From the exact moment i’ve decided to participate in those exams , i knew it from the very beginning that i must WIN in this battle .

Take time , make “Big” decisions .

It took me a little more time than the usual time , my other friends in school needed , but from the time i took the decision , there was NO turning back . Yes as a person maybe i afraid a little more the big “changes” and challenges , but when i decide to do something , i MUST win no matter what .

This “thing” is something that comes from my inner self . I didn’t know that i had that inside NEED , till i went off my teenage years and began to see the world with “different” eyesight .

So i suppose i delayed to take serious decisions , as a securance from my “guardian” angel in order to be 100% certain that i want , what i want . Sometimes it’s very importand to take decisions very quick and sometimes it’s more wise to see the holistic posibilities of a subject and kind of delay to act .

As you become more experienced in life , you gain the ability to more correct decisions in a sorter periods of time , than before . And of course all these depend from person to person .

So after a deep thinking period of time , i took the decision to participate to my country’s (Greece) National exams , in order to enter to the University you want to .

Greek exams are tough .

These exams are very tough even if Greece isn’t a very wealthy country . We have many Universities and College parts which are in a very highly ranking in the hole world .

The Metsovio University of Athens , the medical Uni’s in Crete , research centers and the University in Patra , the Aristoteleio in Thessaloniki and many more , which are doing a very good “job” .

So to enter to these elite Universities , the goverment from the old days has made an exam model , which is very difficult . They have separated the science fields in 4 Big Categories .

In those categories , the Minister of Education with its consultants teachers and the University personnel of the whole country , have decided the lessons and the difficulty of the content , every single student should be examined in order to enter the University he wanted to .

Those 4 Big categories were for the “positive” sciences ( engineers , doctors , physisists , et. c ) and for the literatural sciences ( teachers of all levels , financial science , marketing area …et.c ) .

So in those 4 Big categories there were 4 or 5 lessons you would be examined at the end of the school year , the end of May till the first days of June .

So after you have passed your final school year and you had no problem , you were going and taking the exams for those 4 – 5 lessons . During your school year , you should read also the other school lessons , TOGETHER with those of the 4 – 5 final exams lessons .

You had 10 to 15 “normal” school lessons and beyond that you had also the extra 4 – 5 for your University entrance . That 4 – 5 lessons were way more difficult , than your “normal” ones .

Yes your “job” was very tough .

Not only you had to read for your school year , but also you had these 4-5 tough ones . That’s why for many years of our country’s exams , the state was giving you an advantage . What was that ?

You could give as many times the University exams , as you want , after the finish of your “student life” and not only that .

If you’ve managed to write very good to 1 , 2 , 3 or whatever lessons , you could “hold“- keep that very good grade for the next year and continue by giving exams ONLY for the other lessons .

So if you have written good for 2 of the 5 lessons , the next year you were giving exams only for the remaining 3 ones !!!!! That was very good indeed .

To show you how tough was to pass the University exams , i’ll tell you this : Sometimes the difficulty of the exams was so high , that even if you had to read only 2 or 3 remaining lessons , you failed to “score” high for the total 5 and you were failing to enter the university , eventually .

So you might have kept good grades for you maths and physics and you needed only good grades for chemistry and literature , and inspite that you could be failed to pass the total 4 lessons , together .

The medical school , the fighting jets pilots and some others Universities needed to be Perfect
or very close to perfect , to enter those departments .

If the absolute grade was 20 , you had to write 19.2 , 19.5 , or more !!!! Yes if you wanted to be a doctor or a jet pilot ( and some more fields) you should be a VERY GOOD “brain” .

Organize your time & energy .

So having all these in my mind the first thing i did was to PERFECTLY ORGANIZE my time – energy – focus – effort , for a reading “marathon” of about 9 to 10 months .

These large “amount” of time , needs different approach from a sorter one . You make “things” in a different way if you have in front of you 10 months to 24 months , ( if you wanted to give exams for another second time ) , than a sort period of time .

So before i’ll begin to tell you MY WAY and the things i did to achieve my goals , i must tell you a very IMPORTANT “advice” , a very SERIOUS tip . This tip is very serious , because if you failed in this level , all your future efforts may lead to to TOTAL FAILURE .

And for sure you don’t want to fail . You begin a “race” to “GIVE IT ALL” and WIN or else why would you do it eventually ?

And if you don’t win , you’ll have the satisfaction that you GAVE WHATEVER YOU HAVE INSIDE YOU . This is very importand for your inner “peace” .

So what is this big TIP you MUST consider ?

Before you begin to read and “train” for your May – June exams , in specific lessons , you MUST BE 100% sure , that you don’t have column knowledge weaknesses and “gaps” from the previous school years .

