Steps to Excellence

Understand Yourself.  A big part of academic success is having the right mindset. You have to not only believe in yourself, but also know enough about yourself to know how to achieve that success. Take the time to examine your academic strengths and weaknesses and find ways to capitalize on your strengths while overcoming or minimizing your weaknesses. Finally, understand how you learn things best -- your learning style -- and try and find classes and study methods that best utilize the way you learn. Manage Your Courses.  Many students struggle academically, not because they do not have the abilities, but because they simply do not actively manage their courses. You should be an expert on the syllabus of each of your courses, with a strong sense of every major assignment and test -- including expectations, requirements, and due dates. If some of your professors are too vague on their syllabi, take the time to get the detailed information you need to better plan and exe...

Evaluate your strengths and weakness  – Every job is made up of five to seven areas. For instance, for a freelance writer, the seven areas might be:  prospecting establishing rapport building credibility identifying needs & presenting solutions  asking for referrals writing copy upgrading your skills Your weakest area is the one that determines your income and how fast you will advance in your career.  Focus on areas where you need to improve –  Once you've evaluated your strengths and weaknesses , focus with laser-like precision on improving your weakest area. Continue doing so until you score as high as possible in each area. Identify what you love to do  – You may already know the answer to this, but you might not have committed it to paper or put together an action plan to turn what you love to do into your full-time career. Maybe you'd like to write a screenplay for a blockbuster movie … write the perfect spy novel …...

Why work on your study skills ? It will make it easier for you to learn and do well in class, especially as you move up to middle school and high school. Here are six steps to smarter studying: Pay attention in class. Take good notes. Plan ahead for tests and projects. Break it down. (If you have a bunch of stuff to learn, break it into smaller chunks.) Ask for help if you get stuck. Get a good night's sleep! 1. Pay Attention: Good Studying Starts in Class Here's a riddle for you: Did you know that before you even begin studying, you've already started? Huh? Here's what we mean. When you pay attention in class and take good notes, you are starting the process of learning and studying. Do you have trouble paying attention in class? Are you sitting next to a loud person? Is it hard to see the board? Make sure you're sitting in a good seat that lets you pay attention. Tell your teacher or parents about any problems that are preventing you from payin...

1.  Have a Strong Desire for Excellence  Passion is the first but most important step to reaching excellence. Without passion everything is done with only half heart and it will give you only half results. So unless you have a strong desire to achieve your goal, you will never be able to achieve excellence in it. 2.  Make Firm Blueprints Every long term goal you make has to be supported by a solid plan. You can’t just make a goal to win a gold medal at the Olympics and then stop. You have to follow through and break that large long term goal into smaller manageable chunks. So an example of that could be to go the gym every single day. And then you break that down to work out for 3 hours. And then break that down even more and so on. All of this should be a part of your blueprints for excellence. 3.  Believe in Yourself Self-confidence is single handedly on of the most important things you can have in your life. If you believe that...

The question on the mind of most students is, how can I achieve academic excellence ? Before answering this question, it is important to note that: there’s no fast rule to attaining academic excellence. However, there are timeless truths which when applied increases the odds of academic success. Here are proven principles that will set you on a path of academic excellence : Believe you are capable of achieving your academic goals It was Henry Ford, the famous car manufacturer that said: “whether you think you can or think you can’t you’re right”. Your mindset about your abilities is the number one critical factor in your quest for academic excellence. It will in no small extent affect your attitude to your studies – whether you should stick to your schedule or skip class; whether you should stay awake studying and preparing for tomorrow’s class. Your belief in your ability will drive your actions towards your goals. Set SMART goals Nothing is ever accomplished without se...

Adequate preparation for the examination Tests and exams should be prepared for. Preparation should start right from the first day in school and not when the exam is near. All notes should be read, important points should be memorized, solutions to the assignments should be practiced , No stone must be left unturned. Notes should not be disposed off after exams but should be kept for future purposes and reference. Write all tests and exam All tests, impromptu or not should not be taken with levity. You may not know which one your teacher will use. All forms of tests, class works and examination should be well written. Students should be present to write the examination. If there is any need to be absent, teachers are to be informed and the permit to be absent should be granted. This allows the grace for a make-up test or exam. If the reason for being absent is genuine and if the student in question is known not to be a truant, the teachers may decide to postpone the exam for ...

1.Do not be a back bencher Serious students are always seen in the front seats where there is full concentration and no distraction. Back-benchers are labeled by the teachers as the unserious ones and trouble makers. A good student sitting at the back will be implicated by the unserious ones. Teachers focus and pay more attention to those sitting at the front.  If you are sitting at the front, a teacher can easily discover that you don’t understand what he/she is teaching by mere looking at your countenance. Students sitting at the front have access to first hand information and points made by the teachers. They also make good notes and tend to do well in examinations. 2. Class participation You should ask questions in areas that confuse you. Students should not be shy of making contributions. It is better to say the wrong thing and to be corrected than keeping quiet thinking it is right. It is believed that anything said in public cannot be forgotten. A student working t...

1.Time management Time is an important factor in one’s life. It is essential and waits for no man. We all have 24 hours in a day. The successful ones also have the same hours available to them. Students must plan their day and manage their time. To achieve a fulfilled day, the activities in the day must be planned and strictly followed. Twenty-four hours time table can be drafted with the day’s activities clearly outlined. Time should be allocated to study, siesta, assignment and for other activities like house chores. 2. Proper notes should be taken in class Good and neat notes should be taken in class . The areas where the teachers lay emphasis on should also be noted. Students should write notes when given and should pay rapt attention in class so as not to miss important information. The habit of collecting notes from friends should be frowned upon. When absent, notes should be copied from the serious students and not from the back-benchers who might not hear the teacher...

1. Have at least 80% class attendance. Lectures should be taken with seriousness. 100% class attendance should be recorded, when this 100 percent attendance might not be possible due to illness or other unavoidable excuses, class attendance should not be less than 80%. High-class attendance allows students to flow with what is being taught which will have a positive effect on academic performance. 2. Know yourself Discover when, where and how best you assimilate when reading and make use of it. Do not walk in other people’s shoes nor be a copy-cat. If you are the type that assimilates well during the day, plan your time and make your day free and less strenuous. Do not join others that play all through the day. You never can say if they make use of their nights. If you assimilate well at night, sleep during the day so that you will be wide awake at night. 3. Establish a good study habit Notes and assignments should not be left until the following day. Assignments shoul...

STEPS to Excellence  is built around the core concepts of every Institute’s knowledge base. It is delivered in a group setting with a qualified facilitator who helps participants to co-create their learning through interactive discussions, personal reflection time, the use of DVD bursts and activities utilising a wide variety of learning styles . The programme has been implemented with success in a variety of settings and has been particularly effective in: helping long-term unemployed people develop the motivation and self-belief to complete other training and find jobs. equipping parents with better parenting skills. enabling those being made redundant to develop a new future for themselves. use in prisons to reduce recidivism and aid re-assimilation in the community in business settings. helping employees gain the confidence to deal with change, improve their working relationships with colleagues and take more accountability for the impact of their own be...