YOU, MOTIVATION

AND SUCCESS

The man who has found something to be enthusiastic

About, has found a fountain of happiness.
INTRODUCTION

'To achieve success you have to want it.

Then you have to work to get it.
Then you have to work to keep it.'
W Clement Stone

You have the ability to achieve whatever you desire in life. Then, however, you must be
prepared to work.

You cannot wait for things to happen. It is you who has to make them happen.

Opportunities that may come your way, have to be grasped with both hands and with firm
conviction.

Hope alone is not good enough.

Develop whatever talents or areas of expertise that you may have, to their fullest
potential. Have clearly set goals.

In order to achieve your goals, be willing to accept help and advice from other people,
but ultimately only you can make the final decisions which are required to reach your
goals.

The formula for success remains sheer hard work, determination and a positive attitude
that will eventually lead to your success.

Pay careful attention to the following eight points. By applying these in your daily life,
you are bound to achieve the type of success that you've always hoped for.

1. ATTITUDE

• Whether you are a success or a failure in life, is dependent on the quality of

your thoughts – you become what you think.

• More than anything else, it is your attitude that will determine whether you
will be a success or failure.

• All successful men are characterised as having willpower, determination,

enthusiasm and belief in oneself.

• Success is achieved by people who believe that goals are attainable, no matter
what obstacles are encountered.
2. GOALS

• In order to be successful, you have to have definite realistic goals.

• The more you become involved in the development of your goals, the more
enthusiasm is generated for that particular project.

• Planning is useless, unless it is followed through by action.

• Don't give up! Success may be just around the corner. You have the ability –
you must believe it – you just have to work hard at using your ability.

3. ACTION

• It is not often the job itself that is discouraging or overwhelming, but the
thought of doing it, that makes us inclined to put it off until later.

• Divide projects into manageable steps – then you will not be overwhelmed by
the size of the task.

• Most people seem to 'wait for the right moment'. The time for action is now –
only you can make it happen.

• The most difficult part – is to get started. But once you get started, you will
wonder why you never started earlier. As you progress, your interest,
confidence and enthusiasm will begin to increase.

• You have everything to gain and nothing to lose by trying.

4. HARD WORK

'Thank God every morning when you get up, that you have something to do that
day, which must be done whether you like it or not. Being forced to work and
forced to do your best, will breed in your temperance and self-control, diligence
and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle
will never know.'
Charles Kingsley

• The secret to most success, is very hard work.

• Not many people are born very clever. It is sheer hard work and their
determination, that gets them to the top.
 • Know yourself- know your limitations – know what you're good at and what
you're weak at. Work on your weak points and improve on your good points.

• You may find it difficult at times to push ahead, but then you have to work
hard at anything that is worthwhile in life. Keep trying – you will succeed.

• Remember, it's not work, but extra work that put a man ahead.

5. FAILURE

• Everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is not to dwell on them, but
to consider these mistakes as valuable lessons to be learnt.

• Learn from past mistakes – see where you went wrong and then avoid making
the same mistakes the next time you are involved in a similar situation.

• People become failures when they abandon their ideals, lose all hope and let
the situation get the better of them.

• Do not make any excuses for your failures. There are many people who are
not as fortunate as you are, and they have succeeded. Therefore, there should
be no reason why you too, cannot succeed.

6. LOSERS

• Whether you choose to become a winner or loser, is entirely up to you. Only

you have the power in you to make that decision.

• Losers tend to blame others and the world in general.

• With a firm resolve, you can succeed in spite of your problems.

7. INSPIRATION

'Motivation does not come first, ACTION does! When you don't feel like doing
something, you tend to put if off, but it's often AFTER we get involved in a task
that we become highly motivated.'
Dr David Burns
 'Discipline is habit-forming. A little leads to more, because the benefits prove to be
increasingly desirable. You w ill then begin to feel better all round. We are at our
best – physically and mentally – when we are disciplined.'
Dr David Burns

• In order to be successful, you have got to act positively, full of confidence

and enthusiasm. In this way you will inspire others as well as yourself.

• Become alert to the opportunities that will help you achieve your objectives,
as they present themselves in everyday experiences.

• Read inspirational books and articles. These will motivate you. Read about
famous persons, to see how they strove, in order to become a success in life.
Read the Bible, it is one of the greatest inspirational books known to man.

• Pray at the beginning of any important task and ask for divine guidance.

8. HEALTH AND FITNESS

• In order to maintain a high level of both mental and physical energy, you
need to follow a good exercise program.

• There is a direct relationship between mental output and physical fitness. In

an experiment conducted at Washington University, it was found that those
who exercised regularly, became better motivated; their powers of
concentration and memory had improved; they could grasp things and learn
more easily; they displayed less anxiety and depression, than those who did
not exercise.

• Therefore, an exercise program, is very important if you want to be in peak

condition, especially during the critical stages of your task.

