Discovery Statements

1. Discover what you want. You can have more energy when what you’re doing leads to what you want. Many students quit school simply because they are unclear about what they want. Writing it can make it clear.

2. Record the specifics. Observe your actions and record the facts. If you spent 90 minutes reading a spy novel instead of your anatomy text, write about it and include the details, such as when you did it, where you did it, and how it felt.

3. Notice your inner voices and pictures. We talk to ourselves constantly in our heads, and our minds manufacture pictures faster than television.

When you notice internal chatter getting in your way, write down what you are telling yourself. If this seems difficult at first, just start writing.

Our mental pictures are especially powerful. Picturing yourself flunking a test is like a rehearsal to do just that, and resisting or ignoring negative images can make them even more powerful. One way to deflate negative images is to describe them in detail.

4. Notice physical sensations. When you avoid a certain kind of accounting problem, note the physical symptoms--a churning stomach, perhaps, or shallow breathing or yawning. Record your observations quickly, as soon as you make them.

Also notice how you feel when you function well. Use Discovery Statements to pinpoint exactly where and when you learn most effectively.

5. Use discomfort as a signal. When you are writing a Discovery Statement and you begin to feel uncomfortable, bored, or tired, that may be a signal that you are about to do valuable work. Stick with it. Tell yourself you can handle the discomfort just a little bit longer. You will be rewarded.

6. Suspend self-judgment. When you are discovering yourself, be gentle. If you continually judge your behaviors as bad or stupid or galactically imbecilic, sooner or later your mind will revolt. Rather than put up with the abuse, it will quit making discoveries. Be kind.

7. Tell the truth. "The truth will set you free" is a clichÈ. Practice telling the truth, and you might find out why the phrase is so well-worn. The closer you get to the truth, the more powerful your Discovery Statements will be.

And remember, telling the truth requires courage and vigilance. Don’t blame yourself when you notice you avoid the truth. Just tell the truth about it.


Intention Statements

1. Make your intentions positive. Instead of writing "I will not fall asleep while studying accounting" write, "I intend to stay awake when studying accounting."

Also avoid the word try. Trying is not doing. When we hedge our bets with try we can always tell ourselves "Well, I tried to stay awake." The result is, we fool ourselves into thinking we succeeded.

2. Make intentions small and keepable. Give yourself the opportunity to succeed. Break large goals into small, specific tasks you can accomplish quickly. If you want to get an "A" in biology, ask yourself, "What can I do today?" You might choose to study biology for an extra hour. Make that your intention.

Experience success by choosing your intentions with care. Set goals you can accomplish.

3. Use observable criteria for success. Experiment with an idea from trainer Robert Mager (1 FOOTNOTE), who suggests that you define your goals through behaviors that can be observed and measured. Rather than writing "I intend to work harder on my history assignments," write, "I intend to make summary sheets of my reading." Then, when you review your progress, you can determine more precisely whether you accomplished what you intended.

4. Set time lines. Time lines can focus your attention, especially if used in conjunction with suggestion #2. For example, if you are assigned a term paper, break the assignment down into small tasks and set a precise time line for each one. You might write, "I intend to select a topic for my paper by 9 a.m. Wednesday." And remember, you create time lines for your own benefit, not to make yourself feel guilty.

5. Be careful of intentions that depend on others. Your intention might depend on the actions of other people. If you write that you intend for your study group to complete the assignment by Monday, your success depends on other students. Make such intentions carefully; then ask for the assistance for the people they depend on.

6. Anticipate self-sabotage. Be aware of what you might do, consciously or unconsciously, to undermine you intentions. If you intend to study differential equations at 9 p.m., notice when you sit down to watch a two-hour television movie at 8 p.m.

7. Identify your rewards. Rewards that are an integral part of the goal are the most powerful. For example, your reward for earning a degree might be the career you want.

External rewards, such as a movie or an afternoon in the park, are valuable too. These rewards work best when you’re willing to withhold them. If you intend to take a nap on Sunday afternoon whether you finish you English assignment or not, the nap is not an effective reward.

Another way to reward yourself is to sit quietly after you have finished your task and savor the feeling. One reason why success breeds success is that it feels good.

Try out your own Invention/Intention exercise.

FOOTNOTE 1: Robert Mager, Preparing Instructional Objectives (Belmont, CA: Fearon, 1975).

(This article is excerpted from Becoming a Master Student, Eighth Edition, by David Ellis, pages 12-13.)