Quite a few students have asked me which books I recommend after they’ve read my study book. I post my top book recommendations on my Linked In Profile. It includes all the books I recommend for Business, Professional and Career Development. If you’re athletic, you’ll want to subscribe to my Mindset Of A Champion Blog, which lists a different collection of books that I recommend for serious (elite) athletes – focused on Mental Toughness. With these two book lists, you can learn the foundations of an Exponential Mindset. If you are not English Speaking, I am sure most of the classics have been translated into your language.
You might not know that I have several blogs. One blog that I want to highlight today is the one called the Mindset Of A Champion. I simply want to ask you to go and check it out because there are a lot of parallels between learning and mastering a sport and getting better grades. Bookmark it or better yet, subscribe to it so you don’t miss any of the posts, you just don’t know which one will be the one that will have the breakthrough idea that will make all the difference.
Book Report: Students at a local school were assigned to read 2 books, ‘Titanic’ and ‘My Life’ by Bill Clinton.
One student turned in the following book report, with the proposition that they were nearly identical stories!
His cool professor gave him an A+ for this report.
Titanic:…. Cost – $29.99
Clinton :….. Cost – $29.99
Titanic:….. Over 3 hours to read
Clinton :… Over 3 hours to read
Titanic:….. The story of Jack and Rose, their forbidden love, and subsequent catastrophe.
Clinton :… The story of Bill and Monica, their forbidden love, and subsequent catastrophe.
Titanic:…. Jack is a starving artist.
Clinton :…… Bill is a bullshit artist.
Titanic:…. In one scene, Jack enjoys a good cigar.
Clinton :…. Ditto for Bill.
Titanic:….. During the ordeal, Rose’s dress gets ruined.
Clinton :…… Ditto for Monica.
Titanic:….. Jack teaches Rose to spit.
Clinton :… Let’s not go there.
Without getting on a soapbox about it, I think we can all learn from this example. The only thing I want to say is – why is a school like this the exception rather than the rule? Let me know what you think about your school – the good and bad points.
You might have taken a look at my study book and considered buying it. If you haven’t bought it yet, listen to David’s experience and ask yourself – if it works for him, why wouldn’t it work for you?
Hello Marc
I have been reading your e book and have only once listened to your speed reading video. The extra emails are great as it keeps me on track otherwise I could wander a bit and lose focus on what I should be doing rather than just go through the motions.
I am working on a better format for my class notes with more drawings/mind maps as this is a better form of learning for me and audio recordings. (Now that I know this from your book that explained how to determine my own learning style).
Exams start end of the month so the next stage is to compile the notes into A3 mind maps layouts.
I am now in a study room not the office which had too many distractions that prevented me from getting into the right mind ‘zone’.
I don’t cold read my study guide and text any more so I pre-read first to get a general understanding then highlight and compose the notes and now I comprehend more. (I can’t believe the difference this makes!)
My assignment grades have increased from about 60-80% to the last one 88% and this was the highest grade. 
My studies are extramural so no lecturers only Webct and study guide/text books.
I am practicing your speed reading techniques and using it the first time I read something but need to work on this more.
Thanking you very much for you help.
David Fisher
The Economist Magazine recently reported that a male university graduate will make $82,000 more in his working lifetime than his non-university graduate peer. This includes the cost of tuition, lost wages while studying as well as extra taxes paid. What this simply means is that it pays to get better grades.
But getting better grades is not just about winging it – you need to be systematic and discipline about it. My study book and this blog are great way to learn to get better grades with less effort. My study book comes with many bonus materials that will help you – go to the product page now and check it out.
Today’s post is from John Ruiz who wants to share his recent results after buying my study book and applying just 2 strategies. This is the dialogue I had with John…
Hello Dr. Dussault!
I recently bought your study book and after reading it and incorporating only 2 of your strategies I have improved my grades in Math. I scored a 115 A++ on my Honors Algebra 2 test and a 113 A++ on my Honors Pre-calculus test as well. Thank you for your excellent study guide – it will help me not only now, but in the future as well.
Now that’s a great testimonial, but it doesn’t help you does it?
So I asked John what study strategies he used:
Exam Study Tip #1:
First, I used the strategies for identifying exactly what was going to be on my next math test. I paid attention to the subtle hints that the teacher gave about what would be on the test.
