Although it seems as though some people never fail, everybody has failed at something in their life, whether academically or at a physical activity there is always something that they are not good at. There’s no doubt about it, failure makes us feel down and you may even consider quitting because “What’s the point?!”. I’ll tell you the point. You undertook this task for a reason, passion, money, glory, self-fulfillment, happiness, career etc. What makes you so undeserving of that degree, job, person, contract? NOTHING. Nothing at all. So why do we still fail?..
Loss of focus in crucial areas
You’ve worked so so hard and covered all the material you needed to for that exam or assignment or to give that presentation. Turns out that one little thing you were SURE wouldn’t come up was the main focus. It sucks and you never got to show off all your amazing knowledge on the subject because you just weren’t given the chance. Unfair? Yes. Is it your fault? No. Can you learn from this? Absolutely! Whether you are doing your A levels, undergraduate degree, postgraduate degree or working, you will find out how important those little details are and I promise you, you WILL improve in your ability to prepare for anything life throws at you.
Not seeking help
A study conducted in Korea in 2011 showed that 67% of medical students did not seek help when urgently required, mainly due to them not taking their stresses seriously (http://www.kjme.kr/DOIx.php?id=10.3946/kjme.2011.23.1.7) The study found a significant link between happiness scores and their patterns in asking for help. When you are feeling overwhelmed and unable to carry out an activity then speak to someone about it! I can’t stress this enough, it really helps you to feel much better and to realise that others are feeling the same way as you whether or not they have “walked in your shoes” and it DOES NOT make you a weaker person because you try to do what you can to avoid failing.
Lack of self belief
You’ve heard this before but I’m gonna say it again. If you don’t believe that you can do it, then you really can’t. It’s as simple as that. Every minute of your time that you put into achieving your goal bring you an inch closer to your destination. I know I know, failing over and over makes you lose belief and I don’t have the words to convince you that you have the strength to succeed. So I’m going to tell you what Micheal Jordan says: “I’ve failed over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed”. Remember, everybody who’s anybody at one point in their life felt like they couldn’t do it either and everybody that’s nobody, gave up. If you know you’ll fail by giving up what’s wrong with trying and giving yourself the chance to get the best results?
I could die tomorrow..
Well someone has actually calculated based on mortality rates that the chance of a person aged 15-24 is 1/4132 in the UK, which equates to a probability of 0.000242. How many international students have you come across that leave their families and lives behind to study and work in London so that they can have a better quality of life? If you were born here, you are SO blessed to have the chance to study and earn money! If you are one of those people who actually can convince themselves that this 0.000242 is worth more than achieving your goals then carry on watching as everybody else surpasses you and one day you will kick yourself wishing you had taken more control over your own life. The truth is, only YOU have the control to change this attitude! Think about it… if all world leaders, scientists and lawyers had this same attitude no one would persevere, and the world would be a dark place.
To conclude this off, there are many reasons for failure and everybody is different in terms of their intellectual and physical strengths and gifts in the same way that everybody fails at different things. Sometimes we fail simply due to being overstressed at crunch time for a million different reasons. But the important thing to remember is that failing is a part of learning. Without failure there is absolutely no progress and it’s best to make those failures whilst you’re young rather than when you’re older. As a graduate I can safely say that I know many people that retook theirA levels and are now doing better than some of the others I graduated with. I promise, failing is not the end of the world! As a matter of fact… it is the start of real life!
