A week ago, I spent two and a half hours listening to someone from Kaplan talk to us about the MCATs. That lecture felt like forever, and that’s only a third of the length of the MCAT.

Joy.

I figured I would share some insight I learned from that meeting so those two and a half hours of my life could be helpful to others. Not about the test itself, and not even people who are preparing for the MCATs want to hear about the MCATs.

No, there was a bigger message to take away that I’m hoping will help change the perspective of those of us who are preparing to go through finals week.

According to the speaker, there are two types of mindsets: fixed and growth. The distinction between these two types of people is the way they think about themselves.

An individual with a fixed mindset will believe that their knowledge has a certain capacity and, after facing failure, will believe they have hit their limit. These individuals don’t have much motivation to work hard because they don’t think anything will come of it.

Those with a growth mindset understand that they can increase their knowledge with effort. When faced with failure, these individuals can identify that they don’t understand a particular concept and are willing to put in the effort to expand their knowledge. Oftentimes, these individuals can see that a particular study method isn’t working and are able to think of a different approach in order to do better in the future.

When approaching a huge test, such as the MCATs or a final in college, it’s important to try to embrace the growth mindset. I’m a firm believer that anyone can learn anything if they are taught it in the right way. Don’t go into your tests this week thinking there is nothing you can do to conquer them.

One of the biggest takeaways from the lecture was that tests only have the power over you that you give them. Typically, the only thing standing between you and success is yourself, not the test.

So, in your pursuit of knowledge, it’s important to stay motivated. If this is something you struggle with, I may be able to help. There are three main areas of motivation.

The first is starting. If you’re a procrastinator, this is the area you probably struggle with. The importance of starting goes without saying: if you never start studying, you’re doing yourself a great disservice. Remove yourself from distractions, block out a good chunk of time, and get started.

The second aspect of motivation is continuing. Once started, it becomes hard for us to keep the momentum. I often struggle with this because I reward myself for getting small things done when I should be continuing the work. Once you’ve started, you have already conquered the hardest part! Don’t stop before you’re done.

The third part is realizing the importance of your work. If you don’t think what you’re doing is going to benefit you in the long run, studying becomes difficult, if not impossible. I know that it gets difficult; when your dream is to be one thing but the class you are studying for is about something completely different.

If the class doesn’t interest you, you can’t let it drag you down! Imagine how good it will feel to conquer it and come out on the other side with a grade that reflects your great amount of effort and knowledge.