My Journey

Here’s an easy resolution: This stuff is all free as long as you have access to a computer, and the skills you learn will be invaluable in your career, and/or life in general. 

1. Become awesome at Excel.

Chandoo is one of many gracious Excel experts who wants to share their knowledge with the world. Excel excellence is one of those skills that will improve your chances of getting a good job instantly, and it will continue to prove invaluable over the course of your career. What are you waiting for?

2. Learn how to code.

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Perhaps no other skill you can learn for free online has as much potential to lead to a lucrative career. Want to build a site for your startup? Want to build the next big app? Want to get hired at a place like BuzzFeed? You should learn to code. There are a lot of places that offer free or cheap online coding tutorials, but I recommend Code Academy for their breadth and innovative program. If you want to try a more traditional route, Harvard offers its excellent Introduction to Computer Science course online for free.

3. Make a dynamic website.

You could use a pre-existing template or blogging service, or you could learn Ruby on Rails and probably change your life forever. Here’s an extremely helpful long list of free Ruby learning tools that includes everything from Rails for Zombies to Learn Ruby The Hard Way. Go! Ruby! Some basic programming experience, like one of the courses above, might be helpful (but not necessarily required if you’re patient with yourself).

4. Learn to make a mobile game.

If you’re not interested in coding anything other than fun game apps, you could trythis course from the University of Reading. It promises to teach you how to build a game in Java, even if you don’t have programming experience! If you want to make a truly great game, you might want to read/listen up on Game Theory first.

5. Start reading faster.

Spreeder is a free online program that will improve your reading skill and comprehension no matter how old you are. With enough practice, you could learn to double, triple, or even quadruple the speed at which you read passages currently, which is basically like adding years to your life.

6. Learn a language!

With Duolingo, you can learn Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, or English (from any of the above or more). There’s a mobile app and a website, and the extensive courses are completely free.

Full disclosure: BuzzFeed and other websites are in a partnership with DuoLingo, but they did not pay or ask for this placement.

7. Pickle your own vegetables.

Tired of your farmer’s market haul going bad before you use it all? Or do you just love tangy pickled veggies? You too can pickle like a pro thanks to SkillShare and Travis Grillo.

8. Improve your public speaking skills.

You can take the University of Washington’s Intro to Public Speaking for free online. Once you learn a few tricks of the trade, you’ll be able to go into situations like being asked to present at a company meeting or giving a presentation in class without nearly as much fear and loathing.

9. Get a basic handle of statistics.

UC Berkeley put a stats intro class on iTunes. Once you know how to understand the numbers yourself, you’ll never read a biased “news” article the same way again — 100% of authors of this post agree!

10. Understand basic psychology.

Knowing the basics of psych will bring context to your understanding of yourself, the dynamics of your family and friendships, what’s really going on with your coworkers, and the woes and wonders of society in general. Yale University has its Intro to Psychology lectures online for free.

11. Make your own music.

Step one: Learn how to play guitar: Justin Guitar is a fine and free place to start learning chords and the basic skills you’ll need to be able to play guitar — from there, it’s up to you, but once you know the basics, just looking up tabs for your favorite songs and learning them on your own is how many young guitar players get their start (plus it’s an excellent party trick).

Step two: A delightful free voice lesson from Berklee College Of Music.

Step three: Have you always thought you had an inner TSwift? Berklee College of Music offers an Introduction to Songwriting course completely for free online. The course is six weeks long, and by the end of the lesson you’ll have at least one completed song.

Step four: Lifehacker’s basics of music production will help you put it all together once you have the skills down! You’ll be recording your own music, ready to share with your valentine or the entire world, in no time!

12. Learn to negotiate.

Let Stanford’s Stan Christensen explain how to negotiate in business and your personal life, managing relationships for your personal gain and not letting yourself be steamrolled. There are a lot of football metaphors and it’s great.

13. Stop hating math.

If you struggled with math throughout school and now have trouble applying it in real-world situations when it crops up, try Saylor.org’s Real World Math course. It will reteach you basic math skills as they apply IRL. Very helpful!

