On Course, Study Skills: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life, Study Skills Plus Edition

387 Pages·2010·4.12 MB·English

by  Skip Downing

Successful Students . . .
Struggling Students . . .

1. . . . accept personal responsibility,
seeing themselves as the primary
cause of their outcomes and
experiences.

2. . . . discover self-motivation, find-
ing purpose in their lives by discover-
ing personally meaningful goals and
dreams.

3. . . . master self-management,
consistently planning and taking pur-
poseful actions in pursuit of their
goals and dreams.

4. . . . employ interdependence,
building mutually supportive rela-
tionships that help them achieve
their goals and dreams (while help-
ing others do the same).

5. . . . gain self-awareness, con-
sciously employing behaviors, beliefs,
and attitudes that keep them on
course.

6. . . . adopt lifelong learning, find-
ing valuable lessons and wisdom in
nearly every experience they have.

7. . . . develop emotional intelligence,
effectively managing their emotions
in support of their goals and
dreams.

8. . . . believe in themselves, see-
ing themselves as capable, lovable,
and unconditionally worthy human
beings.

1. . . . see themselves as victims, believ-
ing that what happens to them is deter-
mined primarily by external forces
such as fate, luck, and powerful others.

2. . . . have difficulty sustaining moti-
vation, often feeling depressed, frus-
trated, and/or resentful about a lack of
direction in their lives.

3. . . . seldom identify specific actions
needed to accomplish a desired out-
come. And when they do, they tend
to procrastinate.

4. . . . are solitary, seldom requesting,
even rejecting, offers of assistance
from those who could help.

5. . . . make important choices
unconsciously, being directed by self-
sabotaging habits and outdated life
scripts.

6. . . . resist learning new ideas and
skills, viewing learning as fearful or
boring rather than as mental play.

7. . . . live at the mercy of strong emo-
tions such as anger, depression, anxi-
ety, or a need for instant gratification.

8. . . . doubt their competence and
personal value, feeling inadequate
to create their desired outcomes and
experiences.

Choices of Successful Students

For an online self-assessment of these eight principles, go to the On Course
web site at www.cengage.com/success/Downing/OnCourseSS

Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life

SKIP DOWNING

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2009935402

ISBN-13: 978-1-4390-8522-6

ISBN-10: 1-4390-8522-6

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On Course: Strategies for Creating
Success in College and in Life
Skip Downing

To Carol, my compass

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