How to Cope with Academic Failure

Practicing Self-Compassion

Give yourself permission to move on. Academics is mental, so the proper mentality plays a big part in reaching academic goals. Instead of judging yourself for past shortcomings, focus instead on how you will feel when you have mastered the areas that give you trouble.

Adopt the proper mindset. People tend to look at themselves as being academic “successes” or “failures,” and not people with discrete problems in a particular area. Failure and success are both conditions, which means that they are thought of as encompassing long periods of time. Define what success means to you, and let that be your guide. Instead of thinking of it as a failure, think of it as a problem. Problems are there to be solved; a problem can be fixed. Most importantly, everyone has problems, even the most successful people. Consider whether you need to adjust your expectations. Ask yourself what your priorities are and how academics fit into them. If you find academics aren't your strength, consider adjusting your goals to fit your strengths.

Cultivate a successful identity. Failure and success become part of people's identities. Many who have struggled in school have adopted an identity of themselves as a failure. If a person identifies as a failure, then success becomes contrary to their nature. If you think you might have adopted a failure identity, then the first step is to practice self-compassion. Stop thinking of yourself as a failure, and think about yourself as a person with a fixable problem. The existence of the problem itself is neutral with respect to success and failure. The problem is an opportunity, because how a person responds to a problem is what creates success or failure. Remember that you can be intelligent in more than one area. Many people have intelligence in some areas and deficiencies in others. Think about the areas of intelligence where you could be successful.

Identifying the Trouble Spots

Consider the impact of chaotic personal relationships and stress. Troubles at home or in personal relationships are the most common external factor making students’ academic performance suffer. Think about what’s going on at home and in your personal relationships. If you and your loved ones are fighting a lot, a parent has started a divorce, or you have just broken up with a significant other, this may contribute to your academic struggles. This kind of analysis can be difficult. Because people in close personal relationships mean a great deal, it is difficult to admit that those relationships may cause problems in other areas. But just because you have relationship problems doesn't mean that the relation is a bad person. The point is to separate relationship problems from academic problems so that they can both be solved.

Analyze extracurricular commitments. Social distractions are a common source of academic problems. If you participate in a number of extracurricular activities, including sports, partying, performing, visual, or written arts, or even just hanging out with friends, these can contribute to academic struggle. There are only 24 hours in a day. A person sleeps for eight hours and a full-time student goes to school for another eight. How you spend the remainder can determine the outcome of an academic problem. Be sure to plan some time in each day for self-care to help keep yourself mentally and emotionally balanced.

Make a list of upcoming assignments for the next week. Disorganization and improper time management is a huge factor in academic struggle. Making an inventory of upcoming assignments, due dates, and guidelines is a way for you to measure your organizational skills. Everyone won't remember everything off the top of their head. That doesn't necessarily mean that they are disorganized. But if you can't remember due dates, guidelines, and assignments, and you can't find the notes or handouts that describe them, you probably have organizational issues. Especially if you understand the subject matter, but have trouble keeping up with assignments, dates, and procedures, disorganization is probably at the root of your trouble.

Imagine how you feel when you are about to take a test. If you find yourself forgetting things you know before a test, feel anxious, agitated, or nervous before you are called upon to demonstrate what you know on an exam or in a presentation, lack of confidence and anxiety might be your problem. Everybody gets nervous from time to time. The question is whether you are getting so nervous that it makes you unable to do things that you otherwise could. If test-taking causes you such extreme anxiety that it impacts your performance and grades, talk to your teacher to see if other accommodations can be made for you.

Test your knowledge. If you find yourself struggling with a particular subject, and not school in general, lack of understanding might be your problem. Study with others to get perspective on your material, or work with a tutor to help you engage in the subject outside of class. Try some problems in a textbook, ask your teacher for a sample test, or go online to find some problems that you aren't already familiar with. Although it seems counter-intuitive, this is the easiest academic problem to fix, because it doesn't require a major change in behavior to fix. Almost anyone can understand almost anything if they are given the proper explanation and sufficient practice.

Bouncing Back

Look at the history of your grades and determine the overall trend. This can be tricky, so be very methodical about it (if you don’t have these records, your teacher will.) Were your grades good and then suddenly plummeted, slowly decline, or are they erratic? If they slowly declined, this probably indicates an ongoing but worsening external problem or a lack of proficiency in a foundational skill set. Foundational skills often start out as small portions of your grades but increase in importance as time goes on. If your grades suddenly plummeted, then that can be indicative of the sudden presence of a very troublesome external factor. If your family was evicted or homeless, a parent went to prison, or you moved to a new school or a new class, these would all qualify. Alternatively, the subject matter in that class may have abruptly changed, and you might struggle with the new material.

Develop a plan of action. Once you have identified the factors contributing to your problems and determined when they began, you need to develop a game plan. What your game plan is will depend on the nature of the problem. Enlist someone to help you stay accountable to your plan of action. Talk to a friend, family member, teacher, or counselor about helping you stay on track.

Create a peaceful space. If you’ve been having trouble with parents, significant others, roommates or siblings, see what you can do to take yourself out of the situation as much as possible. Study at a library, a coffee shop, or even at a friend’s house. Even if you have to face those same problems when you get home, find a space where you can learn in peace.

Establish a routine. If you have organizational problems, then you need to establish a routine that works for you. Try to study at the same times and same places each day, so it becomes habit. At the end of class, double check with your teacher to make sure you know about upcoming assignments. Set phone and email alerts so you don’t forget about them, and set them at the times you need to start working on them.

Stay calm. If you find yourself having trouble with anxiety, ask your teacher if you can take your exam in a quiet or more comfortable setting. Read directions carefully. Don’t take the test on an empty stomach. Make sure you are prepared. Avoid cramming in new material right before the test, and above all, remember that anxiety is also a habit. Break yourself of it.

Use outside resources. If you have problems with the academic material, now that you know what parts of the material are giving you trouble, take extra time to study them. Most schools offer programs to provide additional after school tutoring for students. Utilize these to the best of your ability. Use whatever resources you can, like tutors, online tutorials, friends, parents, and teachers. There is a wealth of additional help available online. Youtube.com and http://www.khanacademy.org all offer free services to help students on nearly any type of subject matter.

Celebrate and build on improvements. Your problems weren’t created overnight, and you probably won’t solve them overnight. You need to make sure that you celebrate even modest improvements in your performance. Only by recognizing progress will you be able to encourage yourself to keep going.