14. Start drawing!

All kids draw — so why do we become so afraid of it as adults? Everyone should feel comfortable with a sketchbook and pencil, and sketching is a wonderful way to express your creativity. DrawSpace is a great place to start. (I also highly recommend the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain if you can drop a few dollars for a used copy.)

15. Make your own animated GIF.

BuzzFeed’s own Katie Notopoulos has a great, simple guide to making an animated GIF without Photoshop. This is all you need to be the king or queen of Tumblr or your favorite email chains.

16. Appreciate jazz.

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Have you never really “gotten” jazz? If you want to be able to participate in conversations at fancy parties and/or just add some context to your appreciation of all music, try this free online course from UT Austin.

17. Write well.

Macalester College’s lecture series is excellent. If you’re more interested in journalism, try Wikiversity’s course selection.

18. Get better at using Photoshop.

Another invaluable skill that will get you places in your career, learning Photoshop can be as fun as watching the hilarious videos on You Suck At Photoshop or as serious as this extensive Udemy training course (focused on photo retouching).

19. Take decent pictures.

Lifehacker’s basics of photography might be a good place to start. Learn how your camera works, the basic of composition, and editing images in post-production. If you finish that and you’re not sure what to do next, here’s a short course on displaying and sharing your digital photographs.

20. Learn to knit.

Instructables has a great course by a woman who is herself an online-taught knitter. You’ll be making baby hats and cute scarves before this winter’s over!

21. Get started with investing in stocks.

If you are lucky enough to have a regular income, you should start learning about savings and investment now. Investopedia has a ton of online resources, including this free stocks basics course. Invest away!

22. Clean your house in a short amount of time.

Unf$#k Your Habitat has a great emergency cleaning guide for when your mother-in-law springs a surprise visit on you. While you’re over there, the entire blog is good for getting organized and clean in the long term, not just in “emergencies.” You’ll be happier for it.

23. Start practicing yoga.

Most cities have free community classes (try just searching Google or inquiring at your local yoga studio), or if you’re more comfortable trying yoga at home, YogaGlohas a great 15-day trial and Yome is a compendium of 100% free yoga videos. If you’re already familiar with basic yoga positions but you need an easy way to practice at home, I recommend YogaTailor’s free trial as well.

24. Tie your shoelaces more efficiently.

are you familiar with the feeling of oh-my-holy-moly-my-life-is-a-complete-mess? me too fam. but now, it’s time for change. It’s time to get our shit together and here are some tips to get started.

note : this is just a beginning guide; which only includes 1/100 of the tips to get you life together. I’ll probably make a part two if this is helpful?

1. do not procrastinate.

sounds crazy? but honestly, just don’t. procrastination leads to stress and anxiety and helps you lose your shit.

but, how do we not procrastinate?

‌get things done early. remember that sheet of paper your professor gave around in class having the list of all the assignments to be done that semester? yes, do that work months before if you have time.

do your homework the day it’s given. (no watching tv before you do)

‌study in the time you’re actually studying. don’t go on your phone half the time. If you’re doing that, you may as well put your books away.

‌other resources -

the procrastination masterpost by @studious-simplicity​

how to stop procrastinating by @determinationandcaffeine​

how to stay productive by @julstudies​

productivity masterpost by @ib-studyblr

2. become the master of  “fake productivity”

fake productivity is basically when you do mechanical work (i.e. stuff which doesn’t require much brainpower) to get into the real “productivity” zone. it helps you brain prepare for the big task ahead. here are some things to do -

make your bed

do the dishes/laundry

clean your room (i know it’s messy yo)

get your closet together

empty your inbox (be it gmail or tumblr)

do a smol workout?

make a to-do list/ organize you calendar

do a easiest or the most enjoyable task off your to-do list

3. plan, plan and plan

your planner/bullet journal should be your best friend. plan those essays you got to write, that research paper you have to do, down to the time you need to go out for dinner with friends. Plan. Every. Single. Thing. I. Really. Mean. It.