Exam Study Tip #2:
I also referred to past exams and found that some of the extra credit problems were taken from the book we use in class. Realizing this, I was able to practice the exact problems that would be on the test and as a result got the highest grade in class on that test — 113. Without those two strateges I would not have scored that well. I used the same two strategies to get a 115 on my other math test ( I take Honors Trig and Alg. 2). I’m exited to try out more strategies and improve exponentially overtime. Thank you.
So there you have it, two simple study tips that will help you get the best grades with the least amount of effort!
Students need a break in this economy and the best bet is to buy cheap text books online from a marketplace featuring thousands of sellers.
That being said, I couldn’t resist publishing this post that was sent to me by Sydney’s Premier Plumber, David Conroy of The Lone Drainer And Pronto! It speaks for itself doesn’t it?
If You Can't Find The Book You're Looking For...
Below is the link to listen to the voicemail message that the Maroochydore High School in Queensland, Australia staff voted unanimously to record on their school telephone answering machine. This came about because they implemented a policy requiring students and parents to be responsible for their children’s absences and missing homework.
The school and teachers are being sued by parents who want their children’s failing grades changed to passing grades – even though those children were absent 15-30 times during the semester and did not complete enough school work to pass their classes. Listen and I promise you’ll burst out laughing!
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I recently came across this great list of 25 Speed Reading Tips Every Student Should Know. I thought I would pass it on – every once in a while you need to review what you’re doing to keep making the 1 percent improvement you’re committed to! If you come across any other great resources out there, please let me know!
To double your reading speed in less than 2 hours <<<<—- Click here!
Today’s post is from a 35 year old student struggling with math. His question is not all that uncommon.
Hello there,
My question is Math the reason that I’m struggling. I’m 35 years old and this is my second semester in college and I’m retaking Math again because the first semester I failed and I’m about the same way this semester… Now my Teacher said that we can make corrections on the tests and get a better score now. I got a month to go in school. So my question is what is the easyest way to study for a math Test or or just to understand what the teacher is saying?
This is a great question that has several answers:
Study Tip #1: Don’t repeat the mistakes of the past
Today’s blog post is a clarification from my Speed Learning Video Program. The quote was “The brain stops reading fast it does not want to get dizzy”. It was after I mentioned you can read 200% faster on screen using Rapid Reader because your eyes don’t have to go from left to right.
Someone contacted me and was wondering if this has any thing to do with past negative programming that the brain can work against you. For example if you have not had a lot to do with a subject and tried to take it for a study course, would the brain work against you automatically?
This is a great question – and you’re not going to expect the answer I’m about to give…
A private school in Devon was faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of lip prints. Every night, the maintenance man would remove them and the next day, the girls would put them back.
Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man.. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night. To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it…
…Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror. There are teachers, and then there are educators.
At New York’s Kennedy airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule, and a calculator.
At a morning press conference, Attorney General John Ashcroft said he believes the man is a member of the notorious al-gebra movement. He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.
“Al-gebra is a fearsome cult”, Ashcroft said. “They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like “x” and “y” and refer to themselves as “unknowns”, but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.
“As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, there are 3 sides to every triangle,” Ashcroft declared.
When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, “If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes.
“I am gratified that our government has given us a sine that it is intent on protracting us from these math-dogs who are willing to disintegrate us with calculus disregard. Murky statisticians love to inflict plane on every sphere of influence,” the President said, adding: “Under the circumferences, we must differentiate their root, make our point, and draw the line.”
President Bush warned, “These weapons of math instruction have the potential to decimal everything in their math on a scalene never before seen unless we become exponents of a Higher Power and begin to factor-in random facts of vertex.”
Attorney General Ashcroft said, “As our Great Leader would say, read my ellipse. Here is one principle he is uncertainty of: though they continue to multiply, their days are numbered as the hypotenuse tightens around their necks.”
Life is too short to be too serious. Every once in a while you have to just let loose and have some fun. Here are a few funny student jokes for you to give you a pattern interrupt while you’re studying. They were supplied by Andrew Powell in Montreal, Canada.
Student Joke #1 – The Computer Science Student And The Bike
I am not a big proponent of being manipulative with teachers, but the reality of the academic system is that you do need to deal with them. Tell me your story or ask me a question here by posting a comment and I will help you deal with the worst teacher(s) you have. Please do NOT use their real names -this is not about retaliation. I want to help you deal with the problem – be specific about the issue your having. Make sure you focus on TEACHING and STUDYING ISSUES – not personality conflicts.
