Open the book to any page…
August 1st, 2010
A close friend of mine — a nurse at an inner city high school – told me the following story…
“I was in my office and an 11th grader came in all distraught worked up. This is one tough kid– she’s had many troubles in her life, and has gotten into a lot of trouble too. She’s usually closed down and angry. On the day she came into my office she was very upset — she’d had had a bad fight with a close friend who rejected her. She was angry and ready to strike out. I didn’t know what to do with her. She couldn’t sit still. When I glimpsed The Workbook for Test Success …
on my desk. I said to the girl, “We’re just going to open this book to any page and start reading.” I had no idea where this was headed or how she’d respond, but it was so out-of-the-box that she went along with it.”
“I happened to open to the chapter on Confidence and I started reading. The girl was listening. I read all about the negative things we tell ourselves, and how that makes us feel badly, and how we can get out of that terrible state by using three tools. She was listening to every word. When we got to the exercises she wanted to do them. I was amazed. We ended up talking for almost an hour. The Workbook provided an extremely helpful way of getting the girl to look at herself, to think about her situation, and – most importantly—provide her with a positive, productive way of dealing with her self-esteem and the tests she faces in her life.”
The story makes a point: the model of the three-legged stool is dynamic. That means that all the legs are important and no matter which one you work on—whether it’s your mind (as it was in this case), your body or your spirit, it’s going to have a positive and strengthening effect on the whole.
Try the “open-the-book-to-any-page” method and let me know what you find out about yourself.
August 8th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Hello, Dr B. I just read your book. Thank you for writing it. I have been taking the National Dental board for years, yes for for years!! I’ve done Part One may be ten times, and the more I tried to passed it the more anxious I became (I identified
with each one of the cases you described in your book), so I stop trying for three years until I decided to take it again, I prepared for at least four months, I followed a schedule and I read your book and I used the techniques you thought me. I followed all the steps, and this time at least my mind didn’t become blank when I sat in front of the computer and took the test. I did the “Circle of Light” exercise several times before the test and I end up with tears in my eyes every time because, I think, the power of confidence is so immense that is difficult to absorb it after so long, after so many exams and so many years. I took the test last week. I don’t know the results yet but I have my Dr. B book with me and I keep reading It. If I passed the board I will be able to apply to the international dental program for foreign dental graduates, and after two years in the program I’ll be able to
practice as a dentist. In between I have to pass the NDB Part Two and the Regionl Dental Board (and also the entrance practice exam for the program). I really want to practice; I wanted to become a dentist since I was 8 years old, this is very important for me and now I know there is hope because there is someone like you that can help to ease the stress. Today I wake up with the idea that I will master taking tests and I will master been calm and confident. Thank you very much, again and again.
Cecilia M