+ and follow up with those plans!! you have already wasted a lot of time on planning, you hAVE to follow up with that planning, right?

4. wake up early

why?  waking up early gives you the time to do things slowly and carefully so that you get it perfect in one go and your life isn’t a complete disastrous mess.

how to wake up early? i got you.

how to wake up early by @theyrestudying

how to get up early and enjoy your day by @coffeesthetics​

the morning “me” routine by @fightostudy​

5. have a healthy lifestyle

an example -

x wakes up at 7 am every morning, goes for a short run to wake herself up and comes back to have hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, slices of bread and a mug of steaming hot tea. she starts on her work after that, doing it without stressing about it. Then, after a nice hot bath and a delicious lunch, she goes out to a cafe to work on her online classes and to hang out with her friends. coming back home, she does a quick workout, takes a shower and heads off to make dinner. Having an early dinner, she spends the remaining few hours relaxing, drafting blog posts and spending time with her dog. at 10 pm everyday, she heads off to her bed, looking forward to a glorious tomorrow.

..sounds like a fairy-tale, right? you can definitely live it though.

In general, your day should have the following stuff  -

‌sufficient hours of work using which you can get all your work done

‌a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner (yep, no skipping meals)

‌a workout, generally of 15 - 30 minutes at the least

‌interaction with people, like hanging out with friends or family

‌sufficient sleep and resting time (preferably 8 hours of sleep)

‌a fixed routine consisting of you waking and sleeping at fixed time

‌a ‘me’ time at some point of the day where you don’t worry about work or anything and focus on relaxing after a long day.

6. believing that coffee sucks

why? its basically a drug and if you need three cups of it just to get started on work, you’re going to have a really hard time during finals.

Instead, get enough sleep so that you have enough energy to study without being a coffee addict. or you can even swap coffee for water. (hey, you’ll be more hydrated!) side note - a cup of coffee per day is okay though. I love coffee too and I totally feel you but don’t overdose on it, okay love?

some extra things to know about -

‌have a companion to keep you accountable at the start.

‌do have a laid-back day once in a while, you’re human after all.

balance work and play. reward yourself for shit done.

keep track of your spending, earnings, investments, etc.

stop being a perfectionist. seriously, you dont need to rewrite all those notes, trust me (comes from a was-a-perfectionist-kind-of-still-am-but-trying-not-to-be perfectionist)

‌don’t stress yourself out. getting your shit together is a journey and not a result.

remember, change will come. yes, it will; but only if you take action. start now.

also, on a side note - and this might seem very ironic, but sometimes you don’t have to have your shit together. life is always a mess and trust me when I say this, no one - yes no one - has their shit together and sometimes it’s worth it to lead a messy life and enjoy it without having any fixed rules and regulations like you would have if you wanted that perfect life. enjoy the life you lead and stay wonderful, loves!

- ̗̀   the adulting 101 series   ̖́-        

part one : kicking a rut

go check out my other masterposts here and you can always send in a request for a masterpost as my ask box is always open!!

The real answer: practice.

The additional thoughts that might help:

If you have the opportunity to, take a literature class.

You aren’t reading the book for a class, you are reading foryourself. The important quotes are not necessarily the ones that express aphilosophical idea, they could be something that gives you an insight onyourself and your behaviour.

Consider this: maybe you are trying with the wrong book for you.

Over-underlying is better than under-lying. Most of the workis done after you finished reading the book (by thinking about it, evaluatingit, forming your own opinions, etc.). I would also recommend to re-read morethan once the book, even right after you finished it.  

Also, write, write, write.

If you are struggling with the meaning of a book, look upreading guides and read criticism such as articles on jstor, introductions andprefaces, or suggested readings at the end of the book.

I believe thatyou read either to be entertained or to acquire knowledge. The two goalsrequire a different process indeed. However, don’t be ashamed or dismissive of ‘lighter’ reading – it stillserves a purpose.

