This Is It.

It's not that I have to quit thinking about studying and just study. That's a gimme. But it is true I must change my mindset. What I have been stressing about studying is my need to study in order to learn all the information that can guarantee me a good grade on the test. I have been so caught up in not failing and really thinking of what I can do to make an "A" this time. And I just need to quit that because ultimately, all that it is doing is making me stress more. What I must focus on is learning the information for the benefit of my future patients, not just for my own benefit. That, like a lot of things I say, may sound super gay. But it's true. My studying should focus on learning to actually learn rather than just learning it for the test. Hopefully then I will be able to retain it for longer and then be able to apply whatever it is I have learned in specific situation, like on the test, or the boards, or most importantly, with an actual patient. I need to quit worrying about the grade and just learn the information so that I really know and understand it, and thus really be able to use it clinically. After all, that is why I am learning it in the first place. To know it and to use it. I feel like for most of my academic career I have tended to learn something for the test then forget it as soon as the test was over. I can't do that now because everything I am learning I will likely need to know, or at least be familiar with, as a physician (vs. in college when everything was just bullshit that I will never see again). My purpose has switched. So the plan is to learn what I can and learn it so that I really know it rather than learn it just to get a good grade. If I know it, then a good grade is inevitable. I guess I should know that by now.