Self-Confidence And Academic Excellence

There is undoubtedly a direct relationship between a person's self-confidence or self-esteem and their performance in specific skill areas or in life general. It is my humble opinion that this relationship is especially pronounced where academic performance is concerned. People who have a high self-esteem or confidence tend to do better in school than those with a low self-esteem or confidence. 

When a person with high self-confidence is confronted with a difficult question, she bullishly sets off to solve the question. She does this because she believes she has abilities enough to solve it. And when she does solve it, that success makes new deposit into her confidence account. She grows bolder and sharper. Secondly, because she has adequate self-worth, she is not bothered about losing face or potential public ridicule if she gets it wrong. Confidence is a prod that pushes such people to dare new or challenging tasks regardless of the possibility of failure. 

The poor student, on the other hand, often has low self-confidence therefore he never bothers to attempt a difficult question because he has already written himself off. "I don't think I can do  this" he says, so he never even tries.  Furthermore, his low self-esteem makes him want to avoid situations that will make him lose face. Whilst the good student dares without bothering about losing face because she knows that she is good, the poor student refrains from occasions that could hurt his fragile ego. 

Confidence is what makes a good student persist in reading a difficult chapter over and over till he masters it. Confidence is what makes a good student push and conquer difficult topics or subjects. A confident person may go into an exams half prepared but he is able to tap into his inner self and put up a good performance. Good students don't always know the answers but they are confident enough to try. If you want to excel in school, build your confidence. Believe in yourself and the capacity of your mind. Dare new challenges.

Written By: Jeremiah Buabeng