• A well-balanced diet is very important during this period of time. Start the
day with a good breakfast – research has shown that by mid-morning,
breakfast eaters have better concentration than people who skip this important
meal.

FINALLY : If you work at being successful,

You will become successful!

YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

HOW TO STUDY

IF I HEAR, I FORGET.
IF I SEE, I REMEMBER.
IF I DO, I UNDERSTAND.
INTRODUCTION

'Accomplishment is often deceptive because we don't see the pain and perseverance that
produced it.'

• Whether it be a two-hour school exam, an exam for your driver's license or an

interview for a position in a company, man is faced with being examined for most
of his life.

• To actually sit down and begin LEARNING, needs a lot of self-discipline. There
are no short cuts and the process requires commitment, concentration and VERY
HARD WORK, if you are going to achieve SUCCESS.

• Most pupils who final, do so because they just page through their work, attempting
to do one or two questions, which they in all probability copied. They then have to
learn parrot fashion and do a lot of cramming. With the result, they enter the exams
without the necessary intellectual skills, in order to handle the exams effectively.

• Exam preparation ought to consist of revision and not a desperate attempt to absorb
large sections of new information.

• Cramming induces both panic and the phenomenon of non compis mentis, i.. 'going
blank'.

• The key to success in the examinations, is a correct mental approach – you must
have a POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE.

THE LEARNING SITUATION

1. PLANNING

• Plan a study timetable, while referring to the exam timetable. Allocate time
to each subject, but give more time to your more difficult or weaker subjects.
B e realistic in your planning, but above all stick to it. Include leisure, eating
and sleeping time in your study timetable.

• MOST IMPORTANT – when you start studying, START ON TIME!

2. UNDERSTANDING

• Understanding is what true education is all about, if you understand, 70%

learning ahs taken place! Understanding makes it easier to remember.
 • Therefore, it is VITAL that you concentrate on what is being taught in class,
in order to gain complete understanding.

• MOST IMPORTANT – DO NOT COPY YOUR WORK.

• You must do your own work and homework, so that you may get the
necessary MENTAL EXERCISE in working through the problem, as this is
what you will have to do in the exam situation.

3. SUMMARIES

• The secret of successful learning, is to organise the relevant information.

Summaries should be logically and neatly set out for easier learning.

• Try to organise all the relevant information for a particular section or chapter
of work, ON AS FEW PAGES AS POSSIBLE, under suitable headings and
sub-headings.

• In your summaries, make use of key words and phrases, setting all the
relevant information in POINT FORM.

• Make use of tables, diagrams, graphs or trigger charts where possible, as so

much information can be packed into these.

• Make use of colour coding and highlighting as much as possible.

• Some of your best and effective summaries will be written only after you
have become very familiar with the relevant information.

4. INFORMATION CARDS

• Plan and draw up summarised tables of information, diagrams and other

important information on large sheets of paper or small cards and stick them
in places around your room where you can see them constantly. Make use of
colour and highlighting as well.

5. USE ALL YOUR SENSES AS YOU LEARN

• Use all your senses when learning i.e. see, write, talk and hear what you are
learning. Repeat key phrases out loud. There should be a certain amount of
urgency in your learning.

• Most important is WRITING. You must have plenty of scrap paper onto
which you write (not neatly) as you learn … often jotting down key words
 and phrases to see if you can list a number of relevant points or phrase a
definition. Labelled diagrams should be drawn repeatedly, until you know
them well.

• It is in the exam situation that you have to think and write and therefore one
has to reinforce the connection between your thinking-brain and your writing-
hand.

6. SPEED TRAINING

• Train yourself to read, think and write FASTER. The exam situation is
always a race against time, with one eye on the clock.

• When doing your homework, especially maths and science, do your work
slowly, carefully and neatly at first. Then select a few of the same
calculations and solve them quickly. Compare your answers. Thereafter
select a few unseen calculations of a similar type and solve at speed. Apply
the same technique to past test and exam papers.

7. REVISION AND REPETITION

• Revision is the key word. One has to repeat the work to be learnt over and
over again, until you know it very well … even to the point of learning off by
heart if needs be, but always with CONCENTRATION and
UNDERSTANDING.

• A great deal of effort goes into learning and therefore, the information learnt,
must not be allowed to fade and eventually be forgotten as time goes by.
Consequently REVISION, must be done on a regular basis.

• Remember, you must again reinforce whatever you have learnt in the
previous hour. Then you will remember what you have learnt for 24 hours.
If you now reinforce what you have learnt within 24 hours, you will
remember it for a week and that's all you really need.

8. TIME

• Study for the exams should begin between 3 – 6 weeks before you are due to
start writing your first exam paper. This depends on two factors :

• your ability to absorb the information to be learnt,

• the amount of information to be learnt.
 • Study at the time of day most suited to you as a person. Avoid late hours –
you need all your sleep.

• Do not study any one subject for more than ½ to 1 hour at a stretch. Take a 5
minute break and then back to work.

