Friday Mindset #175

Happy Friday!

First, a quick hello to new subscribers 👋 Periodically, we migrate our questionnaire users to the newsletter list so there are a group of new readers this week. We’d love you to stick around! Have a look for a couple of issues, we’ll try and be useful, and if it’s not for you, just hit ‘unsubscribe’ later on.

And secondly, a reminder for sixth form folk! It’s that time of year again, introducing Year 12 to their future options, giving them a sense of the courses they might study at 18, and the grades they might need to make it happen. So, if you want a general intro to university study… Martin’s standing by to help.

If you’d like an intro to next-level study, online or in-person, for your students (we do staff sessions too…) plus a few giveaway copies of The Backpacker’s Guide to University, (co-written with university teacher Dr Jo Phillips) get in touch at [email protected], outlining what you’re hoping for, and Martin will get back to you! Done and dusted.

Right, time to dive in…

Something we're reading...

We were really taken with this essay.

Clinical psychologist Rob Lefort writes persuasively about the dangers of comfort, and the necessity of friction and challenge if we are to learn new things and improve our lives. (Subscribers - this read goes really well with a currently- featured video on VESPA Videos called The Danger of Discomfort, so pair them up!)

There’s clarity and insight in this piece, presented in easy and compelling images and ideas. The full article drops a single f-bomb, so we’ve trimmed it, done a little light editing, and turned it into a pdf for a quick tutorial read. The piece is here:

…and your family-friendly version is here:

It’s a great read for this time of year. Get it out to the kids asap 👍

Portal Talk...

The 3-Week Miracle Worker (And Other Revision Myths)

We've all seen it. The student who suddenly discovers their notes exist three weeks before exams, armed with seventeen highlighters and the desperate belief that if they just stare hard enough at their textbook, knowledge will somehow osmose through their eyeballs.

The uncomfortable truth about how memory actually works: your brain is designed to forget. Not because it's faulty—because it's efficient. It bins information it doesn't think you need.

The fix? Make it need it. Repeatedly.

A calmer way to do revision (that still works when life is busy)

We’ve been building something to make this easier to do consistently, without students needing superhero organisation skills:

FL4SH — a revision app designed around the forgetting/retrieval loop, so revision becomes a habit rather than a panic.

What it helps with:

• All UK exam boards — AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR, WJEC/Eduqas, CCEA and SQA. (Also International and Vocational Qualifications)

• Course-specific content — not generic “Biology”, but your GCSE or A-Level specification and topic structure

• Fast flashcard creation — so students actually make the cards (instead of planning to make them)

• Spaced repetition built in — the app nudges the right cards at the right time, before they fade

We've included our very own Leitner Box activity slides, our inspiration for the App, see link below, for access.

FL4SH is on track to launch in February 2026. Head to www.fl4shcards.com for more information and to join the waitlist — and please do share with colleagues, students and parents.

If you would like to discuss the new app or learn more about our online coaching portal. Or if you are interested in our current offer of 1 cycle of the VESPA questionnaire FREE before Easter - please use my link below to arrange a demo!

Something to try...

This week, we’ve got a simple powerpoint for you, called James Clear’s Principles. You’ll know Clear’s work; Atomic Habits has sold millions of copies and is a great read, really useful for students who are trying to change, who want to be better, but can’t quite find the motivation or discipline.

In this presentation, we share twelve of Clear’s pieces of advice for taking control, beating bad habits, and making progress. Like others in the series (this is the third ‘principles’ powerpoint we’ve put together), the idea is to study, discuss and reflect upon each piece of advice…

Subscribe to our premium content to read the rest.