There is a theory that most high achievers rarely succeed in the future. They simply become employees. Following the theory, C students are doing much better in this regard. These are most often the people who create companies and provide jobs.
Perhaps you will say: “Okay, poor students, but why suddenly excellent students in the future work for 30 thousand a month. How so? Why are it mostly only C students who achieve success?”
You don't even need to look at statistics here. There are only 2 secrets worth highlighting why this happens. In this article I will try to reveal these secrets and with their help prove the theory that C students are more successful than excellent students.
How does this “work”, please explain.
Saida:
In his book “Human Motivation,” David McClelland, an American psychologist, author of the theory of needs, defines the type of people “with pronounced needs for achievement.” It is they, according to McClelland, who become successful entrepreneurs. The professor attributes the key merit of economic recovery in any civilization at any historical time to the motive of achievement. The achievement motive is directly related to wealth and poverty, and the standards of human life.
The scientist suggests a likely source of the achievement motive (why is it present in different degrees in different people?): “A high need for achievement could be brought up in childhood by parents who set a fairly high bar for their children... Motivational interest can be formed at a very early age, before children develop self-awareness or the ability to evaluate their own behavior.”
That is, the desire to achieve is inherent in a person from an early age and is not influenced by school grades.
Another interesting study in the field of studying achievement motivation was conducted by Professors D. Raynor and E. Entin on students.
These behavioral psychologists showed that students with a strong need for achievement received significantly higher average grades in their studies if they considered it important.
Such students attached importance to the learning process as a certain stage in achieving success in life, and therefore tried to get higher scores.
But the subjects who had a low need for achievement made less effort in implementing certain tasks as complexity arose or increased, and, accordingly, were ready to lower their scores or abandon the goal.
From all of the above, the conclusion is the following: the likelihood of achieving success and the desire for it depends on the internal bar, on one’s own need to reach the “peaks of life.”
And, note: in the study by Raynor and Entin, a high need for achievement was more characteristic of students with high academic performance.
“High school students who are successful in their academic activities are characterized by a focus on performance and success, and an awareness of the value of any undertaking.” This is another conclusion of the Soviet psychologist-educator D. B. Elkonin “in the same piggy bank.”
Communication skills
The life of excellent students is quite monotonous. Their goal is to learn their homework well, answer well in class, please the teacher, and sometimes take an extra class or visit a tutor.
The world of C students is much more diverse, and studying is far from the first place in it. They do not bend to the system, are usually leaders of companies, date the most beautiful girl, are liked by everyone else, find interesting activities, are distinguished by non-trivial thinking, and never look like fools.
Excellent students envy them and do not always like them. But you have to copy from someone, so C students find an approach to any classmate, which is very helpful in later life for communicating with people and using them to their advantage.
It turns out that achieving your goals is most typical for excellent students?
Saida:
I would interpret these data differently. And I would take internal motivation, an outstanding desire to achieve goals, as one of the main driving forces in the evolution of a successful person.
In general, the myth about the incredible success of C students in life can be verified not only by serious scientific research, but also by simple calculations.
I changed 7 schools in 11 years of secondary education, so I will allow myself to conduct a statistical analysis.
On average, there were a maximum of 5 excellent students per class of 30 people.
The main core consisted of good students (and why do we talk so little about them?), and there were about 10 C+F students. That is, twice as many as excellent students.
And now (continuing to ignore the prevailing number of good students), let's think about whether it is fair to count the number of successful people from among both (excellent students vs C students), and then quantitatively compare these unequal samples?
Not fair! In principle, we have twice as many C students.
If the logic “C students are more effective and successful than excellent students in life” is correct, then among the powerful and successful of this world there should be at least twice as many C students as excellent students...
Comfort zone
Excellent students are almost always in the “comfort zone”; they are calm, confident in their brilliant answer and the teacher’s praise.
C students have constant stressful situations. They need:
- copy homework;
- constantly expect to be called to the board;
- give a reasoned explanation to the teacher why the lesson was not learned;
- hide the cheat sheet well;
- if necessary, “forget at home” the diary.
Such situations contribute to the development of active brain activity and creative thinking.
