2. What is the real substance that makes up your test result?

You may already see what makes up a test result after having done the two experiments in Chapter 4. A result is just a by-product of the entire process. We can’t do anything directly with a by-product. The only thing we can do is to work on this tiny piece of work, at this fleeting moment.

A good test result is an uninterrupted process of carefully applying your attention to each step, from reading the information to analyzing it and choosing a way to tackle the question. If there are many gaps in the process due to unnecessary thoughts, the result may appear to be poor. When we are taking this step properly, the next right step will come on its own.

In fact, the real substance that makes up your final score is your attention for what you are doing through the entire process. Knowledge and skills you have accumulated are tools that you stored in your memory. The degree of your attentiveness when you take the test will determine whether your memory is retrieved effectively.

  3. Wanting a result vs. Having a clear purpose

Wanting a result is a thought of a desired outcome. A desire can help you to start moving into a direction. Nothing is wrong with wanting something. The downside is, a desire often goes hand in hand with hidden fear of not having or not achieving it. This fear brings with it other negative emotions such as anger and frustration that make your action ineffective.

Try this simple experiment:

Before going to bed tonight, read about or contemplate the effect of good sleep on your mental performance. It should not be a surprise if you find it hard to sleep; it’s because you may start wanting a good sleep when reading about its benefits. This wanting prevents you from falling into sleep naturally.

You can sleep easily and naturally, but right at the moment you want it, you struggle with it. The similar effect can occur when you want to have a good score in a testing room.

Besides, action based on the energy of an intense desire (emotion) is not sustainable. Emotion generally quickly change, and with that, the action based on the emotion also rapidly collapses.

A clear purpose is a clear goal, a clear intention backed up by an implementation plan.

Going back to the above experiment with sleep. You know a good sleep helps boost mental performance. You then plan your activities during the day accordingly to increase the chance of getting a good sleep. For example, you wake up early and exercise more during the day; you carefully choose food and drink that make you feel at east at night, etc. When the time to sleep comes, you sleep naturally. You don’t need to be obsessive with the outcome (having a good sleep).

In the testing room, how often do you make mistakes because you are obsessive with the answers? You want to get the correct answer more than to read the question carefully, so you take random steps to arrive at an answer as quickly as possible. And later you wonder why the result is such bad.

Many of our problems, if not most, come from wanting to finish the work quickly, neglecting how we actually “walk” through the process.