The fear of failure is one of the greatest obstacles to success; second only to laziness. And the unfortunate thing perhaps is the fact that this fear affects a lot people even more than laziness does. Teenagers are particularly affected, especially teenagers who study in places like Nigeria where their levels of intelligence is adjudged based on their abilities to pass examinations.
The fear of failure affects teenagers in many different ways. Some resort to avoiding fear. They do not necessarily work towards making progress but are just determined to avoid failure. In their minds they believe that actual success isn’t meant for them. Consequently, they make just the slightest of efforts and then arm themselves with enough excuses to defend their shortcomings should in case they fail anyway. Some students, on the other hand become so success-driven but all for the wrong reason; they just want to avoid failure and nothing more. These students tend to study so hard just to pass their exams rather than acquire the needful life skills that would set them up for life.
Meanwhile, some students simply succumb to the fear of failure by accepting it. They believe that they are good for nothing, internalizing failure as their lot. They believe that their repeated failures is a testament to their assumption that they are good for nothing and as such, they stop making any effort at success. When this type of belief is not quickly addressed, affected students usually always end up quitting school and pursuing other interests.
But the good news is that students who are struggling with any form of the fear of failure can be assisted towards overcoming such fears. Firstly, they should be encouraged to create greater emphasis on effort rather than ability. Agreed, a student may be unable to solve mathematical problems. But that should never be a good enough reason for him or her to give up on Mathematics entirely. Instead, s/he should focus on making constant effort at solving mathematical problems because overtime, the chances of him or her finally being able to solve such problems abound. Secondly, students who struggle with the fear of failure should learn to forgive themselves when they fail and move on. This is another great way to overcome the problem. Instead of folding into a ball and feeling sorrowful each time you fail, pick up the slack and make more effort.
Repeated failure often paves the way for the ultimate success. Never give up!
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