Keeping the Mind Healthy

Top of Page Tips for feeling dumb? How to deal with negative thoughts, any advices on antistress? …

  • Top of Page
  • Tips for feeling dumb?
  • How to deal with negative thoughts, any advices on antistress?
  • Do you have any tips on how to keep up my motivation? ​
  • Tips for people who’s grades are slipping due to motivation issues?

Q: Tips for feeling dumb? I study all the time but I can’t learn anything or remember and I feel so dumb- I want to do medicine

A: I’ve put off answering this question because I wanted to make sure I can express my thoughts properly on such an important topic.

First off, I felt dumb most of my life. I still do, all the time. It’s really hard to handle, especially when I feel like I try hard. But trust me, everyone feels this way at some point or another. So please don’t feel like you’re alone. Here are some ways I’ve dealt with it:

find what you are good at. everyone’s good at something. celebrate that thing, and know that no one’s good at everything (even if they act like it).

learn from your mistakes and your accomplishments. find out what you did wrong, what you could improve. make a list, vow to be better. try to improve one thing every day. but also note what you did right, make a note of it, and keep doing that.

forgive yourself. woke up late? it’s ok. failed a test/quiz? there will always be another one. review what went wrong (not so much the answers, but the study methods) and work to develop a method that works for you. (See my “study tips” page for ideas of how you can improve your study techniques and retain more info.)

Secondly: medicine isn’t really about being smart. At least, it’s not just about being smart. (Of course, it doesn’t hurt to be smart, but I don’t feel like I’m particularly smart and I get by.) Sometimes I feel like I study twice as much to understand a relatively simple concept, whereas my classmates get it so much faster. But again: everyone’s good at something. So find your niche but also schedule extra study time to learn the other (tougher) stuff too.

In my eyes, to study medicine, you have to be disciplined. It’s hard to study so much. It’s hard to force yourself to get up so early. It’s hard to stay focused when your college friends are out partying or traveling. It’s hard in many ways.

And to be a good doctor, you have to be so much more than just smart.


Q: How to deal with negative thoughts, any advices on antistress?

A: First off—surround yourself with positive thoughts and visualize the future you want for yourself. Know that every single day can get you closer to that, so my motto is: do ONE thing every day that gets me closer to my goal. With that, there’s always progress, however slow, so I can “reward” myself.

​Anti-stress is SO important. You’ll have to figure out what works for you, so my recommendation is to try as many things as possible. One thing that helps me is to ask myself “what’s the worst that can happen?”

USUALLY, the worst that can happen is failing the exam—then I can usually retake it, or maybe do better next exam and save the grade. Either way, nothing permanently bad can result from it. That’s what I tell myself, and it really helps. I also sometimes just put the work away and relax. I take the night off, and watch a show and eat food and read and sleep. And I wake up re-energized. But the most important, like-changing thing I’ve learned through years of failing at it, is to forgive myself. Forgive myself for waking up late (and don’t let it ruin my day). Forgive myself for studying poorly or wasting time, and instead of beating myself up, just strive to be better next time. There will always be a next time.


Q: Do you have any tips on how to keep up my motivation?

A: We just learned a really interesting concept in psychology called “intrinsic motivation.” The phrase is somewhat self-explanatory, but here’s the definition: “Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by internal rewards. In other words, the motivation to engage in a behavior arises from within the individual because it is naturally satisfying to you.” Sitting in lecture, I realized that this is what drives me, and knowing this, my advice would be to find what motivates you: why are you doing what you’re doing? Why are you studying at all? Figure out the answer, maybe write it down, and remember that in your moments of extreme stress or when you’re feeling unmotivated to continue. Another idea could be this: my friend also has what she calls an “aspiration board” on her Pinterest, where she collects things that drive her, quotes and goals and she flips through that when she needs a reminder.


Q: Tips for people who’s grades are slipping due to motivation issues? I always feel really dumb and just don’t want to study anymore 🙁 I used to love it

A:


Q: How do you keep on studying? It takes a lot of mental strength to do it everyday. Do you study all day? What’s your study tactics?

A:

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@emmastudies wallpaper, isn’t it beautiful?