If you are weak in some fields , you MUST eliminate those weaknesses . Spend some money and ask for a teacher , for private lessons and untwist all the questions and weak spots from previous years .

It’s a VERY BIG mistake to start focusing to new knowledge and techniques , if you have unsolved past “themes” – gaps .

So after i was certain that i didn’t have any pillar weaknesses , i started to organize myself and my mindset . Firstly , i erased my “hard disc” completely and i started to adjust my mentality to the new era of the “things” i had .

“Persuading” yourself is a tough “thing” .

This is hard and if you are in your first steps of life’s “battles” , you may find it difficult , to “persuade” your mind , that YOU CAN DO IT and “block” ” your ears to the “voices” . These “voices” were always existed , exist now and will exist till eternity and you shouldn’t let yourself , been affected by them .

The “voices” which tells you that you CANNOT DO IT and that you aren’t good enough , should be used ONLY for MOTIVATION and toughen you up , and NOTHING MORE . Use them and don’t allow yourself to be used by them .

See in HERE a post about “voices” .

After some “inside talking” with myself ( mostly the summer before the beginning of the “race” on September ) about my strategy , i was ready to set my plans . For sure no matter how hard i would read my lessons , i should have found time for my physical condition .

Body & mind in perfect form .

The “countless” hours of reading , above a chair , needed a very strong body . My back , knees , abs , neck (from the bending over the books) , my trapesodials and in general my upper back , had to be in the best possible condition .

So i decided to lift weights 2 or 3 times a week and at least 2 times running . The time for my physial condition , should be NO more than 1 and 1/2 hours . One hour the training and the other half hour for some relaxation , in order to continue reading with 100% focus and NO “discounts” to that .

After the organization of my body “area” the next think , was the management of the TIME . That was one of the most serious elements for my success . From September to May – June , i splitted the period time into 3 smaller periods .

Split time wisely .

The 1st was from September to Christmas , the 2nd from Christmas to Easter and the last part , was the FULL ATTACK MODE from Easter to the beginning of the exams . I had 10 lessons from my “normal” school year , which i must say that i didn’t care much for them .

I wanted only , not to have any serious problems with my school and teachers . My MAIN TARGET was the lessons for my university entrance .

So i had 14 lessons for which , for the 10 of them , i only read the “necessary” time and my main energy , would be given to the other 4 ones .

The first time period , till Christmas i scheduled to read 9 – 10 – 11 hours . The second time period , till Easter i scheduled to read between 12 to 14 hours and the last period , from Easter to the exams , for 16 – 17 hours .

Of course the whole plan was flexible and if ir needed i made adjustments . My next move and in order to be 10000% accurate and don’t “steal” time , i went and bought a chronometer .

That chronometer was “stuck” on my body , ALL MY LIFE from September till the last day i went to gave my exams !!!! I only took it out , when i was taking a bath . I measured my toilet time and i was always in a hurry to make it quick .

No I’m not exaggerate . This is what it should be , and that was what i did .

During the first 2 time periods ( September – Christmas and Christmas – Easter ) , i had in mind that even if i didn’t went out of the house for no reason than my training time , i was giving some small rest periods to myself .

When I “judged” that i needed some time off for all these colossal pressure , AND MY SCHEDULE WAS GOING AS PLANED , i was resting a little bit . During that times , i tried not to think of my upcoming “fight” completely , even if it was a difficult thing .

I was going to see some of my buddies , drink coffee , see the sun or moon , enjoy life a little . That was also VERY CRUCIAL . I needed to throw away the “steam” and i knew that this , would help my brain to retain its power , in the ABSOLUTE LEVEL i wanted .

After those small relaxing periods , my return was immediate , my focus and mind strength was “fresh” and ready to continue from where i had stopped . The small time relaxing periods are CRUCIAL as your extraordinary training is .

It’s part of the proccess .

My Reading Approach and Mentality .

Another thing I’ve clarified with myself , was the WAY and STRATEGY of reading . Many other students like me , thought that solving “millions” of lesson’s exercises , made them very experienced and they thought that , this is the best way to become expert .

So they were solving , thousands of exercises , thinking that acting like that , they were becoming very strong . For some of them that worked , but for others haven’t worked .

Why ?

Because when you solve thousands of exercises in the so many exercises CATEGORIES , you do that “mechanically” and you don’t “deepen” to the PHILOSHOPHY of those exercises . You cannot deepen , because you don’t have the time to solve thousands and go deep .

And what it the BIGGEST PROBLEM in this ?

