The Psychology of Getting Good Grades

Let me be very clear.

If you want to change your academic life, this can do it.

But if you keep doing what most students do, that's exactly how you'll ruin your grades without even noticing.

The biggest lie about studying: Getting good grades is about intelligence.

It's not.

It's about psychology. How your brain focuses. How it remembers. How confident you think you are versus how much you actually know.

The Hard Work Myth

Hard work isn't the problem.

Most students don't fail because they're lazy. They fail because they work hard in the wrong way.

I used to be that student. Hours of ineffective study methods. Result? Six failed exams in two semesters.

What the data shows:

When researchers studied top-performing students (especially medical students), they found something interesting.

Almost everyone studies for the same number of hours.

The difference? How those hours are used.

Most students: Reread, highlight, watch lectures again. Feel productive.

Top students: Feel uncomfortable while studying.

That discomfort matters. A lot.

Learning Should Feel Hard

Learning shouldn't feel smooth. It should feel hard. Slow. Like a struggle.

If studying feels easy, your brain usually isn't learning.

Compare it to the gym: Sore muscles = good workout. No sweat = weak workout.

Same with learning.

The Confidence Trap

The more you reread something, the more confident you feel.

But confidence doesn't mean learning.

Classic experiment:

Group 1: Read the same text again and again Group 2: Read once, then questioned and tested themselves multiple times

Before the final test:

• Group 1 felt very confident ("We can do this!")
• Group 2 felt unsure and stressed (aware of their gaps)

Final test results:

Group 2 massively outperformed Group 1.

Not 5% better. 20% better.

That's the difference between failing and a really good pass.

The dangerous trap:

Feeling confident doesn't mean you know it.

We call this the "trap of recognition."

Struggling to remember is actually a sign that learning is happening.

The Power of Scheduling

Best performing students do something boring but powerful:

They schedule their study time.

Not when they feel motivated. Not when they have time left. Fixed moments in the day.

Why this matters:

Your brain learns patterns.

If you study at the same time for a few days in a row, your brain starts to expect focus at that time.

Paying attention becomes easier.

This is called "entrainment" - your nervous system syncs to a rhythm.

Your brain and body love routines. When your brain knows what's coming, there's less resistance.

Give yourself 2-3 days with a fixed study moment. Studying becomes less of a fight.

The Distraction Problem

Hard truth: Multitasking while studying doesn't exist.

Your brain can only focus on one thing at a time.

Real example:

My girlfriend was playing a video game. I needed her laptop password.

She mumbled something. Wrong.

Asked again. "Oh, capital letter here." Wrong again.

"Did I say question mark?" Finally correct.

Multitasking reduced the quality of both tasks.

What good students do instead:

Study alone. Phone away. Notifications off. Tell people they're unreachable.

Not because they're extreme. Because attention is precious, limited, and should be protected.

Every interruption breaks actual learning.

The math:

90 minutes of full focus beats 4 hours of distracted studying.

Ideally, split those 90 minutes into 2x45 or 3x30-minute blocks with breaks.

The Testing Effect

Testing doesn't equal evaluation. Testing equals learning.

This is the most research-supported tool in learning science.

Self-testing means: Close your book. Ask yourself questions. Try to remember answers without looking.

Why this works:

This feels harder. That's the point.

When you force your brain to retrieve information, you strengthen memory.

Even if you get it wrong. Mistakes signal to your brain: "This is important information."

As long as you check the correct answer later, your brain updates your memory.

Testing beats rereading every single time.

The Teaching Advantage

Best students don't just stop at understanding. They teach.

This is the Feynman Technique: Explaining material to someone else.

Why this works:

Forces you to organize information, explain in simple terms, spot your own knowledge gaps.

If a classmate asks a question you can't answer, that identifies what you need to learn again.

You can't fake understanding while teaching.

The results:

Students who teach others consistently score higher, even in competitive programs.

Teaching doesn't give others an unfair advantage. It gives YOUR brain the biggest advantage.

I used to teach classmates in finance, economics, mathematical courses. I'd score 90-95%. They'd score 70-80%.

Not bragging. Just showing: Teaching means operating at higher levels of thinking.

The Power of Pausing

Simple trick almost no one uses: Pausing.

Every 20-30 minutes of studying, stop for 5-30 seconds. Do nothing.

During these short pauses, your brain replays information faster. It gets stronger.

Neuroscience calls this "hippocampus replay." Similar to what happens during sleep.

These small pauses massively boost retention.

Why this matters:

Too much information suffocates the brain.

Breaks give your brain time to breathe, release pressure, process better.

More studying doesn't always mean better.

Purpose and Meaning

Best students were asked: "Why do you study so hard?"

Their answer wasn't about grades.

They talked about their future, their family, the life they wanted to build, skills they wanted to develop, discipline, learning to deal with failure.

Not specific goals. Clear direction and identity.

Why this matters:

Motivation fades.

I didn't care about grades. I cared about showing up. Doing the work when I said I would.

That behavior led to great results.

To this day, my ability to show up even when things are hard gives me a huge advantage in business.

The Bottom Line

Getting good grades isn't about intelligence. It's about psychology.

Stop rereading. Start testing. Stop multitasking. Start focusing. Stop feeling confident. Start proving it.

Same brain. Better methods. Completely different results.

What will you change about how you study starting today?

Watch the full video on this topic on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g26b_ycJcM

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