I’ve often heard parents humble-brag about how their child is glued to the books, burning the midnight oil, studying for long stretches of time, especially the days leading up to an exam. 

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Each one of those is a bad learning habit that will ultimately lead to diminishing returns.

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Your child is not living to pass these exams - they are living to experience life. 

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There is a reason why steeple chase is not a marathon. Without the right learning skills, their entire life will feel like an obstacle race -  one hurdle to be jumped over after another in an exhausting sprint. Is it any wonder more and more young people get burnt out and feel like giving up?

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Don’t set them up for a life that is a series of sprints. 

Instead, help them build the strong foundation needed to settle into their own pace, for the marathon.

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And the bedrock of that foundation is physical wellbeing: eat, sleep, play.

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If there is any area where you should pull your rank as a parent, start with insisting your child transform their sleep, nutrition and exercise habits, especially in the context of their learning goals.

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Sleep

Known to improve the brain's connecting and processing powers, it is the down time your memory needs to file everything away in its proper place. Not getting enough sleep is like prepping all the ingredients to make a perfect pie, but then not giving it enough time in the oven to cook properly to perfection. 

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Not enough sleep in other words leads to half-cooked ideas and understanding of concepts. A good night’s sleep is especially important before exams and tests - and with effective learning techniques, that is possible. 

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Nutrition

It’s easy to understand that binging on crackers, salty or sugary snacks while studying is counter-productive, makes the mind dull and reduces our learning efficacy. Eating junk while studying and justifying it is as unscientific as adults claiming smoking helps them concentrate on challenging tasks. I won’t say more. 

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Exercise

The link between exercise and cognitive ability has been shown in multiple research studies. Being sedentary and expecting the mind to be sharp and active are simply unrealistic expectations. 

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Even adults are advised to get up and take a walk every few hours from their computers, and it's best to develop and hardcode that habit in the early learning years.

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Build now or pay later: secrets of the most successful learners

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There is a close to $30 billion global industry out there that teaches adults - fully grown adults - how to sleep, rest, build a more healthy relationship with food, and how to balance their lives better. 

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Why not put those fundamentals into place in their childhood and youth instead? 

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When we let them stay up late spending endless hours studying, we are actually telling them it’s okay to do that. We all see that as a physical validation of the fact that the child is putting in effort.

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But the most successful people on earth will tell you that getting genius results is not because of superior intelligence but because of genius learning habits. 

And without exception, sleep, nutrition and fitness are at the core of that success.

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For the rest, there is that multi-billion dollar adult wellbeing industry! 

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When our children grow up, they will be paying large amounts of money to guru’s and coaches who help them do what should have been internalized in childhood. 

Here is what they will pay a ton of money to learn with fancy coaches: the basics of living a healthy life.

Healthy Living and Effective Learning Basics:

• Wake up early
• Spend morning hours for grounding and self-awareness: exercise,  meditation, reflection,  journaling (most CEOs are members of the 5 AM Club)
• Have a smart-work plan for the day, week, month and year
• Eat well
• Make time for your passions
• Sleep early 
• Repeat. 

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Anything else will equal burn out- whether they are a student or a CEO.  

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Change their Eat-Sleep-Play game today

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If you want your child to be a big-time CEO, then don’t focus on helping them pass an exam. Help them build the habits of successful CEOs instead. 

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It is effective learning and living habits that will get them and keep them there, not a test score.

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Start with doing what it takes to get their nutrition, sleep patterns and fitness levels into shape. Preferably, make a plan in consultation with your child - if they don’t own it, they won’t take it seriously. Avoid common misconceptions and mistakes we parents are conditioned to believe about how our children learn.

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Both of you must agree that ineffective learning practices are not just pointless, they can be downright harmful. And then, work together to build a smarter learning strategy that sets them up for a lifetime of learning. 

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Also read:

Everything About Building a Positive Learning Environment at Home