Throughout our lives, we’re always trying to overcome the hurdles of reaching the next level, whether it’s going from junior to senior in college, getting the PE license after passing the FE, or even going from one job position to the next. The real challenge, however, lies in how we frame the situations we need to go through in order to reach such a new level and not really the situations themselves. That’s called the Super Mario Effect.

First mentioned by the Youtuber Mark Rober during his widely famous TEDx Talk, the Super Mario Effect basically says that we should keep our focus on saving the princess (our ultimate goal) instead of the traps and pits that can hold us back and force us to try again. In his experiment for this talk, Mark found out that the group of people who were not penalized for their failures and were in fact inspired to keep trying despite their shortcomings showed a 16% higher pass rate when compared to the group of people who got penalized for every failure they made.

By elaborating on this and explaining why we should see failure in a completely different light, Isaac presents the tips we can use to make the journey of studying for the FE and PE exams not only a fun experience but also a process with a rewarding and steep learning curve.

Resources (some links are affiliate links)

KiwiCo - http://civilengineeringacademy.com/kiwi

Built Bar - http://civilengineeringacademy.com/built

The Super Mario Effect: Tricking Your Brain into Learning More (TEDx Talk by Mark Rober) - https://www.ted.com/talks/mark_rober_the_super_mario_effect_tricking_your_brain_into_learning_more

Mark Rober’s Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/MarkRober/featured

The Ultimate Civil PE Review Course - http://civilpereviewcourse.com

The Ultimate Civil FE Review Course - https://civilfereviewcourse.com

If you need exams, solved problems, or courses, make sure to check out our home base - https://civilengineeringacademy.com

Civil Engineering Academy’s Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPeFLBZ2gk0uO5M9uE2zj0Q

Haven’t joined up in our free community? What’s wrong with you? J/K. Ok, just go there and join a group of like-minded civil engineers! - https://ceacommunity.com

Join over 4000 engineers like you and learn the tips and tricks to passing the FE and PE. We even have a free resource for you! - https://civilengineeringacademy.com/join-our-newsletter

Reach out to Isaac - isaac@civilengineeringacademy.com

PE19: Gold, silver, and bitcoin by market cap