Shut up and study!

There come some occasions in life when that voice in the back of your head challenges your ability to believe that you will be successful at something.  Lately, all I've heard is, "This is too much," or "You're never going to get this." Usually, this voice has crept up on me when studying for my knowledge test.  This week, I finally responded to that voice and I said, "SHUT UP!"  So far, my greatest challenge in studying for my knowledge test has been myself.  Having finally realized this, I believe I'm starting to make some headway.

I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to my study process, reading and attempting to understand why each answer is the specific answer the FAA is looking for.  This process takes a huge amount of time and with over 1,000 available questions for the IFR knowledge test, it is a daunting process.  Because this task is so huge, I've allowed my self-doubts to creep in and challenge my self efficacy.

However, I've come to realize that possibly my approach is a bit off.  One of the things I learned in graduate school was that adult learners have different learning methods and they must adapt and develop ways of learning that create success for them.  So while I like to have a firm understanding and knowledge of why each answer is correct, I've also come to realize that this isn't always entirely necessary.

Indeed, there are multiple test questions that essentially have the same answer, but are worded differently.  These are not a problem.  Then there are others that are heavy on diagrams and charts which require a little more effort in an attempt to understand what the specific processes are.  Here is where I use a bit of training from my undergraduate career as a drama major.  When in the rehearsal process, a trick I used to memorize my lines were to find operative words in the script that connected a string of thoughts or ideas of the character, and the same process has worked with my private pilot knowledge test.

I'm not saying that memorizing the answers to the test without understanding the content of the answers is what I'm doing, but in a way it is.  However, I've found that when using this process, the concepts begin to connect and make sense once I'm finally in the airplane. This will make more efficient use of my study time and will allow me to review more questions.  All it takes now is a little bit of repetition.  Now that I'm over my self-doubts, it's time to develop my groove and get settled into it.