Ask yourself: what arethe pain points and what do I think about them? do I agree? What is the themethat ties the narrative together? are the ideas presented accurately? are theconclusions valid? why did the author write this book? do I sympathize with thecharacters? which ones and why? did the writer’s times affect him? what doesthe writer want me to do, believe or experience? Jot down questions thatcome to your mind as you read. Record your disagreements or agreements with thewriter. Scribble down any reflections or connected thought that the book bringsto your mind. (Even afterwards.)

It’s the writer’s job to get the idea across to you, so if youdon’t get it, it’s only 50% your fault.

Think of this:Iwas really good at analysing (Latin/Ancient Greek/Italian) poetry, but outsidethe required reading I didn’t pick up poetry books. When I analysed the poems Iwent through a standard set of motions, I knew what I had to do, I knew how tosee the patterns and devices and how to decipher the meaning, but it wasn’t personal. Lately instead I started to gothrough poetry collections that I felt drawn to and it changed everything. I don’teven try to analyse it, I just read it. And yet I am much more involved and someof the poems linger in my mind for a long time and they speak to me.

A Small Guide to Journaling by Eintsein

The other day I have an interesting conversation with @amberthebooklion @athenasdragon and @princessofbadassery about this type of readings so here I am with a bunch of suggestions!

Men Explains Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit:  The book is a collection of seven essays and, according to its publisher, “has become a touchstone of the feminist movement”. Some of the essays are “Men Explain things to me“ (2008), “The Longest War“ (2013), “Grandmother Spider“ (2014) and “#YesAllWomen: Feminist Rewrite the Story“ (2014).

Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong-and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story by Angela Saini:  What science has gotten so shamefully wrong about women, and the fight, by both female and male scientists, to rewrite what we thought we knew.

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay: explores being a feminist while loving things that could seem at odds with feminist ideology. Gay’s essays engage pop culture and her personal experiences, covering topics such as the Sweet Valley High series, Django Unchained

Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornstein: this particular coming-of-age story is also a provocative investigation into our notions of male and female, from a self-described nonbinary transfeminine diesel femme dyke who never stops questioning our cultural assumptions.

Women and Power by Mary Beard:  With wry wit, she revisits the gender agenda and shows how history has treated powerful women. Her examples range from the classical world to the modern day, from Medusa and Athena to Theresa May and Hillary Clinton.

Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozy Adiche: A few years ago, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie received a letter from a childhood friend, a new mother who wanted to know how to raise her baby girl to be a feminist. This is her response.

Morder la manzana: La revolución será feminista o no será by Leticia Dolera: I don’t know if this books is available in English or in other languages than Spanish and Catalan but it’s really interesting with a bit of feminism’s history, gender problems, religion, gender violence… 

The essentials

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

hello, world (a test of some virtual singer software!)

Hey! so i just created my very first studygram (shameless self promo @decafstudy follow me) and one of my irl friends saw my stories and posts and asked “How many hours does your day have? ´cause mine only has 24″ and that got me thinking abt how i take the most advantage of my days to make them feel (or look) 48 hours long! Here are a few of the things I incorporate on my daily student life to be more productive!

• IF YOUR FIRST CLASS STARTS LATE IN THE MORNING WAKE UP 2 HOURS EARLIER THAN NEEDED i know, am i crazy? ok so here´s the deal. If your first class starts, let´s say, at 11:00 A.M you might be tempted to wake up at 10:00 A.M, get dressed, and head to school. Not only does this create bad habits for when you get assigned a 7:00 A.M class (which will happen) but you lose MANY HOURS OF PRECIOUS TIME. Get your 8-9 hours of sleep and do not let yourself wake up later than needed. My class sometimes starts at 11:30 A.M so i wake up at 8:00 have a nice morning, relax, work out a bit, light up a candle and get ahead on reading and work for school! Your day will start and feel more productive!

