Best motivational exam study quotes for students
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We all need some motivational exam study quotes from time to time. I know it can be so difficult to stay motivated through the long journey to get a diploma, degree, or license. When I go in to teach weekend seminars I see the struggle and I know everyone is so tired and just worn down by the process. Sometimes inspirational exam quotes are the thing that can hit the spot and help you get some good grades on the books this week. Enjoy my version of the best motivational exam study quotes for students and go out there and change the world!
Positivity Changes Your Brain
First, I want to say that there is such power in positive thinking and attitudes. They actually change the way your brain works. You can read the abstract to a wonderful study here. It states they found “that positive attitude was associated with increased engagement of the hippocampal learning-memory system.” What this means is that the students had better grades and their brains functioned differently. If you like science you can also check this article out..
Also related: How to reduce exam stress and deal with test anxiety.
Here is a list that I have compiled of notable quotes from inspirational and successful people to give you that extra boost you may be needing today. Pick out the best motivational quotes for you and watch the sum of small efforts you’re making add up to academic success and hopefully not as much pressure.
Remember Your Why
Keep your dreams alive! It’s a challenge to remember through all of the exam fears and stress that comes with school but it is so motivating to reconnect with your purpose. It will drive you to get over the hump in that class you can’t stand (like organic chemistry…yuck!). What is your passion? Why are you doing this to begin with? Make a list if you need to so you can refer to it often and especially when you need a boost before your next exam.
“A human being is happiest and most successful when dedicated to a cause outside his own individual, selfish satisfaction.” Benjamin Spock
“You might just find who you’re supposed to be.” Taylor Swift
“Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning.” Malcolm Gladwell
“Follow your passion. It will lead you to your purpose.” Oprah
“The only person that has the power to put boundaries on your dreams is you.” Trent Shelton
“Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.” Leonardo da Vinci
A job is something you do for money. Your life’s work is done for a bigger purpose…And when you manage to find that work – that’s when it starts feeling like play. Chip Gaines
“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” John F. Kennedy
“Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” Theodore Roosevelt
The best motivational exam study quotes about perseverance
When I really sit back and think about words of encouragement, exam success, and school life…I must say that it kind of boils down to perseverance. You will have one stumbling block after another on this journey. The words of wisdom that I can offer when you are having a lack of motivation are to simply stick with it.
Don’t give up!
I feel like the most common causes of failure with so many students isn’t that they are inherently unsuccessful people but their greatest weakness is lack of perseverance and stick-to-itiveness (yes, it’s a word. LOL). If you can do things that you really don’t like to do for enough years, you will achieve your dream and move on to change the world in your own unique way. Trust me, once you get to be my age you realize that time passes so incredibly quickly and even though it feels like you have a long way to go, you will be finished before you know it! Use this list of inspirational quotes to tackle this incredibly important issue.
“It is not that I’m so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.” Albert Einstein
“You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too. That’s part of it.” Denzel Washington
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill
“Success isn’t overnight. It’s when every day you get a little better than the day before. It all adds up.” Dwayne Johnson
“It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.” Albert Einstein
“Focus on what I can accomplish right now. Because a good week after week turns into a good month. Good month after month turns into a phenomenal year. Build your belief one step at a time. You will be surprised how quickly you claim the letter of success.” Gloria Mayfield Banks
“Be faithful in the small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” Mother Teresa
“I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong.” Audrey Hepburn
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” Winston Churchill
Hard Work is Potent
These study motivation quotes are tremendous and very self explanatory. With exam times approaching, sometimes the best remedy is a good kick in the pants to pump yourself up and do the work. Give yourself enough time by doing some old fashioned time management and create some of your own good luck.
“All progress takes place outside of your comfort zone.” Michael John Bobak
“Fall in love with the process and the results will come.” Dean Graziosi
“If people only knew how hard I’ve worked to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.” Michelangelo
“The only thing worse than giving up is wishing that you hadn’t.” Rachel Hollis
“Do more than is required of you.” Gen George Patton
“A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with – a man is what he makes of himself.” Alexander Graham Bell
“Winners embrace hard work. They love the discipline of it, the trade-off they’re making to win. Losers, on the other hand, see it as punishment. And that’s the difference.” Lou Holtz
“Go and find what it is that inspires you, go and find what it is that you love, and go do that until it hurts. Don’t quit, and don’t give up. The reward is just around the corner.” Joanna Gaines
Take it one day and one step at a time
I never knew Ms. Silverman was so wise. Honestly, this is a great way to set up a healthy mindset. When you use the right side of your brain too much you only think about the difficult life you will have in the future and all its anxieties. When you use the left side of your brain too much you only replay all the bad things that have happened in the past in your whole life. The constant goal is balance and the only way to achieve that is with living in the present. What can you do right NOW to get good results out of your student life and propel you to get awesome grades on your final exams?
