FINALS are here and that means test anxiety.
Does your teen know how to reduce it?
Here are the 4 SIMPLE CURES FOR REDUCING TEST ANXIETY.
The school year is winding down,
and that means it’s time for,
Dare I say it, “FINALS”!
Finals are simply tests that come at the end of a school year.
But these tests, these “FINALS” illicit fear, anxiety, and drudgery for our teens.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
There are FOUR SIMPLE CURES TO REDUCE TEST ANXIETY.
Cure #1 – Know WHAT creates test anxiety
Think about the test.
It is a stapled stack of multiple white pieces of paper with words on each page.
That’s it.
It’s no different from any other stack of papers with words.
So, what creates test anxiety?
The test questions? The test itself? The paper? The teacher?
The answer is NO.
The only thing that can create anxiety is your mind.
You create anxiety. Only you. No one else.
Finals do NOT create anxiety.
Anxiety, fear, and drudgery are all emotions that are created by YOU.
Cure #2 – Know HOW test anxiety is created
Ok, you’ve learned that you create anxiety, but how?
Your mind is always observing. Thinking. Processing.
It’s writing a story about everything you experience.
The individual sentences in your story create your feelings.
Every sentence, or thought, you think creates a feeling in your body.
“I never do well on tests. Finals suck. Teachers are stupid. They always make tests harder than they should. There’s no way I can remember everything I’ve learned. There’s so much information. I CANNOT wait for summer.”
Notice what feelings these thoughts created as you read them.
Anxiety? Dread? Fear? Frustration?
Any feeling you experience in your life comes from YOUR thoughts.
Things outside of you never create feelings. EVER.
If that is true (which it is), test anxiety is created by a sentence in your mind.
It’s that simple.
Cure #3 – Know WHY test anxiety shows up.
Test anxiety is a learned behavior.
One of your brain’s most important jobs is to help you be happy.
It’s good at its job, so it wants to avoid negative emotions. Always.
It thinks it’s dangerous. That it’s going to kill you.
When you have a negative emotion related to a thought about a test, your brain remembers it.
And it reminds you of it when you think about tests. Every.Single.Time.
Your brain believes tests = negative emotions = FACT.
It will always tell you this same story because it believes it’s helping you.
It’s keeping you safe by telling you how dangerous tests are and that you should avoid them like the plague.
It’s doing what it’s made to do.
It’s absolutely normal, BUT NOT absolutely helpful.
Your brain is keeping you from acing tests at school.
Cure #4 – Override your brain.
Let’s summarize.
You create your feelings.
Your thoughts, simple sentences in your mind, create your feelings.
Your brain repeats these thoughts every time you have a test.
These thoughts create your test anxiety.
This is the BEST NEWS ever. YOU have all the control in eliminating test anxiety.
So, when your brain offers thoughts that create test anxiety, you override it.
You say to yourself, “I hear you brain, but I’m choosing not to listen.”
You override your brain and intentionally decide to think thoughts like, “I’ve got this. I can do this. I’m great at tests. It’s just a test. I do tests well. I’m an expert test-taker.”
Overriding your brain IS the CURE for test anxiety. You tell your brain to create something other than what it naturally wants to create. You choose to control your mind.
There is SO much power in knowing that YOU are creating your test anxiety.
If you’re creating it, you can stop it. You can change it.
You have the power to eliminate test anxiety. I promise it’s true.
Now, ace those finals!