• NEVER LEAVE CLASS WITH A DOUBT ON YOUR MIND I know this might create anxiety for people who are shy and do not like asking questions during class (i am one of those people) If you feel just too scared to ask during class APPROACH THE TEACHER AFTER CLASS ENDS. as soon as he dismisses class, approach him and ask the question. If you are not able to do so DO NOT STRESS, BUT WRITE THAT QUESTION DOWN ASAP ON A POST IT AND STICK IT YOUR NOTEBOOK. that way you will have the question at hand and you can seek tutoring later and ask, or even ask a friend BUT NEVER LET A QUESTION GO, NEVER think “i will ask it later” BECAUSE YOU WON´T and IT WILL DOOM YOU. This will save so much time when you study, because all your questions will be at hand and you will know what you have to focus on studying.

• WHENEVER YOU HAVE FREE TIME, USE IT TO WORK WHILE DOING SOMETHING FUN instead of just diving head first into watching a movie, ask yourself if there is something more productive that you could be doing rn (reading ahead, reviewing, doing extra math exercises) if the answer is yes, then put that movie on mute and work while taking a peek at the movie ever once in a while. This will not only help you with discipline and learning to keep yourself from distractions, but it will occupy your free time in something that your future self will thank you for later on.

• NEVER ASSUME THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO IT LATER again, think in terms of your FUTURE SELF how much would your future self love it if instead of studying 3 days before the exam, you studied a week before it? How much would your future self love it of instead of reading until 12:00 PM tomorrow, you divided the reading between today and tomorrow? never assume that you will have spare time ahead because chances are that you won´t and you will end up with A BUNCH of work that you didn´t do and that you can´t do at the moment. FUTURE SELF THINKING has saved my life.

• LEAVE TIME OPEN FOR MENTAL HEALTH/PHYSICAL/RECREATIVE CARE as much as i always put work first, I KEEP MY THERAPIST VISIT AND MY GYM ROUTINE STABLE no matter how much work i have. This helps me feel more balanced and like i am on top of everything, not just school, feeling good=more productivity.

• POMODORO TECHNIQUE i know many people know about this but if you don´t, this is basically a studying technique in which you work or study for 25-30 minutes straight NO DISTRACTIONS and then have a 5-6 minute break, and then repeat the process as many hours as you need. This really helps me not get burnt out when I have a heavy load of work. Watching study with me videos on yt is a good way of keeping the pomodoro system going. Some good apps that I use for POMODORO are Forest and Tide.

• HAVE AN APP CARPET ON YOUR PHONE THAT IS CALLED “PRODUCTIVITY” ie. download a BUNCH of cute as hell apps that help you get motivated and organised when you look at them. This will make you more prone to look at your phone as an INSTRUMENT rather than a DISTRACTION. (my fave apps are Taskade, Forest, Tide, Brainscape and Pocket)

• Lastly, GET MOTIVATED i know this sounds cliché, but the reason why i love keeping my day busy is because i surround myself with a romanticised idea of studying. Doing these kinds of posts, following a bunch of accounts with pretty notes, having a clean room and desk, going to the library and appreciating the color scheme or sounds around you, listening to relaxing sounds or music while working, downloading many pretty apps to keep myself on track while having a cute aesthetic… all of these things might seem small, but they make you feel cleaner, more balanced and more prone to LIKING the work you do.

The LingQ Language Learning System

Everyone learns to speak their native language through context. Why not use the same approach in a second language? Surround yourself with meaningful, interesting input that matters to you. Start at an easy level and work your way up or adjust your level for more advanced learners. LingQ’s unique system help accelerates vocabulary acquisition so the language becomes a part of you, naturally.

The interface allows you to instantly translate words and phrases while keeping track of the words you already know. You can also listen to audio of the text while reading and split up articles into sentence-by-sentence chunks for better understanding.

A real game-changer in language learning that was built by a polyglot and recommended by many other polyglots!

Click here to join for free!

