Overcoming Test Anxiety [Ep. 15]

Conventional wisdom tells us that if we study hard, high test scores will inevitably follow.

But what if we are unmotivated to study or hampered by fear of failure?

Or what happens if when we do study, we are plagued by feeling nervous and anxious, and we are not able to perform to our potential?

It's no surprise that if you enter your test feeling anything but focused and calm, you risk a subpar performance. But how does one easily get there?  

We answer those questions -- and more -- in this episode of The Dominate Test Prep Podcast as we are joined by Bara Sapir, CEO/Founder of City Test Prep, who shares proven techniques to help students master the "Inner Game" of test preparation. 

Specifically, we discuss:

• What test anxiety is, and how you can know if you have it;
• Anxiety-management tips for the months, weeks, and days leading up to your exam;
• The "backwards spin" technique to help you reverse anxiety if it presents itself during the exam itself;
• Miscellaneous tools to help you combat anxiety including mindfulness, visualization, EFT, neuro-linguistic programming, and others;
• How to simulate the test-day experience as a way to eliminate the unknown and reduce nervousness;
• The anxiety-producing effects of unrealistic expectations, and what you can do to recalibrate them for a more growth-minded approach;
• And more!

Learn how to employ the very same methods that sports psychologists use with high-performing athletes so that you show up on test day with a sense of calm and assuredness and turn a good score into a great score.

RESOURCES

Here are the resources referenced during the show for those wishing to dive deeper into controlling their test anxiety:

1. Bara's "Full Potential Audio - Universal Support" (Enter the coupon code A4ZMPA6S to save 20%)
2. Bara's "MindFlow Speed Reading Workshop" (Enter the coupon code SXUE6FES to save $30)
3. The Inner Game of Tennis, by Timothy Gallwey
4. Dominate Test Prep's online preparation courses for the GMAT, GRE, LSAT, SAT, Executive Assessment, and others

A DOSE OF MOTIVATION

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" -- Jesus of Nazareth (Luke 12: 25-26)

As always, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so that you're alerted when new episodes drop each week. If you like what you hear, please write a favorable review. And if there's a topic you want us to cover in an upcoming episode, let us know. We'll do our best to work it in. Thanks for listening!