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This page introduces a simple training system with two short exercises: one for setting clear goals and step-by-step progress, and one for a quick reset to regain focus when negative emotions interfere. It also shows the teaching path from volunteers to teachers to students.
Before volunteers teach the teachers, they should first practice both exercises themselves.
Use a simple weekly routine: once a week for 3 months, 30 minutes per session.
Teachers fit the methods into a short routine at the beginning of class: 5-10 minutes.
Learn how to set a medium or long-term goal, build the steps gradually, and stay focused while carrying them out.
Learn the short reset exercise you can use when negative emotions disrupt your focus while you are working toward a goal.
Key rule: each section must feel good in the body, and the full sequence stays under 5 minutes.
Use this teaching sequence to help teachers practice the exercises on their own goals first, then teach the exercises to their students so they can use them for goals they work on in class and at home.
Use this teaching sequence to introduce the exercises gradually and help students apply them to exams, homework, and difficult moments during study.
Use this exercise to set a clear medium or long-term goal, keep generating steps to achieve it, and stay focused while carrying them out.
Write one goal that is clear and specific, and give it a deadline. If needed, that deadline can be extended later.
Ask yourself on a regular basis, preferably every day:
"what else can I do in order to achieve my goal?"
This simple question helps you generate a continuous stream of ideas, energy and confidence.
Any idea that comes to mind is valid as long as it is directed toward achieving the goal. Write down some of these ideas as steps.
While you are working on a step, keep bringing your attention back to the activity at hand whenever other thoughts distract you.
If a distracting thought shows that something more important needs attention or that you should reconsider your priorities, stop and do that before continuing.
If a negative emotion disrupts your focus while you are working toward the goal, first do a quick relaxation by letting the body relax for a few seconds, then continue. If that is not enough, do the Relax & Refocus exercise to regain focus and feel good again, then come back and continue the step.
When you regularly ask yourself "what else can I do in order to achieve my goal?", you keep generating ideas for steps you can take toward the goal. Over time, this also helps you build more energy, confidence, and a clearer overall plan, for the reasons explained below.
Your subconscious mind stores everything you've seen, heard, felt, done, and thought throughout your life. This means that when you focus on a clear goal and ask yourself "what else can I do in order to achieve it?", you gradually start pulling ideas from this enormous storehouse of resources.
As you act on your ideas, you gather and store new information because you see, hear, feel, do, and think new things. So the next time you ask yourself, "what else can I do in order to achieve my goal?", you come up with even more ideas. This makes the plan for reaching your goal clearer, and by executing the steps that are part of this plan, you inevitably get closer and closer to your goal.
The process of regularly thinking about your goal and asking yourself "what else can I do in order to achieve it?" gradually turns into a very powerful habit, and since habits drive most of what we do, you gain more energy to put your plan into action.
This happens because when you consistently think about a goal and the steps to achieve it, the process becomes automatic in your subconscious mind. This powerful part of your mind keeps these thoughts running in the background, like on auto-pilot, and naturally guides your actions according to the steps you've planned, making it easier for you to follow through and achieve your goal.
The subconscious mind often reacts to imagination like it does to reality, so if you regularly think about your goal and the steps to achieve it, you'll feel as if you've already gone through this process in reality many times before. This can significantly boost your confidence that you'll actually reach your goal.
Use these short sessions at the beginning of class to help students connect the exercises to real schoolwork.
Ask the students what scores they would like to get on their next most important exams, then ask them what steps they think they need to take in order to get those scores.
Invite the whole class to come up with ideas for the steps.
Talk about a homework that the students need to do next and what steps they need to take in order to complete it.
Invite the whole class to come up with ideas for the steps.
Ask the students whether there are moments when the homework becomes difficult and whether they feel good then. Then explain the progressive muscle relaxation so they can use it when that happens.
Talk about a homework that the students need to do next and explain how they can do the entire Relax & Refocus exercise when the homework becomes difficult.
Repeat the previous 3 sessions every week.
Each session should last about 30 minutes and should be split into three 10-minute parts.
