Dear Sha:

“Now everything seems to be lagging behind. This is the career I dreamed about. I don’t have any backup plans if I fail in these exams, and this makes me more anxious. If I fail in this exam, I’ll have to wait another year for it and find some part-time work (I still don’t know exactly what to do).“-

– The first thing to do is to lower and manage your anxiety so that your ability, while studying, to focus on the subject matter, process the information and commit it to memory significantly improves.

To lower and manage your anxiety, (1) Accept the possibility that you may fail the exams, wait a year for the next exams, and work part-time during the waiting-period. Accept this not a disaster, but an inconvenience. Consider the possibility that good things can happen during the year, such as that you might enjoy the part-time job.

(2) Commit to a study daily routine that includes some kind of exercise before studying, and/ or during breaks from studying, a yoga practice, and/ or listening to calming guided meditations (theme: mindfulness). When you are studying and feeling a spike in  your anxiety, get up, walk around, take a few slow breaths, slow down on the exhale, drink water, or herb tea.. take a cold shower, or a hot bath, listen to calming music.. and go back to studying.

How does this sound to you?

anita