It is easier to act like you want to pass the GED than to actually do it. It is easier to talk about the GED than to study for it. It is easier to look and act stupid than be smart. It is easier not to try and fail than to try and fail. So what is the problem? Fear of failure! Society has this mindset that says:

  • No one with money fails.

  • No one who is smart fails.

  • No one fails a grade in high school.

  • No teacher can tell me what to do.

  • Life is lived without failure.

So when failure comes calling people start dropping like flies. They can’t handle it! They actually couldn’t do something the first time they tried. This is a shock. A severe body blow to the self-image a teenager maintains. Teenagers believe in their minds that they can do anything. Be the next Hollywood discovery. Be the next NFL draft. Be the slickest player ever to retire. In truth, in their own minds they can! Yet, in the real world, things have a way of changing. In the real world failure is common. Two fight, one walks away.

The educational world has a rosy view of real life:

  • If you are kind you’ll be alright.

  • If you behave you’ll be alright.

  • If you do what you’re told you’ll be alright.

  • If you’re quiet you’ll be passed.

For those whose life is real the above would be disaster. You can’t be kind and not be part of a gang! Your society is not mainstream society. A blow to the head shortly follows if you behave like you expect others to behave. It’s hard not to want friends and protection. Gangs will tell you what to do and start beating on you if you don’t. Everyone ignores those who are quiet! I mean, what’s to notice?

The solution for the educational world is to throw away the student.

  • The student won’t behave.

  • The student won’t participate.

  • The student has a problem with authority.

The individual solution is hard to obtain and apply. Broad and easy to apply solutions appeal to the educational world. It used to be that we were going to all be the same in a melting pot called America. Now we are diverse, different from one another in an America that is practicing diversity. The melting pot and diversity are as nebulous as ever and still impractical.

Anything worthwhile offers the potential to fail. Sports, boxing, war, inventing, writing a magazine story offer success as well as failure. Most of the time it is failure that leads to success. If you are doing something wrong and stop doing it things get better. Five foot two inch people shouldn’t attempt to hit six foot four inch persons in the nose. But rather concentrate on the ankles, knees, pelvic, spleen, or stomach areas. Work that and when your opponent is down kick his nose.

It takes hard work to avoid failure. You can’t do anything new for fear of failure. You don’t want to go back to anything you failed. You won’t do anything that you are not good at. Why advertise failure?

If one can experience failure and then success in the same endeavor an important life lesson is learned. Practice, change, or seeking help can cause one who failed to succeed. A person’s viewpoint must be practical since we live in a real world. For example, to believe that your right finger is a magic wand might be fun and ego satisfying. To stand in the middle of the lane where an 18 wheeler is coming at you and wave that same finger and shout “Disappear!” Is going to cause you some hurt! Dodging is not a bad skill to learn.

  • The most important act that students of the GED can master is not giving up!

  • To take small bites of the task until done.

  • To do, when all else fails, the task.

  • Failure is begun when giving up begins.

How can you live without failure? You can’t fool. You are supposed to live with it! So get over it. There are things you need to do.

If a student will commit to try then passing the GED just became possible.

  • A student will make mistakes and recover.

  • A student will learn that time, patience, and work will overcome much.

  • Accepting help is the greatest shortcut to success ever invented.

  • Replacing fear of failure with hope of success will motivate a student.

  • Acting with faith is the key to taking the steps towards success.

About the Author

Ronald E. Newton’s varied background in intelligence, network applications and consulting for IBM Global Services provided the perfect foundation for designing and implementing online classes in test preparation. Passionate about online learning and its possibilities, Ronald E. Newton provides mentoring services that help students, learn and perform well on the GED math, science tests. You may contact me through my website at http://www.newtonclass.com