How to Use the Power of Happiness to Create Effective Study Habits.

Back in high school, I was a brilliant student. All I needed to do was turn in my assignments and done. No need to study for exams; it was all in my head. I walked into college all cocky, sure that everything would be the same. Boy, was I wrong. I stumbled through my first term, then failed miserably on the second one. I had found my Achilles tendon. No more free rides for me.

Meanwhile, my friends that had barely survived high school were now thriving in college. My best friend, who used to fail almost every subject, was now rocking at Physical Therapy school; the cute boy that got a passing SAT score only because I helped him study was a Business school star. How was this possible?

It turns out, “smart” is not a one flavor ice cream; it comes in many forms. Success is not limited to a privileged few: you too can be a successful student and a thriving professional. It doesn’t matter what kind of student you have been so far; you can always become a great one. And please know that if you are paddling trying to keep your head above water in college, you are not alone. There are about twenty million college students in the United States, and most are not doing great. But it doesn’t have to be like that. I want more than anything to share what I have learned over a lifetime of being a student and twenty years of teaching at the college level.

My lessons are unorthodox and unexpected. They are not about staying up all night studying or how to compete with the guy in your class who claims he has not slept since last September. Academic success is not the exclusive property of a few lucky people born with big brains or strange mutants that do not need to sleep. Through my workshops, students will transform their academic life from a pit of stress and suffering into a pleasant, productive experience. Here are a few examples of unexpected truths that students can learn to use to their advantage.

The More You Sleep, The Better You Will Perform

Most people grow up hearing how pulling all-nighters was the signature of a good student. Nothing can be further from the truth. Even in highly demanding fields like medical school, you need to find a balance between study time and rest. Knowledge doesn’t consolidate in a tired mind. Just because you are not sleeping doesn’t mean you are productive. Your exhaustion is not proportional to your academic performance. Understanding your sleep cycle, also known as circadian rhythm, will allow you to organize a class schedule and a study timetable that fits your needs instead of just making you look busy. Also, reducing your stress levels will make your mind sharper, which brings us to the next point.

Find Your Joy

You may or may not be familiar with the Law of Attraction. Here’s the gist of it: whatever you focus on becomes your reality. Don’t you believe it? Think about anyone you know that is a disaster magnet. What do they say when they speak? Most likely, when you ask “how are you,” the disaster magnet person will launch into a long list of complaints and show you proof of how things always go wrong for them.

The opposite is true: some people have their ducks in a row, and the main thing you will notice is that they do not complain. Their words are always positive, and life always works their way. When you hang out with that person, you feel energized and relaxed instead of stressed out and drained.

Unfortunately, those people are the least common. As a society, we are taught to withhold and hide our happiness because it may offend or hurt others. We are complainers. Suffering gets celebrated. Students are led to believe that they must suffer to achieve. Nothing is farther from the truth.

If you want to be a successful student, stop complaining right now. Stop justifying your limitations. Stop explaining why things went wrong. Stop whining about how unfair your teachers are. Instead, focus on the things you enjoy. Enjoy what went right. Make sure to sign up for classes that you love attending and have fun with them. If more than half of your classes are things you like doing, your self-perception as a student will start to change. School will become a pleasant place to be. You will come to the classes you enjoy with a positive attitude, and that recharged energy will spill to the areas that you are not too fond of.

But what if a teacher is a problem? What if they are cranky, demanding, or unpleasant? The truth behind that bad attitude will surprise you.

Your Teacher Is Terrified Of You.

Over the past twenty years as an instructor, I’ve had the opportunity to teach many courses at different levels, from freshmen to graduate students. Yet, they all have one thing in common: every term, walking into the classroom for the first time, I’m terrified. Who is sitting at those desks? What do they want from me? How will they treat me? Will they start accusing me of being unfair as soon as I walk through the door?

There’s nothing worse than a scared student, all jumpy and ready to scream “injustice.” That kind of guarded behavior makes teachers unnecessarily rough, cold, and distant. Not to mention that we teachers deal with our own insecurities: college classes are usually too broad in their scope, which means there will always be something in the syllabus outside of the teacher’s area of knowledge or experience. Even if you are an expert on 90% of the class content, there’s nothing scarier than standing in front of fifty people and talking about the one thing that is not entirely your expertise. Put yourself in their shoes. Do you feel scared every time you have to make an oral presentation? Well, that’s what a teacher does every day. And they are just as human as you are.

If you want to be a good student, first be compassionate and kind. Say good morning when you walk into the room, smile, sit in the front row instead of hiding in the back. All humans are scared of rejection, and that makes us guarded and snappy. Help your teacher feel welcomed.

If your instructor doesn’t respond in kind, chances are they are feeling vulnerable and exposed. Stay polite, smile, ask clear questions, and thank them for the answers. If you persist with that soft attitude, the teacher will notice, and you will feel more and more comfortable around them. They, in turn, will become more generous toward you, even if unconsciously. You will be surprised how much that professor everybody fears will be willing to help you.

These are just some of the many practices to help students create more manageable and productive academic lives. Imagine a world where going to school is a joyful experience. That is the knowledge and fun that I would love to spread through my membership programs.