doing well on the SAT test).

Study, study, study: It's not like the driving test is a pop quiz. You KNOW it's coming, so prepare for it. Your school, local DMV or Driver's Ed has lots of preparation materials. Use them! You should study for at least 3 weeks before your exam. Don't wait until the last minute and cram. It's better to study a little (15 minutes) every day, 5 days a week. You'll retain the information better and go in feeling better prepared.

Take a mock driver's test: Taking the test BEFORE you take the test is great way to get over your fear of it. And you can take the practice test as many times as you want.Give yourself positive feedback: Tell yourself things like, "You can do this. You're going to do great." It may feel corny, but affirming self-talk actually makes it more likely you'll succeed. Remember to be nice to yourself.

Mistakes as Part of Life.Everyone commits mistakes. Once you realize this, you will never look at mistakes the wrong way you were doing. Instead, you will treat them as learning opportunities. You can keep your mistakes in mind and be careful not to do the same next time. Mistakes you make in tests can encourage you to study more and do better. Slowly changing your view about mistakes will also gradually treat your test anxiety.

Can the subconscious mind be reached? Fortunately in the last 20 years there are new stress reduction techniques that can be highly effective with many issues including test anxiety. They are easily learned, have the ability to access the subconscious mind, and have been scientifically proven to be effective. Once learned the individual has a stress reduction tool he or she can use to self manage stress wherever it may appear in life.

One of these, EFT, Emotional Freedom Technique, founded by a Stanford engineer, Gary Craig, utilizes meridians, the energy pathways within our bodies. You may know them if you have ever had acupuncture. Another technique, Psych-K, allows us to test for and change sabotaging beliefs residing in our subconscious mind to beliefs in support of our goals.If test anxiety remains an issue for you, I encourage you to explore and learn about these techniques. Wouldn't it feel great to go into the test feeling calm and confident? Wouldn't it be fabulous if you knew you were going to do well? As Henry Ford said, "If you think you can do a thing or you think you can't do a thing, you're right."




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