Skyrocket Your Academic Performance: Volume 1, #1

You want dominion over your academics, you desire a change; I am your surest shot. README!

SKYROCKET YOUR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

To every difficult problem, there is a simple solution. This book is a simple-lasting solution to all difficult academic problems.

If you want to skyrocket your academic performance, this book will show you how best to do that.

The principles in this book are profoundly simple, and yet, simply profound.

Vol. 1

Table of Content

Preface......................................................................... iv

Introduction ..................................................................... 1

Academic soaring is feasible........................................... 12

Thought makes it feasible..............................................  29

Attitude makes it accessible .......................................... 43

SMART Goal makes it attainable ..................................  67

Planning Maps out the road ........................................... 85

Time management puts you on the right track .................... 102

3D keeps you on the track ............................................125

Passion accelerates the whole process......................... 143

Frequently Asked Questions ................................................... 163

The Book–Skyrocket Your Academic Performance

ALL INFORMATION, FACTS, and figures at my disposal suggest that three important conditions must be met for any student to soar academically, these conditions are:

  Inspiration and motivation

  Accurate knowledge of how best to facilitate learning process and

  Approach exam with a touch of excellence.

Skyrocket your academic performance is a series book with three volumes. Each volume is written to handle each of the sections highlighted above. The volumes are as follow:

  Volume 1: Skyrocket Your Academic Performance.

  Volume 2: Understand How You Learn and Facilitate Learning Process.

  Volume 3: Excellent Approach to Exam.

Spices: Each chapter of this book has a golden nugget, spotlights, and the Synopsis. The golden nuggets are five captures of important point or quotes that illustrate the ideas in the chapter.

Some ideas are too rich to overlook. I used the spotlights to reiterate, summarize and emphasis such ideas. And lastly, the synopsis is used to summarize each chapter.

Endorsements

May I congratulate you for this book in your hands.This book is not about person, but about a proven way to skyrocket your academic performance. Abbey B. Mogaji unveils the undeniable vital principles of good academic performance.  He also analysed critically, the contextual framework of how we can become success academically.

However, the book is one of the best medicines that I can prescribe as dose to all that desire great academic performance. Finally, this book is a must read for anybody who wishes to succeed academically. Read, digest, process, and comprehend whilst going through Abbey B. Mogaji school of thought.

Sam Adewumi (P Sam)

Author (There is greatness in your mind)

Books are like humans, when you encounter them they either influence you positively or negatively. They never leave you the same. Fortunate to be one of the first readers of this book—Skyrocket Your Academic Performance, I am convinced that just like it did to me, the book will rub off on you positively. 

Udom Ndinanaki

This book is a practical guide for success especially in academics. It is highly recommended for as many as are willing to get the best from life and academics.

Olugbenga Olaniyi

Author (Successis who you are)

Bacon Francis said, Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. This is one of such books to be chewed and digested.

Adigun Folorunsho Ajetola

The Polytechnic Ibadan

AUTHORS NOTE

For someone reading this book, it is a commencement of a new journey to better his academic performance. For someone else, it is a confirmation of being on the right track, for yet another; it is to maintain his performance with a minimised stress and sweat. Whichever category you fall, do not take it for granted. I trust that the words in this book will perform miracles in and for you.

The Aim of this Book

This book aims at changing your academic performance for good with a reduced effort. It is not to impress, oppress or suppress anyone but rather to impact your academic performance.

The Mission

The route to success is veiled; until it is unveiled, unproductive struggle is bound to continue. What a luck this book is on the mission to unveil the route that leads to academic excellence and as a result terminate academic struggles in all its forms. It will also expose the intangible things that engenders noiseless academic breakthrough.

How to Use This Book

If you are in secondary school, certainly, I expect that you read this book every term. If you are an undergraduate, I recommend that you read it every semester, preferably, at the beginning of each semester. If you are a post graduate student, I suggest you read every session. As you read, be slow! But make sure you are steady. For slow and steady win the race.

Warranty

The book only guarantees academic transformation if you understand and practically apply the principles and ideas therein. Anything short, the result is unpredictable.