The child begins to understand that after graduating from school he will find himself in a big world where it will not always be comfortable and he will have to “extricate himself” from various situations, regardless of the previously received A’s or D’s. Failures for C students are not an obstacle to achieving their goals.
Is it so?
Saida:
Let's ask FORBES! Let's take a look at the 2021 list. We won't consider the entire list, we'll take the TOP 5 names.
1 place.
Jeff Bezos. He graduated from school among the best, and the prestigious Princeton University (which he easily entered) - with a “red” diploma and a distinction from the academic society Phi Beta Kappa.
2nd place.
Bill Gates. They write that he had bad grades at school, and the fact that he did not complete his studies at Harvard is also widely known. But how many of the kids you know who are C students read encyclopedias and created their own software products at the age of 13?
3rd place.
Bernard Arnault. Little is known about Bernard’s studies at school; sources are limited to standard phrases about brilliant abilities and determination. There is no information that he was a C student or a D student.
4th place.
Buffett Warren. Invested and tried his hand at business while in school. He wasn't a straight-A student, but he certainly saw the value in getting an education, graduating at age 19 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a BA in Business Administration and then earning a Master of Science in Economics from Columbia University.
5th place.
Larry Ellison. They write about him like this: an intelligent guy was drawn to knowledge, but only that which he chose himself. He was interested in spaceships, black holes, and the structure of human genes. Larry had good math skills. Typical for C students, don’t you think?
Agree, it is already becoming clear: it is not grades at school that lead to success in life, to achieving great heights, but something else.
Critical assessment of the education system
It is generally accepted that education is only intended to provide fundamental information and skills that will be needed later in life. At the same time, no one mentions that it is the school that should contribute to the formation of the child’s personality, identify and develop his best qualities.
In reality, things are completely different. The child begins to be praised only if three conditions are met:
- good grades;
- calm behavior;
- fulfilling the teacher's requirements.
At the same time, everyone should wear the same clothes, think and dream the same. Those who show their individuality begin to be suppressed.
Excellent students come to terms with this situation, try to please the teachers, cram all the subjects, and are very worried about not living up to the trust of the teachers. As a rule, such children will later face college, and then hired work, where they will unquestioningly obey, but to the boss. After all, even career advancement is possible if they have not only intellectual data, but also creative and communicative qualities, which in most cases they lack.
With C students the situation is diametrically opposite. They develop their strengths, do not understand why they should study subjects that are not interesting to them, and declare “war” on the system. Such students do not bother themselves with cramming their least favorite lesson or skip it altogether. Of course, the teacher should interest schoolchildren in knowledge, but this does not always happen. For example, if a child does not want to study physics, other horizons are open to him. He can become a talented photographer, designer, writer, biologist, etc.
It’s interesting that Nikolai Gogol got straight D’s in his essays and C’s in his literature, which did not stop him from becoming a brilliant writer. So, talent can manifest itself not only at school age.
It is believed that Einstein was generally a loser, but this is not so. He hated the classical model of education, had an extremely negative attitude toward cramming, studying useless facts, and strict discipline, for which he earned the dislike of teachers. He received good grades and enjoyed explaining to his friends how the telephone worked or other things they did not understand.
Read more: How to set goals correctly and achieve them
They delegate
Richard Branson was able to turn another of his shortcomings into an advantage:
I quickly found people who have a much better understanding of what for me is the “dark forest.”
The ability to delegate is perhaps the most important quality of a good leader. An example of this is Steve Jobs. As you know, the late head of Apple could not do “anything like that” - he was neither a brilliant engineer nor a fantastic designer; his strengths include only a sense of beauty and the ability to make really good presentations. Jobs also knew how to find the right people and use their strengths for his own purposes. For example, the first Apple computers were made for him by the talented engineer Steve Wozniak.
By the way, Jobs left the elite Reed College six months after starting his studies.
Article on the topic : iPresentation. Lessons in persuasion from Apple leader Steve Jobs.
They do not suffer from excessive perfectionism
Poor grades are often the result of excessive pride and unwillingness to accept one’s very average results in real life. A C student is unfamiliar with “overheated” perfectionism - and that’s good.
