We all make mistakes.

You make mistakes. I make mistakes. The difference is that when successful students make a mistake, they take action.

We had a student who rang a few years ago and asked one of our coaches, “How do I write an A+ essay?”

The coach first asked, “What year are you in?”

The student replied, “Year 12”

Now the coach didn’t say this, but the first thought she had was: “Where have you been??!?!”

What happened to this student? In Year 10 she didn’t know how to write an essay. So she thought “OK, forget that” and then got into Year 11, and still didn’t know. She ignored it again and got into Year 12. We’re now in September Year 12 and the question is “How do I write an essay?”

So it’s just about realising that we all mistakes. I make mistakes. You make mistakes. But the difference is that when successful students make mistakes, they take action.

So one simple thing that you can do is that the next time you get back an essay, or a test or an assignment, and let’s say you don’t do that well, let’s say that you get a C. You look at that C and you ask yourself this question:

“What is one small tiny that I can do so that instead of getting a C, I could have got a C+”.

So you can figure that out. You don’t need me. You don’t need your teachers, you don’t need your parents.

Next assignment comes around and so instead of getting a C, you get a C+.

Some people say to you, “C+ – that’s not a good mark!”

Ignore those people. If you got a C, and then you get a C+, that’s awesome. You’re heading in the right direction.

That said, you then look at your C+ and ask yourself, is one small tiny thing that I can do to get a B, what’s one small tiny thing that I do can get a B+? An A, an A+.

Before you know it you’re getting all these As and A+ results and people are coming up to you asking, “How did you get such good marks?”

But they don’t understand. They don’t understand all the small tiny things you’ve done.

It’s the small tiny things that you do, when no-one else is looking, that add up and end up having a huge impact.

 

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