It’s exam time all around. Students and learners are in a state of agitation. Be they Gr.4 or Doctoral. We’ve all been there. These are the times when we need to let our critical and creative thinking loose. Yet the opposite happens. We simply fill our mind with facts and rush through as much content as possible. Facts and content are very relevant to exams. But more so your frame of mind.

Albert Einstein said: “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of your mind to think.”

It seems like an obvious statement. Yet more often than not, we are tempted to simply go through content instead of disciplining our thoughts.

When you walk out of the exam room you will immediately start forgetting the facts of your subject field: like water escaping through a crack. What do you remember one week, one month, one year later? You’ll probably be left with a vague impression.

So what am I proposing?

Start by going back to the I Am in you. Remember who you really are. Don’t reserve all your mental and physical energy for mind-numbing, content-driven learning or work. Don’t start with a negative frame of mind. Thoughts like ‘if I can only pass’ or ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘what does biology or maths or stats have to do with my life?’ are the symptoms of a detrimental frame of mind. These thoughts fester and create insurmountable obstacles in our minds.

Think of it this way. There is a mountain in our way. You see beauty and adventure. I see an insurmountable obstacle. You experience nervous energy. I experience a pervasive sense of dread.

You’re half way there. I fail before the crack of the starter’s pistol.

When we focus on who we truly are, the exam or assignment will click into perspective. It simply does not seem as gargantuan anymore. Somewhere in the process of focusing your thinking you will come to understand that you are bigger than any external circumstance. You realize these books and exam papers are inherently smaller than you.

Take the time to look deeply into that perfect and pure I Am created inside of you. It makes all the difference.