STRONG TEST SUBJECTS: AN EXPANDED LIST
OCEAN DUMPING
Visualize a beautiful beach, with white sand, blue skies, sparkling water, a warm sun, and seagulls. See yourself walking on
the beach, carrying a small plastic pail. Stop at a good spot and put your worries and whatever may be bugging you into the
pail. Drop it at the water’s edge and watch it drift out to sea. When the pail is out of sight, walk on.After you’ve stopped, check your time. Did you find yourself going beyond the two minutes allotted? Did you write down more
things than you thought you knew? Is it possible you know more than you’ve given yourself credit for? Could that mean you’ve found
a number of areas in which you feel strong?
You just took an active step toward helping yourself. Notice any increased feelings of confidence? Enjoy them.
Here’s another way to think about your writing exercise. Every area of strength and confidence you can identify is much like having
a reserve of solid gold at Fort Knox. You’ll be able to draw on your reserves as you need them. You can use your reserves to solve
difficult questions, maintain confidence, and keep test stress and anxiety at a distance. The encouraging thing is that every time you
recognize another area of strength, succeed at coming up with a solution, or get a good score on a test, you increase your reserves.
And, there is absolutely no limit to how much self-confidence you can have or how good you can feel about yourself.