How to actually get around to studying for the Leaving Cert:

 

 

The Leaving Cert is a weird old thing in that you know full well you should be studying for it but you just can’t be bothered. It’s not like you don’t know you need to, you just can’t force yourself to sometimes. It’s a really tricky problem motivating yourself to study and it’s one I know full well. I don’t know if the same for you but I would find some way to avoid studying. Sometimes I would be bored at home with nothing good to do and still not study. That’s partly what drove me to make these kinds of breakdowns for myself as I wanted to do as little as possible.

 

            However at the end of the day we all know we need to put in the work, whether we like it or not. It’s a pain but it’s a necessary one. I’m in the course I wanted to do and I’m glad I put in the          (necessary) effort. College, well at least Commerce is a pisstake in comparison to the Leaving Cert so once you put in the hard yards now it really will be worth it. We just have to take responsibility and get down to the nitty gritty of studying. Here’s a few different ways of motivating yourself to get down to it.

 

Fully articulate why exactly you are studying. Are you studying to get into your ideal course? Are you studying to get the maximum points you can possibly get ? Are you trying to get more points than your siblings or mates ? Are you studying because you still don’t know course you want to do but want to have options ? Everyone has their own “Why” with regards to the LC whether we articulate it or not. The more true your “Why” is to you, the greater the motivational factor will be. When you decide on it, write it down and put it somewhere where you will see it regularly. This will keep reminding you why you are willing to put in the effort and should provide a base level of motivation.

 

This other idea is called “Fear setting”. Some people are motivated more by a fear of the consequences of failure rather than the rewards of success. An person who you might know that was motivated in this way was Paul O’Connell. Before big games for Munster in the 2000’s he used to think in the changing room that he had to play well because of all the people who would be devastated if they lost. Both the carrot and the stick can be used for motivating you in the Leaving Cert. Perhaps if you don’t study enough you won’t get your favourite college course, or any course you want to do. Maybe you’ll have to repeat the year while all your mates move on without you into college. Or perhaps worse, you’ll feel horrible for failing to meet your own internal expectations. This isn’t meant to be fearmongering but just think it through. Do you want that to happen to you ? Is the pain of studying now better than the pain of failure in the Leaving Cert ? If the answer is yes then you have another reason to start studying.

 

Another big problem people have when it comes to not studying is that they feel like they don’t know where to start as the course is too big. They are correct. If you look at the course as a whole it’s far too big. That’s why we have to break it down into small manageable chunks. Taking on the whole Irish course seems daunting. However if you decide that you will spend 30 minutes preparing how you would answer an oral question on your family, that seems much more straightforward. Break it down into what you will do in the next 30 mins to an hour. All these small wins build up and release a dopamine hit as you feel like you’ve achieved something. This creates a snowball effect and suddenly three weeks go by and you’ve the majority of your Irish oral prepared. You just have to start, that’s the key point. It’s hard when you don’t want to study but it just has to be done as the Leaving Cert is uncaring.

 

Even for myself trying to make this whole service, I struggle with keeping myself motivated. I have any number of readymade excuses. I did my time in the Leaving Cert, why should I force myself to essentially study for it again ? It’s so much hassle, why bother ? That voice in the back of my head never goes away. However if you start feeding it, it just keeps growing stronger. One trick I have is that I’ve certain times in the day that I’m focusing on this. I will be doing nothing else in that time apart from analyse the Leaving Cert and create content for youse. It’s a non-negotiable so I don’t give myself the option of negotiating with myself. As Jocko Willink, an ex-Navy Seal commander explained , “ Discipline equals freedom”. Take motivation out of the equation by literally telling yourself you’ve no option but to study in this time. This might seem like a radical solution but for people like me, I need to put rules in place or else I’ll do nothing.

 

Another thing to keep in mind that all of this has to be your voluntary choice. I choose to spend this time offering this service as I know I’d feel a certain way if I didn’t. You get to voluntarily choose what you spend your time on too. We get to choose the cross we bear, that’s the one choice we all have. Without going down a serious rabbit hole discussing the thoughts of philosophers like Nietzsche, Piaget and more recently Peterson about the matter ( but it’s unbelievably interesting) we essentially will have some type of suffering to bear. The only choice we have is which suffering. Is it the suffering of studying for the Leaving Cert or is it the suffering of not achieving our intended results ? The choice is entirely ours.

 

Overall we have to keep in mind a few key points to try to keep our willingness to study on track. We have to have a strong “Why”, a clear idea of what the consequences of what will happen if we don’t study and having a micro sized plan for what we have to do. Always keep in mind though that we don’t have to be constantly on point studying diligently, it’s actually not necessary. Give yourself some slack as being on point all the time is not realistic. I had plenty of weeks, let alone days where I was not working nearly hard enough. The important thing is to always keep in mind what you have to get done at the end of the day and don’t lie to yourself about how hard you are working. If you’re not working, make sure you’re aware of it. At least then you’ll know what work you’ve to do when you get back on track.