Here are all of the Routledge Grammar PDFs that I currently have. I’ll be updating whenever I find more. Let me know if there’s one in particular you want me to look for^^

Last Update: 2017/04/24

Fixed Intermediate Japanese: A Grammar and Workbook link 

Added books for Czech, English, French, French Creoles, Persian, Ukranian

Added more books in Cantonese, Danish, Greek, Polish, Spanish, Swedish

Arabic

Arabic: An Essential Grammar Basic Arabic: A Grammar and Workbook Modern Written Arabic: A Comprehensive Grammar

Cantonese

Basic Cantonese: A Grammar and Workbook Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar Intermediate Cantonese: A Grammar and Workbook

Czech

Czech: An Essential Grammar

Danish

Danish: A Comprehensive Grammar Danish: An Essential Grammar

Dutch

Basic Dutch: A Grammar and Workbook Dutch: A Comprehensive Grammar Dutch: An Essential Grammar Intermediate Dutch: A Grammar and Workbook

English

English: An Essential Grammar

Finnish

Finnish: An Essential Grammar

French

Modern French Grammar Workbook

French Creoles

French Creoles: A Comprehensive and Comparative Grammar

German

Basic German: A Grammar and Workbook German: An Essential Grammar Intermediate German: A Grammar and Workbook

Greek

Greek: A Comprehensive Grammar Greek: An Essential Grammar of the Modern Language

Hindi

Hindi: An Essential Grammar

Hebrew

Modern Hebrew: An Essential Grammar

Hungarian

Hungarian: An Essential Grammar

Indonesian

Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar

Irish

Basic Irish: A Grammar and Workbook Intermediate Irish: A Grammar and Workbook

Italian

Basic Italian: A Grammar and Workbook

Japanese

Basic Japanese: A Grammar and Workbook Intermediate Japanese: A Grammar and Workbook Japanese: A Comprehensive Grammar

Korean

Basic Korean: A Grammar and Workbook Intermediate Korean: A Grammar and Workbook Korean: A Comprehensive Grammar

Latin

Intensive Basic Latin: A Grammar and Workbook Intensive Intermediate Latin: A Grammar and Workbook

Latvian

Latvian: An Essential Grammar

Mandarin Chinese

Basic Chinese: A Grammar and Workbook Intermediate Chinese: A Grammar and Workbook Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar Chinese: An Essential Grammar

Norwegian

Norwegian: An Essential Grammar

Persian

Basic Persian: A Grammar and Workbook Intermediate Persian: A Grammar and Workbook

Polish

Basic Polish: A Grammar and Workbook Intermediate Polish: A Grammar and Workbook Polish: A Comprehensive Grammar Polish: An Essential Grammar

Portuguese

Portuguese: An Essential Grammar

Romanian

Romanian: An Essential Grammar

Russian

Basic Russian: A Grammar and Workbook Intermediate Russian: A Grammar and Workbook

Serbian

Serbian: An Essential Grammar

Spanish

Basic Spanish: A Grammar and Workbook Intermediate Spanish: A Grammar and Workbook Spanish: An Essential Grammar

Swahili

Swahili Grammar and Workbook

Swedish

Swedish: A Comprehensive Grammar Swedish: An Essential Grammar

Thai

Thai: An Essential Grammar

Turkish

Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

Ukrainian

Ukrainian: A Comprehensive Grammar

Urdu

Urdu: An Essential Grammar

Welsh

Modern Welsh: A Comprehensive Grammar

Yiddish

Basic Yiddish: A Grammar and Textbook

Hope this helps everyone out a bit! Happy studying^^

I totally understand, I always findmyself lusting for new books and then I look at the price and take a step back, because realistically I can’t afford it. 

Mostly I don’t pay for the books Iread and the big bulk of it comes from:

Libraries – I’m lucky to liveclose to a big public library (that also lends ebooks and had books in English)and I’m in love with the university library. Most of what I read comes from there.