Special Note

  Throughout this book, I have used masculine gender, only for the purpose of easy writing. The principles apply to both genders. I really regret any problem this may cause.

  Most of my examples and stories are cut out of the fabric of real life. But in all of the negative cases, the real name and identity have been changed to protect those individuals confidentiality.

Preface

United Kingdom Philosopher , Bertrand Russell was on point when he said, " The very best proof that something can be done is that others have already done it". In other words, " Any principle that had worked for one can work for all". The principles you are about to learn in this book are tested and can be trusted. It has worked for me and millions of people who understood and had practically applied it.

The difference between students who perform excellently well academically and those who perform averagely is not necessarily intelligent quotient (IQ); most time not how much they work, but because the former knows and apply some fundamental principles that just does not occur to the latter— I have been in both shoes, so I can relate better.

One may probably be wondering, What does it mean to Skyrocket your performance? It means to apply some intangible principles that help minimize our effort to produce our peak performance. Frankly, these principles may appear simple, but they can avert academic failure and help you catapult your performance beyond your wildest imagination.

As you will discover in this book, regardless of your current academic performance level, learning and right application of these principles will make a whole lot of difference. It will command not only drastic change but, also, shoot up your academic performance beyond your thought.

There was a particular time in my life that I would need to work off my hands before I could learn my school works; I would have to sweat bullet before I could retain and recall the little I managed to learn. In fact, I was tempted to believe that academic learning is the most difficult task that ever existed. And obviously, I got some evidence to justify my claim. One of it is this; if academic learning is easy, many people will love and do it.

Despite my logical justification, I was uncomfortable with my academic performance. I struggled so much to learn and learn so little. But, things changed—I mean visible change—when I discovered and accepted that:

  Academic excellence is feasible for me.

  My thought is indispensably important.

  My attitude determines my altitude.

  Setting SMART goals are indispensably germane.

  I have to plan and follow my plans to achieve my goal.

  My time deserves to be properly managed.

  I have to do what I love or love what I do.

  My feelings impacted my performance.

  It takes discipline to achieve anything tangible.

  God is the ultimate giver of good and perfect gifts.

  The best learning approaches that best suit me.

  I have to facilitate my learning process.

All these worked together to change not only my performance but, also my life. It will do the same for you if you can take the pain to learn and apply them. So, I recommend that you do not read this note to be enlightened but consume it to be illuminated. Trust me, if you can devour, digest, and apply the content you are holding, your academic performance will experience a visible turnaround.

Zig Ziglar was correct when he said, "Just any dummy can succeed if he cares to know what it takes." But I think the statement earn more credit when re-coined this way "Just any dummy can succeed if he cares to know and do what it takes". This is because knowing is one thing but doing is another entirely different but important one. The former is important but more important is the latter. So, I recommend a Bruce Lee idea that, "Knowing is not enough; we must apply what we know. Willing is not enough, we must do what we are willing to do" or else, what we know will be of zero use to us.

Spotlight: It is more blessed to be the doer of God’s word than even to have been the mother of Jesus. The same way, it is better to act than to read all day and night.

Finally, I strongly believe that no matter how well you think you learn, after reading this book, you will be able to achieve more, in less time, with less effort.

Happy Reading!!!

INTRODUCTION

Every person created by God is not only eligible to excellent academic performance; he also has the potential to raise his performance to a desirable level.

Golden Nugget

Disregard the philosophies, principles, theories and stories that degrade academic excellence. As long as you are a student, academic excellence is indispensably germane.

I am not telling you it’s going to be that easy, what I am saying is that it is going to worth it. Art Williams

To plummet requires little or no effort; it can be automatic. But to upgrade your academic performance, you may need to sweat bullet; it must be consciously worked out. 

For those who do not know, you do not have to be all down smart before you better your academic performance; you do not need to score 180 in IQ test either.

What you need is:

Motivation—this volume handles that.

Know how you learn—well treated in 2.0

Facilitate the learning process—Volume 2.0 handles that.

