7 STUDY HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS

Becoming a successful student with flying colors seems to be the dream of every student. Unfortunately it’s only few students who make it to the top. Successful students have effective study habits that make them successful and keep them from the lot!

Mark Kennedy said,” All classes contain students of mixed ability levels. However, performance in an end-of-year examination is more dependent on how hard a student is willing to work than on any measure of innate ability”.

Jessica Rose, Biologist & Science Lover emphasized, “Academic success is much more about hard work than inborn talent.” An article I once read added, “The key to becoming an effective student is learning how to learn smarter, not harder”.

These all mean that it’s not a student’s academic ability that makes him or her successful. Rather it’s his or her study habits that make him or her successful; habits formed through hard work and dedication.

The following are 7 study habits of highly successful students. To become a successful student, I suggest practicing these study habits over and over again until it is ingrained into your subconscious mind!

1.    Highly successful student are motivated by a higher purpose for studying

“Motivation requires motive,’’ said Brian Tracy. To keep being motivated at school to study hard and excel, you need a purpose that will drive, propel and motivate you.

When I was in the university, my mission as a student was to study, understand and apply it to the world of work and become successful in my career life. I always tell my friends not to study to pass exams. I study to understand and apply!

At college, I could spend 3-7 hours at a go studying a topic. I’ll borrow several books from the library and compare the textbooks and finally make my own notes. As a result, I have an in-depth understanding of the subject and was a teaching assistant in my class!

2.    Highly successful students plan when to study and keep to their study schedules

Successful students plan the time for study and place it in their notebook or a place where they can see it and use it. This “study time table” is developed from the class time table with adequate attention given to all subjects in class.

My Business Lecture once told us about the three D’s: “Discipline, Determination & Drive. To be a successful student, you must be driven by a purpose, determined to achieve your academic goals and discipline yourself to follow through your study-timetable and instructions.”

3.    Highly successful students set goals for each study session

Brian Tracy, the success coach said, “Success is goals, all else is necessary”. In the academia, goals help to maximize our academic potentials.

Once you sit up to study, you must set goals that must be achieved after your study period is over. These goals must become your yardstick to ensure you are through with all the areas to cover, notes to take, illustrations to do and assignments to do.

4.    Highly successful students make sure they are not distracted during their study periods

One of the pitfalls to academic success is distractions! Unsuccessful and least successful students are distracted by various things; games on ipads, bad friends, TV programs, sports & music events and so on.

I see students procrastinating their study period because of all kinds of distractions. They aren’t also able to overcome the distractions from external sources and concentrate during their study period.

To be successful in the academic world, it’s necessary to learn the skill of discrimination and concentration. Neither study at a distracted area nor bring a distractive gadget to your study. Once you discriminate, then learn to concentrate and sit up until you are done with your study period.

5.    Highly successful students focus on understanding instead of memorizing

To enjoy your studies and be successful in your career life, you must respect and revere these three words: knowledge, understanding and wisdom.

Knowledge is information. Understanding is the comprehension of that information. And finally wisdom is the application of understood information to produce mind-blowing results. To do well in the world of work, you must focus on understanding not memorization to pass exams.

Whatever you understand, you gain mastery over. To gain mastery over a subject, seek to understand it not to memorize it!

Make sure you read, think, analyze, and repeat the process for several times until you understand the subject. Once you understand the subject, memorize it so it will be downloaded into the file cabinet of your mind. This is how successful students study!

6.    Highly successful students study ahead of the class and review their notes before the next lesson

To be ahead, you must be ahead. Highly successful students always stay ahead of their class.

They ask of the scheme of work for the term and study ahead of the class. Not only that, they also ensure they have revised all their notes before their teacher comes to the class and goes on with the next lesson.

You see, success is not an accident. Dr. Myles Munroe said, “Success is predictable and failure is also predictable”. A serious student, hungry for success, consistently ahead of the class in studies will definitely be ahead in examination reports.

7.    Highly successful students use study groups effectively

Highly successful students are not talented as people may see. They simply evaluate their academic strengths and weaknesses and then network with serious minded students in study groups to help each other.

Highly successful students use their academic strengths to help other people in the group. As they teach their friends, they themselves become better at the subject.

 They also know how to humble themselves and leverage the strength of others so that they can become academically strong in areas that they are weak at. As a result, they become highly successful students!