Free e-books – I bought an iPadmini about five years ago and I love it (yes, 200€ is a lot, but it’s also… 20books or less given an average cost of 10€, and you can get a kindle for less - I talked more about this here), and pre-1920 books in their originallanguage are copyright free (see: x, x,x, x, x, x, but also on amazon). Look them up on the internet as well (for example, Iam currently working my way through Lovecraft’s works and here you can find most of it)

I exchange books with my grandmother(recently she gave me a book with the works of Gide, I gave her Balzac’s La Peau de chagrin) and my friends (recentlyI lent In Other Words by JhumpaLahiri to a friend and received Gogol’s DeadSouls by another).  There is a bookexchange at my university too (I recently got a textbook on Magic, Witchcraft and Religion! ). Also,most of the time I ask books as gifts (my mom got me Educated by Tara Westover for my birthday!). 

I volunteer at a lab and theyoften pay me in amazon gift cards that I use on kindle books, this technically doesn’t count as free, but still. 

I tried Net Galley, but it’s notmy thing, sorry. However, you might like it. 

I also set aside a small allowanceto spend solely on books and indulge in recent releases or specifictranslations/editions. Typically I rummage through book fairs and vintagemarkets that often sell books for 1-2€. Alternatively, AbeBooks often hasused books for real cheap! (and there are many other additional used books stores if youlive in the UK or the US)

I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS GET THE SAME FEEDBACK WHEN THEY GET BACK IN TOUCH WITH ME

Neither of my supervisors had never gotten it before either. They had to think for a while, and then it turned into them telling me how great I am and what they love about me.

This stuff is real. I would also say: none of it is lying. This is taking experience that you normally downplay and write off, and putting it in accurate words they’ll understand.

It’s hacking the capitalist system. Why ISN’T helping a kid with homework “tutoring”, when the only thing missing is a paycheck?

It’s especially important for anyone who isn’t a cis white man, because many of us are so thoroughly trained to feel like we are not good enough.

Privilege tells people they can fake it, and that they’re good enough just as people and can learn the skills on the job. Abuse and oppression tell people they aren’t good enough as people and that even their high skills are probably below average, and that unless they had the specific job title or were using certain skills officially, nobody will think it counts.

The exam was in 3 weeks when I once came back home from my neuroanatomy class, crying because I barely knew anything and started comparing myself to others and putting myself in this all-negative-bubble I couldn’t get away from.

However, panicking and crying wouldn’t help me get anything done. That’s how the Law of Attraction came to my mind and that I really started using it.

So, how does it work? 

First of all, you have to know what you really want. What will this good grade bring you? Will it get you closer to your ultimate goal? For me, I wanted to get the best score ever because I knew that neurology is a medical specialty I want to be into and getting a good score would demonstrate that this specialty is made for me :) 

Thinking about your ultimate goal -like being successful, being accepted in your dream school, or just be happy- will help you have a more positive mindset and therefore raise your vibrations towards the Universe.

Another thing you have to know is that Law of Attraction doesn’t work if you’ve never studied and your exam is in two days, you can’t get anything by doing nothing. You can’t expect a miracle if you did nothing in order to get closer to your goal. 

What did I do then?

Since stressing and getting anxious wouldn’t help me, I needed to be more calm and relaxed, and above all, I had to be positive. I knew how important this exam was and being afraid was the worst thing to do if I wanted to succeed.

Therefore, I took a piece of paper, and wrote down this phrase : « I scored a 100% on my Neurology exam », with the score written in a bold and big font. I also wrote, « I’m going to do my best every time I study, I’m going to be positive by never doubting about my capacities and always be confident ». Then I put this paper on my desk, in order to see it every time I studied.

I also started visualizing my goal. I visualized myself doing my exam, knowing all the answers, getting a good score. I visualized the possible questions asked by the professors, I visualized myself answering them.

I studied almost every day. I watched neuroanatomy videos when I was at the gym and re-write, again and again, all the neurological pathways I had to know.

I was still anxious, but every time I felt overwhelmed I would look at that piece of paper and I would say Thank You to the Universe.

I would also meditate, before bed or even in the middle of a study session. Meditation helped me for visualization but also kept me from falling into a negative mindset.

The big day arrived and I was confident. I tried my best to keep my fear away, by not letting others distract me with theirs. I knew I was well prepared, so what should I be worried about?

