We have received enormous amount of stress rescue requests from candidates. Especially when the exam is approaching.
We do hope parents and educators are paying kind attention to this post.
All of the candidates are pouring their hearts out to us, crying for help, because there is really no one listening to them or helping them.
Here are some of their cry out:
- Fear of failing.
- Not being able to recall stuff I just studied,
- Not enough time!!!
- I’m so scared right now! Do you think there’s any chance I might improve in time for my examinations?
- Pressure from teachers and parents.
- Feeling like I’m not worth anything or good enough.
- I feel myself getting everything and understanding it but if I try to solve anything, it just doesn’t happen and it’s extremely frustrating.
- My teachers do not seem passionate with teaching, they are interested in being given more money incentives on top of their salaries, they want money, my school is poor to pay more money.
- I am scared from the examinations.
… and many many more.
Therefore, in this article, we will discuss how to “handle” your stress. Hope this would help you not only in your exam, you probably will carry this throughout your life. 🙂
Can We “Handle” Stress?
Contrary to popular belief, we CAN NOT “handle” stress.
Stress does not exist. It is NOT a thing that you can hold nor eat 😉
Stress is a feeling resulting from your thought.
From your ‘negative’ thought to be precise.
When your mind constantly thinking on negative thoughts, for example: you are scared to fail, or not getting an A*, or not good enough comparing to your older brothers or sisters, etc…; you create a bad feeling inside your body from all the negative thoughts.
The bad feeling that you feel, is what you call ‘stress’.
The more you want to “handle” your stress, the more you think there is something wrong about you. Then, you put more pressure and create more unwanted negative thoughts about yourself.
Why would you do that then?
Shall we agree from now on you don’t try to “handle” your stress anymore?
We only take “YES” as the answer 😉
So what should you do then? Keep reading…
1. Admit You Have Negative Thought(s)
There is really no big deal to admit we have negative thoughts. Everyone has them.
Just the courage to admit we have them, we have already eliminated most of the bad feelings.
Aren’t you feel lighter now?
Know that you can’t fight darkness with darkness. You can only fight darkness with light. By admitting the existence of negativity, you have inserted the light of positivity.
That is the most important starting point, and it is essential for you to continue to the next step.
2. Change Your Thoughts
Now that you know stress is the bad feelings you created from all your negative thoughts.
All you need to do now is – Change Your Thoughts.
Here are some steps for you to start doing that:
- Start by imagining the positive outcomes that you want to see or to have. For example: imagine you score A* in Maths, then feel the happiness feeling when you see your result slip.
As Albert Einstein said: “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.“ - Make a list of things that you are afraid or frustrated of. Next, write the positive opposite of it. For example: I am scared of exams. The positive opposite you could write: I handle exam with ease / I write smoothly in the exam / I am entering the exam hall with full energy and I can’t wait to put everything I know down on the paper to show that I deserved an A* 🙂
- Know that examination is just a method used to see if you have understood the theory thoroughly and know how to present it out.
- Examination is also a way to let you find out what is your best talent. You will notice a trend that you tend to do well in certain subjects, but not the others. So, there is really no big deal if you can’t do well in Physics but trump in Arts. Because that is your best talent that you are meant to be the best in order to contribute to mankind in the future.
When you are making your list, you will notice that you have a shift in your feeling.
You will feel must lighter, your mind is clearer, you have so much energy that you want to jump into the exam hall right now, and most importantly, you will notice a big smile on your face because now you are a much happier person!
The final step is, you must train yourself to keep this happy feeling and not let yourself slide backwards again to the negative thoughts.
Step 3 will show you exactly how to do that.
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3. Get Good Results By Keeping The Positive Thoughts
The best way to keep your mind on positive thoughts is gratitude.
If you make a search, you will discover many great minds had always said the same thing about gratitude, and what kind of miracle it would bring to you.
Here are some of them:
“When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.” ~ Tony Robbins
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ~ Albert Einstein
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events.” ~ Melodie Beatty
Make gratitude your daily dose in your daily life.
You could be grateful for the chance to study, the ability to read and write, to be able to attend your exam at your comfort, to have a comfortable bed to sleep on each night, the luxury of clean running water and electricity, the money that have been given to you so you could continue your education, the fresh air, all your favourite food that is always available at your reach, etc etc etc …
The list is so vast that we simply couldn’t put everything here. But you get the idea of where to start 🙂
Pay attention to how you feel. If you are not feeling good, that means your mind is currently broadcasting negative thoughts.
Immediately find anything you could be grateful for to shift to positive thought.
***
Last but not least, please know that you are a worthy human being. Everyone is.
We are all here to do something important. We are all equipped with a special talent that only we have, no one else.
And we are meant to find out what we are good at, so we could contribute this talent to mankind. When you are contributing your best talent for the benefit of mankind, you will be rewarded handsomely (a.k.a earning a lot of money). 🙂
So now, go out there and score A*!




