An American based researcher Peter Weyand found that at the top speed an elite sprinter like Usain Bolt’s foot will typically spend 0.08 seconds in contact with the ground during each stride as compared to about 0.12 seconds for an amateur athlete.
So it seems that the fastest sprinters spend about 60% of the time in the air, with no foot on the ground, while for an amateur athlete, this would be 50%.
Top athletes in the world have consistently proven how technique is more important than just robust random training.
Apart from world-famous techniques, these athletes always have some secret techniques which give them an edge over others, to chip off the milli-seconds off of competition.
So, in today’s video I will give you
5 secrets study methods of toppers (No. 5 will surprise you) and
1 bonus tip
1. Secret No. 1 – Right First Time:
This is a very smart trick which keeps the toppers one step ahead of others. This means that you must be careful about where you learn a new concept from, for the first time. We are often surrounded by multiple educators like, your class teacher, tuition teacher, the internet, a friend or even a parent.
And once confusion enters the mind, it stays there for a long time. So, if you are starting with a new concept, learn that new topic from the most reliable educator for the first time, whoever or whatever it may be. This will give you complete clarity
from the word go and then every revision just makes it stronger.
2. Secret No. 2 – Sticky Notes:
No! No! By sticky notes I don’t mean for you to stick multiple small notes all over your house and make it look like Sherlock Holmes’ house. What I mean is Stick to your notes.
What we tend to do at the last minute is that we get caught in the busy traffic of exchanging notes, scanning or sharing notes in group chats. Now, this is a secret study tip of toppers – They stick to their own notes which they have created on their own, from the start of the year and they never let someone else’s style of writing confuse them.
So, sit with your coloured pens and notebooks right from the start of the year and make notes. Revise them multiple times, keep adding little squiggles to it if you wish to. But read only those towards the end. And if you want tips on how to create a
great set of notes, you can check out our video to help you.
3. Secret No. 3 – A Sight before Good Night:
Sometimes, we are like over excited to complete the syllabus. We want to be that friend who picks up the phone and says, I have completed 10 chapters today … and there’s silence at the other end.
But have you ever seen a topper say this? Toppers know that our memory is fickle.
What we have read today, we are likely to forget tomorrow. Toppers know that spaced revision is the key to good memorisation. But we have so much to learn, if we keep revising what we studied earlier, then how will we ever complete our syllabus? Besides, everyone knows about revision, how is that even a secret?
Now the real secret here is learning the art of quick revision and making it a habit. So, at night, just before going to sleep, keep a habit of opening your notes and just go through it just for 10 mins. Your subconscious brain will do all the hard work at night while you sleep and you will have a strong recollection the next morning.
4. Secret No. 4 – Pareto’s Principle:
A topper is not necessarily the person with the most knowledge but definitely someone who knows how to write the best answers in an examination. A famous economist Vilfredo Pareto coined the famous Pareto’s Principle or 80:20 ratio. This is
a great technique to use when we have too many things to do and we need to choose a few of them.
So, according to Pareto’s principle – about 70-80% of your questions will come from 20- 30 per cent of your syllabus. And toppers secretly find out what that 20-30% most important component is.
Ha ha! No, they don’t have any secret agents in the education department, but instead they spend time analysing the past question papers and that gives them a clear idea of exactly which topics to focus more on and what line of questioning is
usually followed by the examiner.
In fact one big myth is that toppers study more number of hours than average students – Pareto’s principle helps them to Study Smart, Not Hard.
5. Close your book:
This secret tip will surprise you the most. Studies have shown that our brain processes information much better when we allow it to breathe in a little bit. This means that when you are studying with an open book, we keep on feeding our brain
with new information and it gets very little time to process anything.
On the other hand, if you read a topic and close the book and try to think about it, this is where the brain tries to interlink various other thoughts to make a concrete understanding.
So, let your brain chill a little bit and see the magic.
BONUS TIP
Keep it Funny, Honey :
Research has shown that people remember humorous things much more vividly and for longer duration due to increased alertness and reduced negative emotions.
So, the trick of making a joke out of concept or slipping it into some humorous conversation with your friends or siblings will give you an edge over other students.
This trick will not only help you to remember any topic but also keep you free from stress, increase your energy levels and make the topic more interesting.
