CULTIVATING EFFECTIVE STUDY HABITS (3)

 The Psychological Factor.

The psychological aspect of cultivating an effective study habit has to do with the general state of the mind. Your mind is the seat of all your conscious and unconscious actions and experience in life and it plays an important role in determining your rate of success in any undertaking.

As stated in the preceding post, there is the need for you to answer the question "Why do I need to cultivate a good study habit?"; your answer to this mind-searching question holds a vital key to  your success as a scholar.

Your answer to the above personal question would cause you to reflect on your background; your past desires, your present situation or position in life vis-a-vis what you aspire to become in future.

This calls for moments of contemplation; to reflect on what you believed to be your mission in life and how to relate it to your present desire to excel or succeed in your educational Pursuits.

It takes time.

Yes, it requires some time to come to terms with what you want out of life, unless you have been on this aspect of thinking for some time before now. However, after carefully evaluating your situation concerning your background,  your environment, your talents, your likes and dislikes, you will invariably get a clearer picture of what YOU want out of LIFE.

You should be realistic.

You have to ensure that your aspirations are not too lowly or too lofty that they get blown away by fantasy. This calls for moderation and realistic aims. Make it something that would give you the ultimate satisfaction that you desire.

Remember that it is what we give to the mind that it gives back to us: if we aim too low, we find ourself in lowly settings; on the other hand if we aim high, we get lifted to states far above our present level. The choice is ours. As we think so we are.

The present discuss is to set you up on this topic. In later Postings on this topic, we shall build on this and give you more insights into the incredibly marvelous  powers of the HUMAN MIND.

Now, let us assume, for the sake of this discussion, that after carring out your self-evaluation, you arrived at the choice of wanting to become a successful Lawyer.

Once you are at this point, you take the next step: the stage of personal motivation.

From this point onward, you should form the habit of "seeing" yourself as a successful Lawyer. In your mind, see yourself as you would like to be in a few years time-as a successful and reputable Lawyer. 

Gradually you will endeavor to acquaint yourself with the attributes of such a personality, such as the ability to speak and write fluent and lucid English Language, to be engaged in issues that call for logical analysis and the ability to convince others to think along your line of argument.

Whenever you sit down to read or study, consciously make the efforts to  allow your mind to play out the picture of the image you have formed about yourself as a successful Lawyer. The clearer the picture is in your mind, the more powerful it's effect on your inclination to work harder on your studies for its actualization. This process works as an invisible catalyst in propelling you onward and upward towards achieving your desired set goal.

"It will be of additional help if you repeat this process just before falling asleep at night".

Behavioral psychologists are of the view that once a person successfully gets to this second stage, his/her mind would , through the process of "Thought transmutation"  reach out and attract forces that are necessary for the actualization or manifestation of the desired goal or object.

That goes to explain how powerful our mind is. It has the capacity to give back whatever we first give to it as building blocks, through our conscious or unconscious thinking processes.

For this reason, we need to be very mindful of the types of thought patterns we allow into the mind; they should be positive thoughts of progress and upliftment.

Herein lies the basics of that timeless statement "As a man thinks and believes in his mind, so is he". That statement speaks volumes on the power of the mind as discussed here.

Obviously a discussion of the potentials of the human mind is very broad and almost inexorable, therefore we shall continue with it in later postings.

 Meanwhile, the application of the two steps outlined above, would more than help to shape up your thought pattern and set you on the right course to acquiring a good and effective study habit.

Sincerely,

P.S: In the next post, we shall consider the Mental Factors relating to the acquisition of effective study habits. Keep in touch.