If you were “unlucky” and in the final exams , the exercises were a little (or more) different of your thousand solved exercises , BUT IN THE SAME philoshophy , you might have “problems” . If you see in front of you something different , than you “used” to solve , you may become totally “blocked” .

And FAILED to solve the problem .

If a “tricky” exercise , needs deeper approach and you don’t have it because all this time you solved millions of the “same” exercises , for “show off” or other reasons , YOU WILL LOSE .

I suppose knowledge , learned better in a deep level and not in a “parrot” way approach . On the Contrary if you “categorize” your ammount of your exercises and solve from any of these categories , 5 – 8- 10 ONLY exercises ( but covering all the “width” of knowledge ) , BUT AS BETTER and DEEPER you can , you may get better results .

Why ?

Because you will be able to solve or “fight” to solve , the “out of the box” exercise . You know the METHOD and WAY to solve the problem , even if it’s totally unknown to you !!!! .

This will benefit you the most , because when all the others will maybe “stuck” , you’ll maybe continue and MAKE THE DIFFERENCE !!!!!!!

The tiny(!) details are the ones who makes you a Champion .

That was it . I liked that approach and that was my decision , about my reading strategy . All the exercise categories , few exercises but to cover all the “range” of difficulties and “tricks” , but AS BETTER and DEEPER I COULD . And i didn’t regret it .

“Things” were going well enough and i was satisfied enough , with what i did . I was in the first 2 time periods and i was going to enter the last and most crucial one , the Easter – exams finishing “line” .

In order to have CONTINUOUS touch and “feeling” with ALL of my 4 lessons , it needed to pass the University , i did another “trick” , just a little before my entrance to my 3rd time period .

Before i’ll tell you this “trick” , i should tell you , that i started to “abandon” my 10 school lessons , because i had secured very good grades for them , so i didn’t have to read them every day . Now my 100% focus was in the 4 ones , the big ones and i didn’t need anymore to “spend” energy to other directions .

So what was that “trick” of mine , the last period of my exams preparation ?

I wanted a CONTINUOUS DAILY “touch” with all of my lessons , with ALL of my exercise CATEGORIES , with ALL THE knowledge i’ve learned , with everything i had in my brain .

So i had all of my books open and “planted” in all over my room , so i can have immediate “access” to them and make every moment i wanted , a quick repetition .

I might have solved a chemistry exercises , but between the passing from one to another , i went to my maths and did a quick rememberance !!!!!!

I did that with all of my lessons , all day long . In this way , i didn’t leave “gaps” , between my lessons and i had them all in my “hard-disc” . I had all the knowledge , “FRESH” and ready in my mind , every single second .

All that was “working” as a safety “valve” , too . If during those repetitions , i “catched” myself not being in the appropriate level , i was “punishing” myself with more time of reading , before i go to sleep . And i was reading the “problematic” issue again and again , till PERFECTION .

After all these , and after some hard times ( but MY BEST LOVING TIMES ), i was ready to go for my exams and entered to the final time period , “vanishing” any dangerous factor . I was in a very good mood , i was EXTREMELY TOUGH after all those months of “training” and hardships passing .

I was like a “shark” that smells “blood” and is ready for the final attack . My confidence was in the highest heights , of my entire life , because my “training” went AS I WANTED with ZERO “discounts” and ZERO EXCUSES and i knew , that i was going to make it .

Close to the exams , approach .

The last couple of days , i “secured” all the work that i’ve done the last year and i didn’t add anything else in my “armour” . I was 100% ready . My body was in the best shape , from the physical training and the correct food and my soul was in its “attack position” .

I wasn’t sleeping immediatelly at nights , because my adrenaline was hitting “sky high” and i tried to relax a litle bit so i can sleep and be ready . Yes my friends , many times i was falling asleep with a big smile in
my face from satisfaction .

But beyond all that , i knew that i haven’t achieved anything yet and i MUST control all these mix of emotions . I didn’t what for sure to be “burned” in my “warm up” lap . I had the “RACE” in front of me , in which i’ll prove WHO i am and WHAT i can do .

Another VERY Big Tip for you and i suppose this will be the last .

The day before your exams , you DON’T DO anything else , than HAVING FUN and RELAX .

This is “LAW” . The previous day of your exams , YOU NEVER CONTINUE TO TRAIN . What ever you have done , you’ve done . NO MORE .

The previous day of your exams , you DO ONLY , HAPPY RELAXING “things” . You sleep till the 10:00am – 12:00am or whatever , you make a refreshing shower , you coffee with your friends and you return home to eat and relax .

At the afternoon you do the same and go our for a walk . The only thing you should be careful is , to come back early to sleep very well . Of course you don’t drink alcohol ( if you are under 21 you don’t for sure ) , and you try to relax your tensed brain , MAKING HAPPY THOUGHTS .

