Anyone taking an exam should understand sports psychology. Learning how to PERFORM is key to delivering on the day, whether that be in a race or in an exam. Knowing what to do and practicing well helps to build capability. Understanding how to build confidence and how to develop the ability to stay composed are the keys to delivering . . . PERFORMance.
Many athletes – whether amateur or professional – are turning to sports psychology to help them to PERFORM in their sport and most particularly in competition. Doing well in practice and doing well in competition are very different things.
A lot of people enjoy sport without the objective of being competitive. But competition for an athlete introduces added dimensions: anxiety over performance; fear of failure; ambition for success; comparisons with others; upset upon losing; joy upon winning.
The best athletes have to learn the skills of being positive, remaining positive as challenges present, and overcoming challenges and disappointments. The very best athletes excel not only at their ‘sport’ but at their own version of the psychology of PERFORMance.
Exam takers can take a leaf from elite athletes. Learning how to PERFORM is as much if not more ‘mental’ as ‘technical’. A lot of exam takers know a lot of their exam material. But some exam takers deliver better in exams than others. Being able to be confident and composed in exams and under exam pressures are real skills. They are Exam SKILLS that are critical to good exam PERFORMance. And such Exam SKILLS can be learned and improved to PERFOM better in EXAMS!