Perfectionism often leads to psychological problems: panic attacks (find out how to get rid of them), depression, self-doubt (become more confident!), inability to make decisions (make the right one according to the method of mathematician Rene Descartes). So... you need to know when to stop everything :).
Achieving the goal
Most excellent students are perfectionists. They strive to complete all assignments perfectly, receive only excellent grades in all subjects, and earn the highest praise from the teacher. To do this, they constantly learn something, decide, and devote all their free time to social activities.
For C students, everything is much simpler. They learn subjects that are of interest to them and correspond to their capabilities, and go to the goal through the shortest path through mistakes and failures. If necessary, they will always ask for help and help themselves. They are not interested in grades; the amount of knowledge should not exceed the level necessary for them at that time.
Therefore, C students achieve their goals much easier.
Adviсe
After reading the article and watching the video, you should not immediately give up learning. All the thoughts presented are an analysis of the actions and behavior of excellent and C students.
In addition, striking examples are always considered. The huge number of unsuccessful C students and the successes of excellent students are not taken into account and are considered normal.
Knowledge is always necessary, but to achieve success it is important to develop perseverance in achieving goals, hard work, perseverance, independence, adaptability, and responsibility.
Article rating
Self respect
For excellent students, it is very important to please the teacher, even despite your principles, if of course you have any.
C students always remain themselves in all situations. They are criticized, scolded, but they find their authorities, look closely at the world around them, and follow their own coordinate system. They don't please, they don't impress, they don't idolize teachers, they tell them the truth to their faces, for which they get lower grades.
Read more: 21 healthy habits that will improve your life
They develop their strengths
Bill Gates was interested in the school only because it had a computer class. Young Billy was stuck at the computers day and night - but he did not play, but mastered programming. As a result, at the age of 15 he opened his first company.
Article on the topic : How to find the meaning of life and your calling? The 10 step method from Elias Fischer.
C students: hidden talents
How often, upon closer acquaintance, a klutz, always tormented by the “physics student,” turned out to be an expert in paleontology, the compiler of a rare collection of butterflies, or an excellent cartoonist... Social psychologists are sure: as a rule, C students are not at all those who are incapable of learning and are not suitable for anything , - these children are simply not interested in the standard set of school disciplines. Often they are revealed outside of school or after graduation. According to the survey, among top managers there are as many C students as there are excellent students (22%), among entrepreneurs and non-employees, 30 and 28.1% received C grades, respectively.
Alexander Greb, PR director of Ralf Ringer: “The fact that among businessmen the percentage of C students is higher than the percentage of excellent students seems natural to me. An excellent student often has a worse ability to adapt than a C student. A person who is accustomed to getting A's at school often turns out to be mentally unprepared to re-gain authority, while a C student has long been accustomed to difficulties, to the fact that not everything does not always go smoothly. He develops the necessary flexibility early.
Their ideas are realistic
Richard Branson Richard
Branson 's teachers hardly thought that their student would ever earn $5 billion. The founder of the Virgin holding (which even includes an airline) suffered (and still suffers) from dyslexia - he did not understand well what was being said in the texts. Of course, the ratings were appropriate. As a result, Richard, when he turned 16, simply gave up on school and went to make money.
Today Branson says that psychological problems only benefit him - for example, when Virgin advertises for the masses. The businessman laughs:
We have a test: if [the advertising message] was understood by Richard, everyone will understand it.
Article on the topic : Fighting procrastination - the one-minute principle.
They're thick-skinned
Smart people are always loved and praised. But good grades and constant pats on the back are not an important way to build character and become a strong person.
But the one who more than once or twice brought home “twos” and “threes”... The one whom teachers cannot stand... He - involuntarily - learned the hard way what criticism is and learned to live with it. In the adult world, such a skill is akin to gold.
In 2012, psychologist Ilona Zherabek conducted a survey on the topic. The study found that having a “thick skin” and the ability to accept constructive criticism has a “significant impact on job satisfaction and achievement in the workplace.”
Article on the topic : How to find peace of mind in 3 weeks. Method of a German psychologist with 30 years of experience.