“Practice and study what you don’t know and review the stuff that you do know” Anthony T. Hincks
Work smarter not harder. Listen in class because this is less to study later. Isolate the things you don’t know well and make a to-do list to cover them later.
“With the new day comes new strength.” Eleanor Roosevelt. She had so many amazing motivational study quotes. Check this out for some different perspectives.
The best motivational exam study quotes for overcoming procrastination
I know college students and this is a big issue. Without overcoming this one, the result of your preparation will come back void. What’s the best way to get started on something when you don’t feel like it? Reward yourself for doing the good things that will get you closer to success. Say “If I go study my biochem for an hour, then I can watch an episode of “Our Planet” on Netflix (that show is incredible). Hopefully this list of motivational quotes will help as well.
“Procrastination is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.” Christopher Parker
“Procrastination is the thief of time.” Edward Young
“The hardest thing about getting started, is getting started.” Guy Kawasaki
“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” Confucius
“Be honest with yourself about what you’re blowing off.” Rachel Hollis
Quotes by Athletes
This is the only place where you can see some funny exam quotes! Athletes put in a lot of hard work, master the easy things, and go the extra mile (literally). Some of them are great motivational speakers that can offer you a little motivation when you need a small positive deposit during exam season. I hope you get a kick out of these!
“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” Michael Jordan
“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” Muhammad Ali
“Talent without working hard is nothing.” Cristiano Ronaldo
“Let me show you how it’s done… Loser!” Babe Ruth
“Sometimes you have to accept you can’t win all the time.” Lionel Messi
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” Pele’
Positive Mindset and Attitude
Occasionally, the best thing to do during exam preparation is to pick your favourite quote from this section and just imagine the success story writing itself. These are just good for the soul and great things seem to happen when you have a great attitude, don’t they?
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” John Wooden
“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” William Arthur Ward
“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” Henry Ford
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope.” Hellen Keller
“Every time you’re faced with something ugly, focus on something beautiful. What you focus on expands. Only you can change your reality.” Ariana Grande
“I think the big mistake in schools is trying to teach children anything, and by using fear as the basic motivation. Interest can produce learning on a scale compared to fear as a nuclear explosion to a firecracker.” Stanley Kubrick
“Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.” William Faulkner
“What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.” Maya Angelou
“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” A.A. Milne
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” Theodore Roosevelt
“Reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” Charles Dickens
“Change your thoughts and you will change your world.” Norman Vincent Peale
Education is Powerful
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin
Refer to article about learning strategies/reduce exam stress.
“The more that you read the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Dr. Seuss
“Research shows that you begin learning in the womb and go right on learning until the moment you pass on. Your brain has a capacity for learning that is virtually limitless…”Michael J. Gelb
“Top experts in the world are ardent students. The day you stop learning, you’re definitely not an expert.” Brendon Burchard
“Power is not given to you. You have to take it.” Beyonce
“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.” BB King
The same thing is true about a degree or passing a national exam. Once you have achieved that enormous goal, you don’t ever have to do it again. Learning never ends but jumping through these difficult hoops does. The sense of achievement you feel is honestly one of the best feelings in the world. Keep going! You can do it!
Bounce Back From Failure
A very important piece of success is failure. Don’t let the fear of failure on upcoming exams keep you from accomplishing your dreams of becoming an educated person. Pick the best motivational exam study quotes and write them down to help you with this particular issue.
“Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error.” William Faulkner
“There are no regrets in life, just lessons.” Jennifer Aniston
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” Maya Angelou
“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and falling over.” Richard Branson
“Life is very interesting…in the end, some of your greatest pains become your greatest strengths.” Drew Barrymore
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas Edison.
Edison tested more than 6,000 options before he successfully created a lightbulb. That’s unbelievable and hopefully VERY motivating to you.
The best motivational exam study quotes that make you think
Ponder upon these after you tape them on you bathroom mirror. I do some of my best thinking while I’m brushing my teeth. It’s a good place to reflect (literally).
“We can choose to throw stones, to stumble on them, to climb over them, or to build with them.” William Arthur Ward (See more from him here. Amazing!)
“Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable.” Theodore N. Vail
“If you hear a voice within you say, ‘you cannot paint,’ then, by all means, paint and that voice will be silenced.” Vincent Van Gogh
“A wise man ought to realize that health is his most valuable possession.” Hippocrates
“Thoughts could leave deeper scars than almost anything else.” Harry Potter
“The only thing that’s keeping you from getting what you want is the story you keep telling yourself.” Tony Robbins
As you can see, there are so many quotes that can help propel you on during this uniquely difficult phase of your life. Spending time picking out the best motivational exam study quotes that speak to you the most will serve you well. It is my hope that you feel refreshed and powerful! I know it is hard to choose but what was your favorite?