Discuss one medium or long-term goal for each teacher. Make sure the goal is clear and specific, and add a deadline that can be extended later if needed.
Then ask the teachers to ask themselves, "what else can I do in order to achieve my goal?" and to share a few ideas that come to mind.
After that, have a similar discussion about a medium or long-term goal their students could set (e.g. the score they would like to get on their next math exam), and talk about steps the students could come up with in the classroom to achieve that goal.
Discuss one 1-2 hour goal that is part of the steps toward each teacher's medium or long-term goal, and make sure it is one they find especially challenging. Then ask them to come up with some steps for reaching that 1-2 hour goal.
Have a similar discussion about a 1-2 hour goal that students would find especially challenging (e.g. doing their math homework when it feels difficult), and talk about the steps they could take to complete it.
Then explain that the super-focus method should be used while carrying out the steps to achieve these challenging 1-2 hour goals: if they or their students get distracted by other thoughts, they should bring their focus back to what they were doing.
Also remind the teachers that the focused execution of these steps needs to feel good. When it no longer feels good, they should do the Relax & Refocus exercise.
Explain the whole Relax & Refocus exercise to the teachers, emphasizing the last part of Section 1 and making sure one simple detail of the goal and one simple detail of a step are clearly established for Section 2. To do this, the teachers should think about what the goal looks like when it is accomplished, and identify one simple detail of it. They should do the same with a step by thinking about what they need to do, and identifying one simple detail of that.
Then ask them to explain the full process step by step, including the "If this happens" situations, to make sure the exercise is clearly understood. One teacher can explain the first step, then another teacher can explain the next step, and they can continue taking turns until the whole process is explained.
Between sessions, the teachers should write down at least one step to achieve one or more medium or long-term goals in their goal/steps documents.
They should also write at least three examples of how they used the Relax & Refocus exercise between sessions, using three separate tables.
Use this exercise when you are taking steps toward a goal but negative emotions like stress, anxiety, or frustration make it hard to stay focused on those steps.
Open the visual first if you want a fast overview of how relaxing the body leads into focusing on one simple detail of the goal, one simple detail of a step, and then more details while keeping the process under 5 minutes.
Briefly tense and relax each part of the body in this sequence: shoulders, arms, chest, stomach, upper legs, lower legs. Then tense and relax the whole body a few times.
After that, focus on how you're letting the whole body relax until you reach a pleasant, relaxed state. This is the most important part.
If you get distracted by other thoughts during the last part, use the super-focus method: notice that you got distracted and bring your focus back to how you're letting the whole body relax.
Do not move to Section 2 until this feels good in your body.
Set a goal for the next 1-2 hours.
In your mind, preferably with your eyes closed, focus on one simple detail of that goal until your body feels good.
Then, still in your mind, focus on one simple detail of a step to achieve that goal until your body feels good.
If you get distracted by other thoughts, use the super-focus method: notice that you got distracted and bring your focus back to the simple detail you were focusing on.
If you feel a negative state or emotion: ignore it for a little while. If it gets more intense, go back to the final part of Section 1: focus on how you're letting the whole body relax until you reach a pleasant, relaxed state. Then bring your focus back to the simple detail you were focusing on.
This section must feel good before moving to Section 3.
Finally, expand your focus to other details of the goal for the next 1-2 hours and to some of the steps you can take to achieve it. You will notice that focusing on these other details feels good as well.
If you get distracted by other thoughts, use the super-focus method: notice that you got distracted and bring your focus back to the details of the goal and steps you were focusing on.
If you feel a negative state or emotion: ignore it for a little while. If it gets more intense, go back to the final part of Section 1: focus on how you're letting the whole body relax until you reach a pleasant, relaxed state. Then do Section 2 again. After that, bring your focus back to the details of the goal and steps you were focusing on.
Keep the whole exercise under 5 minutes total, and only consider it successful if all 3 sections felt good. After that, return to the focused execution of your steps, which should now feel much better.
The sequence is simple: first relax the body, then focus on one simple detail of the 1-2 hour goal and one simple detail of a step until focusing on them feels good in the body, then focus on more details while keeping the whole process under 5 minutes.