I’m not only talking about exam results. This applies to YOU, whether you are at school, at college, at university, or at work.

• Did 2009 not go as well as it should have?
• Did you not achieve what you wanted?
• Are you stuck in a rut at work?
• Did you get poor results at school, college or university?

Do not despair! Take some time to reflect on where it has all gone wrong, but also reflect on where things have worked out well for you.

Those of you that did not do so well this year, may want to forget and move on. If you do this, then you stand the chance of repeating the same actions, which will lead to the same, or even poorer results.

Take a few days or even a full week and rethink your behaviour this past year.

We, at MindMaptutor, believe that learning should be a lifelong process. Based on this philosophy, everything said in this article should apply to you, whether you are studying formally or not.

Identify the situations and actions this year that sabotaged your learning and prevented you from delivering your best. Record this behaviour.

This does not have to be a long, laborious process. You can use a quick fire Mind Map to do this and complete the whole task in 5-10 minutes. There are numerous articles on MindMapTutor.com about quick fire five minute Mind Map bursts.

It may have been the obsession to answer cell phone messages while you are supposed to be learning, or getting hooked-on TV series…

Whatever it was, write it down.

Changing your behaviour

Now that you have done this, what do you think you can do to prevent such behaviour in future?

You may want to do another quick fire Mind Map burst of possible solutions. The quicker you jot them down, the less time you have to ‘edit’ your thoughts. This will enable your creative thinking hat to be the dominant one. Remember the article on the six thinking hats?

To change your behaviour, you need to monitor your actions. Keep a record of your actions which led to good results and use reinforcers (self-praise, or doing something you like) as a means to reward this behaviour. Self-administer punishers (disliked activity) when you failed to achieve your goal because of inappropriate actions.

“Failure is a stepping stone to success!” This is a well known saying, which means that by reflecting on one’s behaviour and acquiring the motivation to change such behaviour, you can be successful.

Now that you have done your reflection, it’s time to take action. Put some effort into managing your learning process during the coming year. You could use our Learning Management Programme to help you make the coming year the best one ever. Even one improvement in any of the areas could give you dramatic results.

We have had people say things like, “I’ve only implemented your time management tips and already I am achieving so much more”, or “Your motivation and goal setting methods have really allowed me to stay focused and achieve what I want to”, “Your study methods have really tapped into both my logical and creative side, which I never thought was possible.”

ACT NOW! And  start producing remarkable results!

The Ed Hughes story

To end off, I would like to tell you about the Edward Hughes story as related by Tony Buzan, the inventor of the Mind Map, in his book “Use Your Head”.

Edward was an average student until his father introduced him to “Use Your Head” and Mind Maps.

He was so inspired that he announced that he was going to get A’s in all his subjects and that he wanted his name put forward for Cambridge University. He also wanted to do this within a year!

The reactions of his teachers ranged from ‘…You can’t be serious!’ to ‘Don’t be daft!…’ They believed it would be a waste of the school’s money to put his name forward for Cambridge, as they don’t even get many passes from their best candidates.

After Edward’s persistence though, they put his name forward, but he had to pay his own entrance fee.

Tony Buzan goes on to mention that Edward’s response to anyone that questioned his goals was simply: “I will get an A.”

The school even apologised to Cambridge for putting his name forward and stated that they didn’t really think this student would get the place that he applied for.

Edward went ahead an put a plan in place based on ‘Use Your Head’. In a later version of ‘Use Your Head’, Edward is quoted:

“…I was getting nearer the exams. I summarised my last two years of school notes neatly in Mind Maps. I then coloured them, highlighted them and produced giant Master Mind Maps for each of the courses, and in some instances for each major section of each course. In this way I could see where and how the more detailed elements fitted together, and in addition get a good overview, thus enabling me to just ‘flick through’ giant sections of the course with completely accurate recall…“

He goes on to say how he could review easier by practising the recall of his Mind Maps until he could reproduce them accurately. He also studied good essay form and style and practised essay and exam writing.

He accompanied this by getting fitter, which made him better physically. This helped him to improve his concentration and mental well being.

The Results?

Within a day of the publication of the results, Edward’s first choice at Cambridge had been confirmed!

What will 2010 hold for you?

If an average student like Edward Hughes can reflect on his habits and put a plan in place to get top results, so can you. The decision to change your life starts now. Edward’s success did not end with these results. It was only the beginning. He went on to be one of the top students Cambridge ever had.

He secured a position as a strategic thinker in a multi-national entrepreneurial company after graduating from Cambridge.

A simple decision to change his ways and a programme to help him get there was all he needed.

Now go on! Make that change and make 2010 the year that changed your life forever…