Personal and Academic Growth
Achieving Academic Success
Coping with the Fear of failure
Suzanne (Sue) Stokes
Personal and Academic Growth
Personal & Academic Growth
Goals
• What is your goal?
• For the semester?
• For the year?
• In the next 5 years?
Expectations
• What were your expectations when
you arrived here at UJ?
Personal & Academic Growth
Difference
• What was different from what
you expected?
Change
• If you could do something
differently, what would it be?
• Why would you like to change
it?
Personal & Academic Growth
Strengths
• What do you have within you to
make that change possible?
Difficulties
• What are some of the
challenges you are currently
facing?
Personal & Academic Growth
Failure
• What does failure mean to you?
• How do you cope with failure?
Success
• What does success mean to
you?
Motivation
Motivation Worksheet
• What do you have within yourself to
help you achieve your dreams, your
long-term goals, short-term goals,
overcome the obstacles in your
path?
• Have you decided to succeed today?
• What are your strengths!?
Strengths
Strengths Worksheet
• Usually it is very easy for us to point
out what we are not good at. But in
order to understand yourself better,
you need to focus on your strengths,
abilities and talents!
• This will also motivate and help you
become a successful student.
Strengths Worksheet
• How can you use your strengths in:
– Your relationships?
– In your life as a student?
Homework: Complete the collage
Personal and Academic Growth
Personal and Academic Growth
• What is growth?
• How can you grow?
• Do you have an idea on how to start this
journey…
– What are you going to do differently
– What are you going to start doing/do more of
– What are you going to stop doing
Personal and Academic Growth
• How to set goals!?
• How to establish academic and personal
goals?
• Define goal setting!!
– One way to organise yourself and to get yourself
moving in a positive direction.
Personal and Academic Growth
• How to establish your own personal goal?
• How to establish your own academic goal?
• STUDY
• Homework: Complete the Worksheet on Goal
Setting
Achieving Academic Success
Staying Motivated
Achieving Academic Success
Staying Motivated
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How would you define studying?
What is the purpose of studying?
What do you do when you study?
Why study?
Where do you study?
When do you study?
Study
(verb)
The act of texting,
eating and
watching TV
with
an open textbook nearby.
Achieving Academic Success
Staying Motivated
Curbing Distractions
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Phone, laptop, television etc.
Inadequate planning
Attempting too much
Being disorganised
Lack of self-discipline
Inability to say “no”
Procrastination
Unfinished tasks
Personal problems
Socialising during time planned for work
Achieving Academic Success
Staying Motivated
Dealing with Distractions
• What is keeping me from achieving my goals?
• Why is this a distraction/waste of time?
• How often does it happen?
• What causes it to happen?
• What are the consequences of it?
Achieving Academic Success
Staying Motivated
Dealing with Distractions
• Be realistic about how much time you have or spend
on the different aspects of your life
• Plan for the next day the night before
• Writing it down helps take it out of your head!
• Have a dedicated study space with minimal distractions
• If you get distracted by something else you need to do,
make a note of it (unless it’s an emergency) and attend
to it later
• Set definite start and finish times – begin and end as
you have planned
Achieving Academic Success
Staying Motivated
Dealing with Distractions
• Allocate any unfinished work to another time – do not
ignore it!
• Find your own pace and do what works for you
• Review all of your work
• Postpone unnecessary activities until the work is done
• Identify resources to assist you
• Use your free time wisely!
• Reward yourself with things you enjoy – hanging out
with friends, social media, fun activities
Coping with the Fear of failure
But what if I fail?
• Failure is a normal part of
life.
• Everyone will fail, but not
everyone will know how to
bounce back from failure.
• What are some of the
common feelings and
reactions to failure?
IDENTIFYING SYMPTOMS
Mind: Agitated, overwhelmed, moody,
irritable, aggressive, depressed, difficulty
concentrating, anxious
Skin: Skin problems like acne
Joints and muscles: aches, pains, and
tension
Heart: Increased blood pressure, chest
pains, increased heart rate, high cholesterol
and risk of heart attacks
Behaviours: Procrastinating, changes in
appetite, increased alcohol consumption,
nail biting, hyperactive, withdrawal,
Stomach: cramps, reflux, nausea,
diarrhoea
Common Reactions to Failure
–Hopelessness
–Shocked
–Self-doubt
–Disappointment
–Anger (at self/others/situation)
–Frustration
–Guilt and Shame
Myths and Realities of Failure
Myths: “Failure means…” Realities: “Failure means…”
I am stupid
Something I am doing is not
working
I should give up
Something needs to change
People are better than me Everyone fails
There are no more options The option I am using is a dead
– it’s the end
end
People will laugh at me and There is opportunity to learn
judge me and think poorly and grow into a more capable
of me
person
I have let everyone down
Only affects one part of your
life
4 Steps to Coping with Failure
Step 1: Understand
what went wrong
Step 4: Identify
skills you need to
develop
Step 2: Brainstorm
ways to address
the weak spots
Step 3: Keep
yourself
motivated
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