DON’T LOSE YOUR ENTHUSIASM

The cognitive and conative aspects of humans are intertwined. The conative aspect refers to the will of a person to do something and forms an important part of learning motivation. The conative, or will aspect, can be negatively affected by failures. Learners who experienced repeated failures are often characterized by the following:

• does not want to get involved in learning activities due to a fear of failure;
• do not want to set meaningful goals for themselves;
• do not trust their own abilities;
• rely heavily on others to give direct instructions and help them solve their problems; and
• rely on external sources rather than on their own cognitive skills.

It sure feels bad to fail and it’s easy to become bitter after a few consecutive failures. To avoid the pain of disappointment, you might even close your heart off, become protective, and stop dreaming big. But remember that many successful people experienced multiple failures. Albert Einstein struggled in school, and his teachers said he would never amount to much. However, this didn’t stop him from becoming arguably the most famous and brilliant scientist in history. Don’t ever loose your enthusiam for learning and do not let failure stand in the way of your dreams. Winston Churchill once said: “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

Dr Ora Marx