Zen And The Art Of Test Taking

“Every week when I go to school to take the test I feel like there’s a gun at my head – a loaded gun pointed directly at my head.”

It was shocking to hear my client talk this way; a very capable, highly articulate woman in her forties who was struggling to finish court reporting school.

The test she was referring to was the “Qualifier” – the extremely difficult exam which signals the completion of school and qualifies the student for the State Exam (the CSR) the last step in becoming a licensed court stenographer. The test involves taking dictation in a simulated courtroom at a speed of 200 words per minute and students must score 97.5% accuracy to pass!

“Every week I know that if I don’t pass it means another week, another month, another quarter of being a total failure.”

I understood exactly how she felt, and I know how hard it is to get through court reporting school. At the same time though, I knew that it was this very attitude, this “mindset” that was blocking her from passing the test. She had the “I must pass or I will die syndrome “- and she had it bad!

Some years ago an essay was published by Richard Carlson, Ph.D. (author of the best selling book, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”) where he describes an approach, a “mindset” which has proven tremendously effective in helping people pass stressful exams. “The Magic of Non-Attachment” is the title and it suggests that to pass a test you should give it your best, work hard, really do your homework and go to the test with the intention of passing. But then… let go. Let go of the results! Come back to the truth: that pass or fail – you will be O.K. All of the “I will die (or I will be totally humiliated) if I don’t pass” is simply not true! It’s a lot drama – self-created drama – and it is blocking you from performing on the test. Who can perform with all that heavy weight on their shoulders?!

To come back to the truth: that you will be O.K no matter what happens with the test, releases you from the grip of desperation and anxiety.  It frees you up to study, to focus, to retain information and to think on your feet on the day of the test. To embrace this approach, brings yourself back into balance about the test, and will significantly increase your odds of passing.

The very same afternoon following my session with the court reporter client, I had another client, also a court reporting student, who went to the same school. In addition to being a student, he’d taken a job working at the school’s front desk. He had a very cool, relaxed attitude, and when I asked him about it he said, “…working at the school I know every  student, I’m the one who gives them their books on the first day, and I see them every morning, every lunchtime, month after month, year after year. I can tell you right now which ones are going to succeed. The one’s who get all bent out of shape about every test are going to get stuck and never finish school. The one’s who take the tests without getting upset, the one’s who don’t seem to attach too much importance to every test – they’re the ones who are going to be court reporters.”

That’s it. That’s the Zen of test taking.

To learn more about Test Anxiety and what you can do about it, please visit http://www.testanxietyguru.com

About the Author

Board Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist Benjamin Moss specializes in reducing test anxiety. Benjamin has refined his test-taking program during twenty years with test-taking clients from all over the world. He has helped thousands of students and professionals pass exams in medicine, dentistry, law, psychiatry, psychology, nursing, accounting, real estate and computer science, and school entrance exams.

Please visit http://www.testanxietyguru.com

Part 1 of 5: Sample Session of the Neuro Immersion Method

Free From Test Anxiety & Fear – Enhanced Version $34.93 This enhanced audio hypnotherapy program is designed by The Rookstone Group to help people suffering from the problems associated with Text Anxiety. This audio uses state of the art audio, NLP and Hypnotherapy techniques to activate the Right Anterior Cingulate Cortex to create the behavioral changes you’ll need to become a successful test taker! A product of this quality has never been ava…

(ptsd, anxiety, personality), THE POSTTRAUMATIC SELF (book + 14 CE or 14 CME credits) ISBN 0415950163 by John Wilson, Ph.D. (continuing education, psychology, social work, psychiatry, evidence based practices) $300.00 TRAINING OBJECTIVES are to learn the following: Wilson’s 11 posttraumatic personality types, the importance of guilt/shame in posttraumatic personalities, the characteristics of peak experiences, the characteristics of resilient personalities, the multiple goals that define posttraumatic health, what hardiness, resilience, positive psychology, and the transformation of trauma have in common. …….

(anxiety, ptsd) 25 CE/CME CREDITS for the course entitled COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY FOR PTSD AND OTHER ANXIETY DISORDERS, 3RD EDITION, by Larry Smyth, Ph.D., ISBN 1889287504, (does not include the book, the CD, the DVDs, or the videos) $150.00 NOTE: You must already have access to the training material (the book, the CD, and the DVDs or videos) to order the 25 CE/CME credits by themselves. Use the title of the course to search for the training material in the RTR store……….. TRAINING OBJECTIVES are to learn the following: The diagnostic criteria for PTSD, an information processing theory of PTSD, the empirical support for the theo…

Pet Naturals of Vermont Calming For Cats Softchew …

Similasan Eye Drops #3 Computer Eyes …

Hylands Homeopathic – Calms Forte 4 Kids 125 Tabs $3.75 For years, American households have relied on the natural calming effect of Hyland’s Calms FortéTM. Now the maker of America’s #1 homeopathic sleep aid introduces Hyland’s Calms Forté 4 KidsTM – an all natural, non-sedative, non-habit forming medicine that offers children temporary relief of nervous tension and restlessness that lead to occasional sleeplessness. A growing number of children tod…

Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness $6.85 In this age of do-it-yourself health care (heck, if the doctor only sees you for 10 minutes each visit, what other options are there?), Change Your Brain, Change Your Life fits in perfectly. Filled with “brain prescriptions” (among them cognitive exercises and nutritional advice) that are geared toward readers who’ve experienced anxiety, depression, impulsiveness, excessive anger or worry, a…

Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder $8.88 Medication? Maybe. Marry the right person and find the right job? A must if you are an adult suffering from ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). So say psychiatrists Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey, authors of the influential Driven to Distraction, published in 1994. In their new book, Delivered from Distraction, Hallowell and Ratey survey the current medical landscape concerning ADD, combini…

Healing ADD: The Breakthrough Program That Allows You to See and Heal the 6 Types of ADD $9.04 Hard, visual data make a compelling case for the existence of attention deficit disorder (ADD) in this pioneering work by Daniel G. Amen, M.D. Using a nuclear medicine technique called “single photon emission computed tomography” (SPECT)–a controversial step, according to some of his peers–Dr. Amen scans patients’ brains to identify various abnormalities. From more than 8,000 such studies a…