325 responses
please help me out….
i got C’s for pmy physics and chemistry mocks, reason partly being lazy to study and obviosly i didnt at the end. Now i am working hard, is it still possible to get an A atleast for my real igcse.
Yes, definitely you can.
Hello! so i read your article and yes i totally agree….i need to think positively.
But how do i do that if my negative thoughts over-power my positive ones .I am in the middle of my pre-mock exams right now i really need help. 🙁
It is not the negative thoughts ‘over-power’ your positive ones. It is because you constantly thinking negative thoughts. Read the article above to learn how to have more positive thoughts.
My final exam is in three months and I’m not performing well what should I do could you help me
Read the article above. And concentrate in preparing for your exam. Don’t think too much 🙂
Hi , I am giving 8 igs this may/june 15 and i cant control stress….i feel useless right now..i dont know why!! My teachers n my parents r expecting alot from me eventhough my parents dont give to much pressure to me for achieving all A* but then i wish to get all “A*’s”….but seems difficult!! my teachers say i can easily achieve A*s but……….i really dont know!! :/
hello there fellow IGSCE students!
I’m taking eight IGCSE subject and I’ve already done my English speaking test and my ICT practical tests are tomorrow
the school I go to provided us with loving and experienced teachers (with some exceptions)
I’ve been studying so hard these past two weeks. but my parents think I didn’t study hard enough! they think I don’t care! the thing is my school have prepared me for this since last year, so I think that must be good enough.
However, I still have the fear of failing, or getting C’s. I’m planning to go to a law school after finishing my IGCSE’s and A-levels. So wish me luck everyone!
It made me feel a lot better reading this. Thanks a lot!
oh and p.s: I can’t find the ICT specimen papers 2 and 3 for 2015! Can you please tell me where to get them from? My test will be tomorrow!
I am in middle school . And I am scared of my exams and they are next week and I don’t under stand any thing what should I do which subject should take first for revision and I want to make my parents happy and proud of me plz help me I need ur help
Hi Isha,
Just relax, and do whatever you could now. And put in your best.
It’s a great thing you’re doing for all those students, ofcourse including me. I’ve read the post and it actually relaxes your head a bit and takes some of your stress away indeed, i just hope i have it in me to be able to achieve my goal and make my parents proud, my parents have worked so hard especially these 2 years to make sure i can do whatever and achieve whatever i wish to achieve, that just makes me loath myself sometimes thinking i don’t have a conscience for even stressing out and not studying enough.. i just wish i could put my head straight and concentrate on my studies in this little time i’ve got maybe, just maybe a miracle would happen and i would be able to follow my dream after all.
Hello NoorBanat,
Just go for it! You can achieve anything. Fix your mind on your goal, and know that you CAN achieve it. 🙂
where can we get feb-march 2015 past papers……..pls can u let me know
This made me feel so loved and as if I’m capable of getting those top grades. Thankyou so much
Yes! Definitely you are capable of getting those top grades! 🙂
It is no surprised to see many students who are always at the top grades suddenly gotten a Grade C, because they suddenly lost the confidence and get nervous before the exam. Whereas those who are considered “gone case” suddenly achieved Grade A or Grade A*. This is all because of CONFIDENCE!
We have seen this, because we had student who achieved Grade A and A* after building up her confidence just a month before the exam. The most interesting fact was, she was below passing mark and all her teachers classified her as “gone case” 😉
If she can, so can you! 🙂
Oki that was a good piece of advise. But still there are 3 problem.
1st Right now i am giving 4 subjects in May/June 2015
1) MATH
2) English
3) ICT
4) BIOLOGY
MY TEACHERS AND PARENTS, they think I can easily get an A* in all subjects.
but its really hard i just have 20 days to go. And I don’t no what to do right now.
I think I am not ready yet. I am REALLY REALLY scared. 🙁 🙁
i can’t get myself to study. There is a chance that I might FAIL. 🙁 🙁
The 2nd problem is that,
MY school starts “O levels” in 8th grade so I almost forgot all the things I learned in 8th. And I don’t have much time to revise all the Subjects.
The 3rd problem is that,
English paper is changing and my school has already finished so i don’t no what to do about English also 🙁 🙁 🙁
PLEASE REPLY AS FAST AS YOU CAN. MY EXAMS REST IN YOUR REPLY.
yours kindly
hishaam
Hello Hishaam,
Please read our article again, and relax 🙂
If you keep thinking you will fail, you will ! So, stop thinking that and change your thought to you will SUCCEED!
Oki I will try
BUT what about ENGLISH.
The paper changed so tell me what to do ???? 🙁 :X 🙁
You can practice with the specimen paper. Don’t worry about that. Just work on it, and you will understand.
Oki I will try
BUT what about ENGLISH.
The paper is different now so tell me what to do ???? 🙁 :X 🙁
Just do your practice according to the specimen paper. You can download the 2015 specimens paper here:
https://igcsecentre.com/cambridge-igcse-past-exam-papers/
You could also get some external help, such as hire private tutor or join some revision classes.