• Research shows that brief but intensive study periods are most effective.

• After 2 hours or so, take a longer but not too distracting a break, otherwise
you will have difficulty in getting back into the studying mood.

• Allow a slowing down period between the end of study and going to bed.

9. MEMORY TECHNIQUES

• Note the following concerning MEMORY :

• material that is meaningful to you, is easier to remember,

• new material is easier to remember, if you can associate it with
something you already know,
• pictures are easier to remember than words,
• learn the most important work first.

• Try to learn by using association – i.e. link familiar work with new work to
be learnt.

• Make up 'none-sense' rhymes using the key words of the information to be

learnt.

e.g. 1. The order of the planets in the solar system :

M VEM J SUN P

2. The colours of the spectrum :

ROY G BIV

10. PAST EXAM PAPERS

• Work through as many past exam papers, as possible. Study not only the type
of questions asked, but also the answers the examiner expects you to give.

• Have a look at the format of each of the exam papers and take note of the
special requirements and instructions for answering the various papers.
 • Research has shown that students who work through past papers get higher
marks.

• In order to develop your ability to handle the various sections competently,

you need to do as many questions as possible. These questions should only
be attempted while the section of the work is still fresh in your mind. This
will provide the necessary mental exercise.

• REMEMBER – should you decide to peep at the answer to the question you
are working on – you will never know whether you have mastered that type
of question.

11. HEALTH AND FITNESS

• There is a direct relationship between mental output and physical fitness. In

an experiment conducted at Washington University, it was found that those
who exercised regularly became more motivated; their powers of
concentration and memory had improved; they could grasp things and learn
more easily; they displayed less anxiety and depression, than those who did
not exercise.

• Therefore, an exercise program, preceding and during the exam period, is

very important if you want to be in peak condition for the examination period.

• A well-balanced diet is very important during this period of time. Start the
day with a good breakfast – research has shown that by mid-morning,
breakfast eaters have better concentration than people who skip this important
meal.

Research has also shown that by including a source of vitamin C during

breakfast, the body's ability to absorb iron is increased, which contributes
significantly to intelligence and improved memory. Eat light meals and avoid
heavy, stodgy foods as they tend to slow you down.

• Too much caffeine from coffee, tonics, pills or cola will over-stimulate your
brain, resulting in you being to jumpy and not being able to settle down to
steady studying. Avoid these substances.

• As the exam period is a most stressful time, it is advisable that you go on a

course of NATURAL vitamin B-complex tablets, should it be necessary.

Sedatives and stimulants should never be used.

• Honey is an excellent natural energy giver. Honey can act as a natural

stimulant or sedative, depending on how you use it.
 • Honey as a stimulant :
By consuming from ¼ to 1⁄3 of a jar of honey per day (in what ever way
you like), your energy and concentration levels will be greatly
increased. So too will be your ability to absorb information readily.
• Honey as a sedative :
During your slowing down period, by taking 2 – 3 teaspoons of honey
before going to bed, you will find that you'll soon fall into a deep and
restful sleep, rising the next morning full of energy.

THE "SQ2RCR" STUDY TECHNIQUE

USE THE FOLLOWING RECOGNISED STUDY TECHNIQUE WHEN LEARNING

FOR THE EXAMINATIONS.

1. SURVEY (S)

Glance through the section of work that you have to learn. Read through the
summary and then read through the headings, sub-headings, definitions and bold
print. Look at all diagrams and graphs. This must be done quickly, to get an
overview of the section of work.

2. QUESTION (Q)

Turn the chapter headings and sub-headings into possible questions that the
examiner may ask, using words such as what, how, why and where.

3. READ (R)

Read through the work carefully, taking note of the finer details of each section of
the chapter. Underline important facts. Write short summaries, noting down key
words and phrases, in point form. Draw and label diagrams. A very strong attempt
must be made to remember these key words and phrases. It is very important to
UNDERSTAND the work you are learning.

4. RECITE (R)

Try to recite the important facts, key words, definitions, phrases and sketch the
diagrams that you have just learnt, without looking at your summaries. Then try to
jot them down in your own words, on scrap paper.

5. CHECK (C)

Look at your summary and check to see whether you have omitted any facts or
wrongly defined a definition. If you have left out a number of facts, repeat step 4
again, until you know it well.
6. REVISE (R)

You must again reinforce whatever you have learnt in the previous hour. Then you
will remember what you have learnt for 24 hours. If you now reinforce what you
have learnt within 24 hours, you will remember it for a week and that's all you
really need.

Set a period on your timetable for revision of past work.

HOW TO WORK BETTER

• Be calm.

• Smile.

• Do one thing at a time.

• Know the problem.

• Learn to listen.

• Admit mistakes.

• Learn to ask questions.

• Distinguish sense from nonsense.

• Say it simple.

Finally – remember there have been thousands of pupils, just like you, that have
succeeded in matriculating, so do not doubt yourself …

YOU CAN DO IT!