The Key Traits of an A* Student
By now, most of the readers here would have begun working hard and have run into several obstacles which would deter you from continuing to study. Possibly due to a failed test, not doing as well as you would like, or simply not being in the position you would expect yourself to be by now.
In order to help students along their journey, we will discuss one of the most important factors which everyone (parents, teachers and successful students) would agree is perhaps one of the most important keys to success…
GRIT!
"The only limit to your impact is your imagination and commitment." — Tony Robbins
What is Grit?
Grit is defined as the hard work and persistence a person needs to follow through and achieve long-term goals in spite of failure. In actuality, it’s the internal force that pulls you through the crap of life and allows you to persevere. It’s a mixture of passion, purpose and persistence.
In order to ensure that you get the write balance of all three of these aspects, your mind and heart need to align with each other.
Purpose - Very few students at your age will be able to identify the purpose of their studies as they don’t know what they want to do in the future (A-levels, university or career) and the uncertainty can seem daunting.
Just remember that your purpose is forged in your failures. The meaning you give to the failures you experience will become your purpose so be very mindful of your thoughts during your weakest points as you are the creator of your purpose in life; studies and beyond 🚀Passion - To this date, I have yet to encounter a student who lacks passion. I have encountered a lot of students who are depressed and some even felt broken at times, however every student has something which they can talk about enthusiastically. The secret here is, are you prepared to go out of your way to learn? what do you enjoy learning about in your spare time? - this doesn’t have to involve reading but could mean watching tutorials, learning from friends or people who are better than you at your passion.
Persistence - This is the secret ingredient to success. Whether you decide to follow through with your passion or your purpose (or both) you will not get very far if you stop doing what your doing after 3-weeks 🤣 Remember: Life is a marathon, you need to keep going if you want to succeed!
"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do." — Steve Jobs
Why Do I Need To Know This?
In short, your on your way to becoming an adult! You already have more control over your mind, actions, beliefs and (more importantly) who you are! A better question would be; do you want to take control of your life or do you want to be controlled by the life you live?
When all three of these factors fall in alignment, you will notice the development of 3 key characteristics of the A* student forming:
Motivation - When your passion and purpose are in alignment, you will notice a drastic improvement upon your motivation as your full force (mind, heart and body) will be moving in the same direction as opposed to pulling you apart.
Academic Growth - You will notice an improvement in your grades as you begin to want to spend more time studying, and more importantly, enjoying and applying what your learning in your day to day life.
Growth Mindset - Setbacks will no longer feel as bad as you will develop certainty within yourself as you shift away from extrinsic motivation and shift towards intrinsic motivation. This small shift will also help to develop who you are as a person.
"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." — Albert Einstein
How To Develop Grit
There are numerous techniques out there which help you to align yourself and enable you to know who you are as an individual. In fact, I would have already gone through a few of these in the previous newsletter (Sept. 2023) but don’t fret if you missed it as we will go through three individual techniques in this newsletter as well.
Meditation - Ever heard of the saying ‘you are what you eat’? well, I’m going to take it one step further and say ‘you are what you think’.
While meditating, ensure that you pay attention to your thoughts as these are clues to your core identity. (Core Identity - Who you are without the influence of external factors such as parents, friends or social media). You have to know your core if you want to be successful!Journal - Writing about your daily successes and failures will help you to stay on top of the challenges you face in your life and more importantly help you to think outside the box and reduce the amount of mistakes you make on a regular basis - this is also a good way for you to connect with your core 😇
Set SMART goals - For those of you who are unfamiliar with SMART, it’s an acronym which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based. The secret to becoming smart is through SMART goals.
So, my fellow students, remember that balance and alignment is the key to grit - angrily forcing your way through life will achieve very little apart from pain. Ensure that you find the way which works for you with the minimal amount of resistance, pain and force as these three traits will only serve to hinder you in the future.
“You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water." — Rabindranath Tagore
Donations
Every year, there is at least one family whom I encounter that is in the middle of a difficult life situation which is made more challenging by their lack of finances. A donation of just £1 ph goes a long way to help me reduce the challenges which they face.
This is completely optional and it is appreciated should any family be able to give.
Offers Available
Seasonal Referral Offer (Valid until 24/12/23)
- For every child referred who stays with me for 4 weeks, you receive your money back for 2 lessons.
- The family referred will also received 2 free lessons.
Membership
- Please note that only GCSE and A-level students can become members as there is no membership option available for those not yet studying their GCSEs.
- The membership entails a fixed number of hours taught at a fixed price per month. Any additional hours required will be charged separately at the membership price (with the same duration discount)
£33ph for GCSE
£38ph for A-level
Previous discounts provided are no longer applied for members
No refunds for cancellation of lessons
Missed lessons can be re-booked within a 2-week period - subject to availability
Payments are taken on the same day every month
By agreeing to become a member of Better Life Tuition, you are also agreeing to set up a standing order for the duration of your membership
A deposit will be required in the case of early termination. This will be returned to you after the final payment is processed
- Please be aware that for the full academic year, the 9 month option is recommended as the 12 month option includes the summer holidays.
- The amount of deposit required will vary dependant on the duration of the membership.
Discounts available
- The number of hours listed below are applicable for the whole family as opposed to individual students.
3 hours per week = 10%
4 hours per week = 12.5%
5 hours per week = 15%
Bulk Buys
3 month (12 weeks) invoice = 10% discount
6 month (24 weeks) invoice = 12.5% discount
