Test stress: you are not alone
November 10th, 2009
A review of THE WORKBOOK FOR TEST SUCCESS just got posted on Amazon from an individual preparing for a licensing exam. It’s titled, “The Best Investment I Made.”
The highly enthusiastic review has a line in it I’d like to share. By using the book the reader said “I was able to open up to my study group about what I was experiencing. Consequently we have turned into a real support group.”
I’m highlighting this because very often when we feel anxious, or lack confidence we’re reluctant to share these feelings with others We think “something’s wrong with me,” and we think everyone else is OK.
By opening up to her study group this person found real support. She unlocked something that others were feeling too: test stress.
In Chapter 5: How to be Confident, I write about confiding, as the first tool to regain your confidence. You have to let out your negative feelings—about the test, about yourself, about your performance. Letting them “out” means specifically telling someone who knows you, and whom you trust will not criticize you.
In the book I teach how to do this on the inner level (when you’re taking a test you can’t call your best friend 3am every night!). If you don’t release those negative feelings they get stuck and increase your stress. By letting them out to someone you trust (a friend, your highest self, your spiritual guide) you are taking the first step to reconnecting, building your confidence, and improving your performance.
Try it. It works.
I look forward to your experiences and questions.