So my last day before the exams , has passed and the morning of the “battle” arrived . Everything was Ok , i woke up having the highest phychology and i went to the exams classes . Did i feel stress ?

Of course i did .

But not the stress of the “defeat” situation . I had mostly anxiety about what i was going to see and how difficult that would be . Inside me , and “secretly” i wanted difficulties , so i can be a little bit better than the other students and secure my University entrance .

Anyway i gave all my lessons exams and i did it very well . Many were surpised from this , because they didn’t expect that kind of performance from me .

I hadn’t “tons” of money to spend for many private teaching and i was going to my local coaching school , as all the other students . But i did well . I did well , i passed to a very University school , but it didn’t the 100% ideal for me .

I WANTED MORE .

I knew that , if i would continue and give the next year’s same exams , i would “score” my MAXIMUM .

What did i decide ?

Before that , i must tell you another Tip ( Yes this is the last one . )

During of that 4 lessons exams we had a time gap , of one day between them . If you begin on monday , the next lesson exam will be on wednesday , the next friday and so on .

So listen to this : Between this one day gap , you should prepare yourself for the next lesson exam , VERY lightly .

In this one day you may have before the next exam day , you should “grab” your books and make a final reading only till noon and that final reading should be a “newspaper” reading . Don’t try to get deep in this final reading .

You’ve read DEEPLY , all the previous period of 10 months . Now you only want to just ” TAKE A LOOK “ . Nothing more .

And BE CAREFUL to this :

If during this “light” reading of yours , you “stuck” somewhere and “catch” yourself having DOUBTS , about how good you have understand that spot , DON’T get stressed and try to begin from scratch to read that spot again .

Why ?

Because all this is a mind’s “game” and if you follow it , you’ll stress yourself with UNNECESSARY pressure and doubts . Don’t worry . The hardships you THINK you have found in that final “light” reading , in that spot , it’s only fake !!!!!!!

You thought that you don’t know it correctly and in the level , you want to know it . That’s why you’ve read all these 10 months , so extraordinary “BRUTAL” .

You’ve read , so HARD , NOT to avoid mistakes , but to MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE MISTAKES !!!!!!!!!!

So , relax your brain , don’t get stressed , YOU KNOW THAT SPOT PERFECTLY . When the times will be the appropriate , which is your exams time , the solution of this WILL COME AUTOMATICALLY .

That’s why you did what you have done , all these previous months . You cannot wait , of course to learn what you must KNOW this last hours before your exams . So make this final “light” reading of your next day’s exam and finish it , at noon .

Unstress your brain , you’ll make it .

The afternoon , you should do again the UNSTRESS “thing” you did before . Go for walk , rink a cup of coffee and stay cool . YOU ARE READY , don’t have doubts .

When doubts , try to “attack” your mentality , “kick” them out immediatelly . So after all this and after my summer vacations , in which i unstress totally my existance , i decided to go for another “round” .

This time , i know what i’m dealing with , i’m more experienced ( mostly in the last moments psychology , just before the “race start” ) and my goals where the ultimate best , of what i could do .

My previous year’s strategies and approach “worked” , but for the next year , i must rise the “level” . Same game , different “level” .

My first 2 time periods ( September – Christmas and Christmas – Easter ) were the same more or less , but with greater care in the details . I “worked” in higher difficulty exercises and in the smaller details , in order to secure Perfection .

I continued of course my physical training and food caution . The thing i changed , was the last time period , of Easter till the beginning of my exams . The last 30 – 40 days , i haven’t slept in my bed , AT ALL . It was the final “round” and i gave whatever i had , as NEVER before .

I slept only 4 hours a day , ONLY in a couch so i could be awake and in 100% focus , in the sorter period of time . I didn’t want , time wasting , no matter what the cost would be .

I reduced the showers i made ( yes that was kind of a smelly (!) times ) , i tried to control the times , i was going to the toilet for everything(!) and i brushed my teeth more rarely .

NO WASTE OF TIME AT ALL .

That was the final days and NO EXCUSES were excused (!) . I slept only 4 hours and for my other activities i was “allowing” only 1 – 1 1/2 hours . Yes i know that you think that i’m exaggerating , but i tried to read 18 to 19 hours a day .

The “BEAST” MODE . And all this , WORKED .

I managed to pass to the University i wanted and attended engineering . Everything went as i wanted and of course the next 3 months of summer i didn’t read anything at all . Or hold a pencil , in my hands . The “load” was extremely big , but the Greece’s sun and beaches , “cured” me .

I WISH you many personal victories and i hope you’ll find helpfull enough the above way . It was , my Way .