I’m here to help you get better grades with less effort!
The Pareto Principle also called the 80/20 rule is one of the most powerful study techniques I teach in my study book. Simply put, success in school is about knowing WHAT to study and WHEN. In my study book, I combine that with a concept from the 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People that takes away all the guesswork for you. It’s priceless to any student stressed about about exams, lab reports, quizzes and term papers.
If you’re a student and are looking for cheap textbooks, take a look at www.ValoreBooks.com they have thousands of textbooks for every conceivable subject. What you might consider if you want to get better grades, is buy a second textbook for those courses you’re struggling with. By having a different author explaining the SAME subject/topic, he/she might be able to say it in a way that you understand more clearly. I’ve done that on numerous occasions – for those subjects that were particularly hard.
Go ahead and take a look at what’s available – at those prices, you can’t afford NOT to buy it!
I need to tell you a story about what happened to a fellow classmate back in Engineering School. But first of all, let me declare my bias. I am a coffee virgin, which means I have never consumed a cup of coffee – ever. The reason is that back in my undergraduate days, I saw my classmates drinking 8 to 12 cups/day to stay awake studying for exams… I thought, even then that consuming ANYTHING in that quantity can’t be good…
A Study Mistake To Avoid
That being said, my story takes coffee to a whole new level – caffeine pills. Back in my day, they were called ‘pick me ups’. They were sold over the counter without a prescription. Students took them INSTEAD OF or IN ADDITION to coffee – to stay up and cram for exams. Many students did this.
I did it – ONCE.
I had 3 consecutive days with 5 FINAL EXAMS, each 3 hours, worth 70 to 100% of the course final grade – Canadian Engineering Schools did this to flunk the least capable students ON PURPOSE…
Anyway – it was an ‘impossible’ schedule. So I planned it out. I would get some sleep on DAY ONE, then go straight through the other two days WITHOUT sleep to MAXIMISE every single minute in-between each 3-hour exam to memorise and review everything I could. I would go +/- 36 hours without sleep.
It worked.
Does that mean I am condoning using caffeine or drugs to study?
Not quite – keep reading.
For the next week, I was totally drained… “brain dead”… I had never hit the wall like that ever before. I promised myself “never again”. Thank God it was the END of the SEMESTER.
I was not the only one to suffer these ‘after effects’… But I was one of the few to learn the lesson.
I had a classmate – I forget his name, we’ll call him John. John did not learn the lesson. He scraped by that semester and decided that the following semester he would use the pills for the midterms AND the finals. He got addicted to a false sense of confidence and started taking them at the BEGINNING of the semester.
By the time the midterms came around, he was strung out, exhausted and barely able to focus. He failed every single one of his midterms. By the time the final exams came around, he was on his last legs. He failed those too.
The sad part is John was smart enough to be an Engineer, just not smart enough about HOW TO STUDY WITHOUT CUTTING CORNERS.
John got expelled from Engineering School and his destiny forever altered – because of caffeine pills that he thought would help.
The moral of the story is that there are two ways to try to get ahead faster- take a short cut by learning better study strategies or CUT CORNERS by trying to cheat by taking drugs or otherwise.
I taught myself HOW TO STUDY more effectively rather than spending MORE time – that is how I came about writing my study book. I became so good AT studying that people around me kept asking how I managed to get ‘it all done’ AND have a life outside of school…
I learned the lesson the FIRST TIME – I never took another caffeine pill after that – NEVER NEEDED TO.
If you find yourself in the situation where you need to take pills to stay up late at night studying – I can tell you right now – YOUR STUDY HABITS SUCK.
When I started my Engineering Degree, I was taking 4 or 5 courses per semester. In my last semester, I took a WHOPPING 7 COURSES at the same time – to finish my degree in 3 1/2 years graduating with a DOUBLE MAJOR.
All possible BECAUSE I learned HOW TO STUDY.
Whenever tempted by drugs to stay awake or HIGH CAFFEINE DRINKS – DON’T START. They are addictive drugs that will have consequences… Consequences that could rob you on the very dream you have – the REASON you are considering taking them in the first place.
Don’t do it.
Learn HOW to study instead.
