help! how can i stop being average?!

[twinklestar257]

Hi!

I've got this big challenge... I really want to free myself from being average!! I've been trying very hard for so long and yet I haven't made it! I've had all the motivation, desire, support I could ever have, and yet I'm still not quite there.

Although I perceive every not-so-good result as a learning experience and not as a failure, I'm starting to feel as though I'm getting slapped on the face harder and harder. At times this causes me to think of losing hope, faith and desire, but then another voice in my head screams out " NO! KEEP FIGHTING FOR WHAT YOU WANT AND YOU'LL GET THERE! YOU DESERVE IT!!"

My greatest motivation for hanging on to this challenge is that i would really love to get into Medicine and become a doctor. I've held on to this wish all my life because I can really imagine myself and feel the burning desire to help people in need!

Back to reality... I've got my final exams, which will determine whether I'll get into medicine or not, in a month's time. I've just received my mock exam results, showing that I got an average of 74!! I keep getting that same damn grade all the time!! I really need to step it up to 80's and 90's!! Any suggestions?

Thanks

[wolfgang]

No need to fight so much. The fighting is an added layer to where you are going. You probably know that and I don't know how to say stop fighting.

There was a Zen master, he was watching somebody in a competition, archery, and a man was trying hard to win this competition, but he couldn't make it and then somebody asked the Zen master, "What's he doing wrong?" And the Zen master said, "His need to win drains him of power."
And so his need to win in some future, he wants to have some future moment where he's going to be fulfilled.So his attention is not totally in the now. So the now, where all power resides… …this power that resides in the now cannot flow then into what you are doing. The openness isn't there. Because to have mastery in any endeavor, whatever it is, you need to be total in what you do.

[Enrim]

why don't you just be yourself? You might find that just being yourself is something extraordinary and you are unlike anybody else on the entire planet.

[twinklestar257]

thanks for the advice what confuses me is that i feel that to be myself is to work towards becoming a doctor... so if i try to be myself by staying average, i wont accomplish the other aspect of whom i am...

[twinklestar257]

Originally Posted by wolfgang

No need to fight so much. The fighting is an added layer to where you are going. You probably know that and I don't know how to say stop fighting.

does that mean its best to stop trying to do my best?

[wolfgang]

Originally Posted by twinklestar257

does that mean its best to stop trying to do my best?

You do not have to "try" to do your best. You always do your best, that is a given.

There is a layer of psychological worry that gets in people's way often. Studying hard is effort but to add nervousness, about what that studying is going to turn into, gets in the way. Maybe it's about being able to focus in the moment more than what will become of all the studying. To be so immersed in the pursuit of knowledge that you forget that you are pursuing something until you reflect.

My responses are probably not being very practical for your purposes. Maybe you need to meditate and eat/sleep better and exercise (if any of that is off from optimal) and then you will boost your mental abilities to learn what it is you are learning.

[Ninja]

Originally Posted by twinklestar257

does that mean its best to stop trying to do my best?

I think he means that instead of putting your energy in trying to 'win', you should put your energy towards improving your skills. Or in your case: don't focus on that higher grade: focus on getting better and the higher grade will follow. As long as each mock exam you do is better than the previous one, even by one point, you'll eventually get there. Small steps, grashopper!

[agnostic]

There is no such thing as an average person. In fact, there's a price for $10,000 to find a truly average person. On a funny side, an average person would have one testicle, half a penis, one labium and live in Asia or India. Average is a fictitious mathematical concept. It doesn't relate to the real world. Nothing is average.
So, you are already not average and there's really nothing left to accomplish. You just need to appreciate the fact.

[verbors]

Define average

There is no such thing as average or normal, everybody is unique and different.

[wolfgang]

The OP is looking for suggestions to help get better grades in school, I think.

Unfortunately the world of school with grades does define average or "making the grade", so to speak.

I think the OP is reasonably bright to be pursuing medical school and is not looking for philosophy on there being no such thing as an average person.

[wolfgang]

Originally Posted by twinklestar257

thanks for the advice what confuses me is that i feel that to be myself is to work towards becoming a doctor... so if i try to be myself by staying average, i wont accomplish the other aspect of whom i am...

You have made an assumption that being yourself is to stay average. It sounds more like to be yourself is to go for it - become a doctor.

I assume what you are really asking is:
"How do I get into medical school?" or
Why can't I get better grades? or
Why am I fighting to get better grades?

[DreamAndProsper]

What is your plan for personal growth? Are you taking consistent daily actions toward your goal? Every single day you must read your goals, do something that will assist you to get to where you are headed. The secret to your success is determined by your daily agenda. Yes- every day!

[twinklestar257]

Originally Posted by wolfgang

You have made an assumption that being yourself is to stay average. It sounds more like to be yourself is to go for it - become a doctor.

I assume what you are really asking is:
"How do I get into medical school?" or
Why can't I get better grades? or
Why am I fighting to get better grades?

yes that is what im asking

[twinklestar257]

Originally Posted by DreamAndProsper

What is your plan for personal growth? Are you taking consistent daily actions toward your goal? Every single day you must read your goals, do something that will assist you to get to where you are headed. The secret to your success is determined by your daily agenda. Yes- every day!

yes, its the first thing i think of when i wake up, i keep thinking about it with every action i carry out and its the last thing i think about before i sleep as i try to visualise myself having already achieved my goal

[The Cloud]

How does trying to be above average make you different from average? That's what all the average people are doing, fighting each other to be better than their average neighbor.

[eblight]

You will succeed in becoming a doctor. Your heart is in the right place. Appreciate the exam results you are already getting. It will lessen your tension and anxiety to be grateful for what you already have achieved. Focus on loving what you are doing and let go your belief about being average. It will keep on holding you back.

Another suggestion is to relax your mind and body through meditation. Visit all free website:
Fragrant Heart - Free Guided Meditations

[twinklestar257]

Originally Posted by The Cloud

How does trying to be above average make you different from average? That's what all the average people are doing, fighting each other to be better than their average neighbor.

In this case im not quite fighting other people, im simply challenging myself to improve my own grade in the hope of reaching my ambition

[Enrim]

it sounds to me like you want to improve your motivation and productivity. I just started reading this article and I am not quite done reading it yet, but it sounds like something you would be interested in How to Get From a 7 to a 10

Good luck. And much love.

[twinklestar257]

Thanks i had read the article quite a long time ago and forgot all about it, so it's good to refresh my memory ok, so at this point my 10 would be having a confident mental state. Well, I should be confident because I really worked hard for it and I really did my best! The only thing is that im approximatly 5 marks away from getting the grades i need to get into medical school! But i've got a whole month to improve!! I CAN DO IT!

[Enrim]

YES You Can! Go for it!