My turn came and, still confident, I answered all the questions like I visualized them. I got sometimes destabilized, but I bounced back every time. The professor was asking me all kinds of questions in order to fly from a subject to another. Let’s just say that I answered them all without any kind of problem until he told me that the exam was over. I have talked non-stop for 25 minutes.

When I went out of the room, I knew that the exam went well for me. But I still burst to tears because the tension accumulated was so high !  2 weeks later, we received the results. And I couldn’t believe my eyes : I scored 97% nearly just as much as I wrote down on that piece of paper.  

Now let’s summarize : how can YOU use Law of Attraction for your exams? 

Find your WHY : I think this is by far the most important thing. Why do you want to succeed in that exam? Where do you want to be in 5 years? 

Be confident : if you’re doing your best you are allowed to except the best. 

Visualize : dream boards and meditation are your bests friends 

Study (well, of course) : as I said before you can’t expect anything from the Universe if you don’t manifest it. 

Don’t let fear and negativity distract you : you won’t get anything done by doing only negative self-talk. You are capable. Never forget that. 

Last thing : everything you want already exists. You just have to manifest it by changing your mind and, as a consequence, your habits ; because as you might already know : your thoughts become things. 

For further information : 

https://awesomeaj.com/2015/05/09/7-easy-ways-to-law-of-attraction-exam-success/

http://www.thelawofattraction.com/what-is-the-law-of-attraction/

When you’ve dedicated your life to words, it’s important to go out eloquently.

Ernest Hemingway: “Goodnight my kitten.” Spoken to his wife before he killed himself.

Jane Austen: “I want nothing but death.” In response to her sister, Cassandra, who was asking her if she wanted anything.

J.M Barrie: “I can’t sleep.”

L. Frank Baum: “Now I can cross the shifting sands.”

Edgar Allan Poe: “Lord help my poor soul.”

Thomas Hobbes: “I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap into the dark,”

Alfred Jarry: “I am dying…please, bring me a toothpick.”

Hunter S. Thompson: “Relax — this won’t hurt.”

Henrik Ibsen: “On the contrary!”

Anton Chekhov: “I haven’t had champagne for a long time.”

Mark Twain: “Good bye. If we meet—” Spoken to his daughter Clara.

Louisa May Alcott: “Is it not meningitis?” Alcott did not have meningitis, though she believed it to be so. She died from mercury poison.

Jean Cocteau: “Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking towards me, without hurrying.”

Washington Irving: “I have to set my pillows one more night, when will this end already?”

Leo Tolstoy: “But the peasants…how do the peasants die?”

Hans Christian Andersen: “Don’t ask me how I am! I understand nothing more.”

Charles Dickens: “On the ground!” He suffered a stroke outside his home and was asking to be laid on the ground.

H.G. Wells: “Go away! I’m all right.” He didn’t know he was dying.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “More light.”

W.C. Fields: “Goddamn the whole fucking world and everyone in it except you, Carlotta!” “Carlotta” was Carlotta Monti, actress and his mistress.

Voltaire: “Now, now, my good man, this is no time for making enemies.” When asked by a priest to renounce Satan.

Dylan Thomas: “I’ve had 18 straight whiskies…I think that’s the record.”

George Bernard Shaw: “Dying is easy, comedy is hard.”

Henry David Thoreau: “Moose…Indian.”

James Joyce: “Does nobody understand?”

Oscar Wilde: “Either the wallpaper goes, or I do.” 

Bob Hope: “Surprise me.” He was responding to his wife asking where he wanted to be buried.

Roald Dahl’s last words are commonly believed to be “you know, I’m not frightened. It’s just that I will miss you all so much!” which are the perfect last words. But, after he appeared to fall unconscious, a nurse injected him with morphine to ease his passing. His actual last words were a whispered “ow, fuck”

Salvador Dali hoped his last words would be “I do not believe in my death,” but instead, they were actually, “Where is my clock?”

He had been really fucking sick for days, and woke up from a feverish night. His nurse? Wife? Asked him if he was feeling better. He smiled, said “On the contrary!” And died.