This post follows yesterday’s, where I talked a bit about the university entry test.
This morning, I made my final attempt at the test, and unfortunately, it didn’t go as well as I had hoped. Despite months of study, I didn’t achieve the result I wanted. However, I did learn a few valuable lessons that I’d like to share with you in this article.
Quality Over Quantity
During this period of study, I spent countless hours trying to catch up on my weakest subjects, particularly physics and math. The key lesson I learned is about the way I studied these subjects. Most of the time, I engaged in many short sessions where I wasn’t fully focused on my tasks. Rarely did I find myself in a state of deep concentration for an extended period.
This approach can make you feel like you’re working hard, but in reality, you’re not making the best use of your time. What I’ve come to understand is that quality requires planning. If you want to achieve deep, high-quality work, you need to organize your day. Set aside specific time blocks—between 30 to 90 minutes—where your task is your absolute priority.
Focus on Your Strengths
Especially when you don’t have much time for preparation, it can be really difficult, if not impossible, to catch up on everything you’ve fallen behind on. Of course, you’ll need to cover all the topics eventually, but if time is short, my experience suggests that it’s best to sharpen your skills in the areas where you’re already strong. This strategy can improve your chances of achieving a good result.
Accept Failures
Progress requires patience, and you need to get used to failure because it will happen often, both in your academic life and in your career.
Failures seem much bigger in the moment, but remember that the journey is long. Try to view failure from a broader perspective, and you’ll see how insignificant and meaningless a setback can be in the long run.
Don’t Compare Yourself to Others
This is a classic piece of advice, but it’s very difficult to apply, especially when you’re frustrated by seeing others around you achieve what you want. In these situations, it’s important to look around and take inspiration from others. Observe how they succeed, and teach yourself to distinguish between luck and hard work. When you recognize hard work, be a student. Learn from your environment, but never compare yourself to it.
How Much Do You Want It?
I don’t believe in destiny or karma—I believe in hard work, patience, and randomness. I think that not everything is worth pursuing just because it’s difficult to obtain. We all have limited resources, and we should seek the best way to allocate them.
Sometimes, failure can be an opportunity to stop and ask yourself if what you’re doing is really worth it. If it’s not, the best thing you can do is quit, and in doing so, you’ll automatically win. However, if you feel that you’re on the right path, you have to get used to failing and keep trying. This is the only way to achieve success: through resilience.