Approach exam with excellence—Volume 3.0 holds that

The Concept of Skyrocketing

Encarta dictionary defines the term ‘skyrocket’ as, To go up dramatically or quickly or make something do this.

IN THIS BOOK, TO SKYROCKET your academic performance means to dramatically shoot up your performance with a drastically reduced effort. Thus, the central aim of this book is to Help students reach their maximum performance with minimal effort.

‘Skyrocketed’ Vs ‘Unskyrocketed’ Performance

Skyrocketed performance is when one’s performance springs up with the least required effort. That was my experience during my Higher National Diploma (HND) program. I applied minimal but calculated effort to produce a skyscraping academic performance. What baffled me was how fast this improvement happened.

Graphically:

Interestingly, I had experienced ‘unskyrocketed’ performance too. These experiences put me in a better position to teach the subject of upgrading academic performance. Before I knew and applied the principles you are about to learn—during my ND programme, I invested a lot of effort and resources and yet got irritating grades. My effort did not commensurate with my performance. This graph explains it better.

Get the Point

FINGERS ARE NOT EQUAL. I recognise the fact that we do not have equal talent. Our abilities vary, so is our performance peak point. As a result, skyrocketing does not necessarily mean to graduate with a first class. But it essentially means to maximise your potential—get the best possible grade for you. However, the least potential that anyone can have will produce the grade next to a first class.

Spotlight: Skyrocketing is not necessarily being the best; it is being your best. It is getting the best you can by doing the best you can.

The Importance of Academic Excellence

It seems too obvious to mention that academic excellence is important especially to students. Yet I believe it is of utmost importance to say it because many people take what it involves—learning—for granted.

They see learning as a natural function of life; they talk about it as though it happens automatically. This belief may be true but it is incomplete. We obviously learn some things automatically. For example, we do not sweat to learn our mother language; nobody practically taught us how to eat, cry, laugh, or frown. Nevertheless, nothing can be learned to a ‘professional level’ without an additional effort aside natural functionality. A good example is learning to fly a plane, carry out a surgery, learning academic work, and many other professional or technical tasks. To effectively carry out any of these tasks, intentional learning is required.

The truth is that an intentional and effective learning is not commonplace. It requires conscious belief, effort, and action to make it happen. This explains why an English proverb said, There is no royal road to learning. Until you realise and accept this fact, you may not learn for academic excellence.

Spotlight: Regardless of what anybody says about you, no matter whom they think you are; you have the potential to learn than you give yourself credit for.

The importance of academic excellence was as obvious to me as water is to human survival. Not until a few years ago when I heard some religious fellowship leaders so degraded it. One of them would always say, I know people who graduated with ‘Pass’ working in Oil Company and top government agencies.

They read the King James Version of James 1 vs. 9 which reads, Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that, he is exalted to justify their position. My friend, Elvis hated such messages with all his fiber. He called it ‘consolatory message’. He would ask, Does graduating with first class disqualify one working in Oil Company? The truth is this; the vast majority of people at the top today enjoyed academic excellence.

My findings even showed that most of the leading religious leaders in Nigeria enjoyed academic excellence. E.A Adeboye of Redeemed Christian Church of God was an exceptional student.¹ W.F Kumuyi of Deeper Life Bible Ministry is a first class graduate of mathematics.² For D.K Olukoya of Mountain of Fire, he was the first student to graduate with first class in the department of microbiology in UNILAG. As at 2015, Olukoya’s academic record was still intact.³

On this note, I advise preachers and other religious leaders among the students to quit these consolatory messages and start preaching preparatory ones—messages that will prepare students for academic success

Spotlight: Grade does not necessarily determine our success in life. But it can be a temporary thermometer that shows how far one can go.

Does this imply that your academic performance determines your destiny? Capital NO. Your destiny is in the hands of your Creator. He determines and tailors it. Just as the manufacturers determine the purpose of a product, same is applicable to you; God, not your academic performances determines what your destiny will be. He also determines the path that will lead you to the predestined destiny.

Spotlight: Academic success does not determine your overall success. But