The Power of Habit

When you retry problems you missed on a standardized test, is your intention merely to be able to do them correctly on your second attempt? If so, then you are merely “problem collecting,” because there really is no second attempt when it comes to standardized tests. Only first tries count. First tries of problems you have never seen before. These tests are by nature performative, not content-driven.

It is the difference between looking at problems as objects to be collected and looking at problems as events to be performed with virtuosity.

Conditioning for an academic performance such as this requires that you learn how to connect with your many types of intelligence: analytical, visual, logical, corporal, verbal, habitual, and emotional.

So who is it that is connecting to all of these innate capacities? It is your most fundamental self. You can call it your spirit, your soul, or your essence. I like to think of it as the great conductor, conducting the symphony that is your life.