It is very much possible to become an achiever from an underachiever. The major cause of underachievement is the lack of motivation to achieve goals, or maybe even lack of clear goals in life.
Underachievement, first and foremost, is a behavior and as such, it can change over time. Often, underachievement is seen as a problem of attitude or work habits. However, neither habits nor attitude can be modified as directly as behaviors.
Given that for years you’ve been on what you call an underachieving path, it all became a chronic structure of your everyday life. Presumably, people who find themselves in this situation find it almost impossible to fight back and get on the winning track.
In a school context, underachievement occurs when there is a discrepancy between expected achievement given one’s academic potential and actual performance that one demonstrates. Every middle school or high school teacher may have a few such stories to tell on top of his/her head.
Understanding how we intervene successfully to turning the life of gifted underachievers around would sheds light on how we can help a more diverse and broader student population. Researchers have explored a range of interventions mostly designed to help students on skills to enhance learning motivation, self-regulation, goal-setting, and strengths development. Some interventions act as supporting systems through providing personalized support for students through mentorship or peer support groups.
Extensive research shows that gifted students get poor grades or even drop out of school for a number of reasons, such as low motivation, boredom, dislike of school, social-emotional difficulties, and unstable family life.
However, some students believed that receiving support from mentors or peer groups to be beneficial, particularly on helping them find schools more meaningful and relevant, connect with peers and mentors, improve self-regulation and work habits, and increase motivation to change.
Failing to nurture the highest intellectual potentials is hurting America’s global standing on educational excellence. In 2013, Jonathan Plucker and his colleagues released a thought-provoking report, “ Talent on the Sidelines: Excellence Gaps and America’s Persistent Talent Underclass.”
Fordham Institute, “ Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude? Performance Trends of Top Students,” shed some light on this. This study found that, among a group of students who scored at the highest level on the Measures of Academic Progress™ of the Northwest Evaluation Association™, about 30 to 50 percent of initial high flyers “lost altitude” at varied points over the course of K-12 education.
Get your hands dirty and learn to work harder than your competitors so they can never outsmart your efforts. Be courageous and take well-thought out chances. Allow risk to be your best friend. Aspirations fade when people are tempted to give-up and stop trying.
Be courageous and take well-thought out chances. Allow risk to be your best friend. Aspirations fade when people are tempted to give-up and stop trying. It’s much like the person that has a new year’s resolution to assume a healthier diet but can’t stay away from the temptations of fast-food.
Envy has the ability to cloud your mind and make you question your own intentions. Don’t let envy define your future or sway your aspirations. Dealing with envy is oftentimes a validation that you are on the right path towards achieving your aspirations.
Most people become irrelevant in their careers because they listen to those that don’t understand what makes them unique and gives them distinction. This is why it is incumbent upon you to take ownership of your career by doing everything possible to outwork and outsmart everyone else. This will require you to challenge the status quo and become more mindful about who you associate yourself with.
Wisdom Prevails During Times Of Adversity. How you respond when faced with adversity is what defines your ability to achieve your career aspirations. Adversity is very big when it is all you can see. But it is very small when in the presence of all else that surrounds you.
As a leader, your responsibility is to open doors and create opportunities for those who have earned it. Stop slowing down progress and allow individuality to take flight. Let’s face it, the workplace and the marketplace are telling us that it is becoming less about the business defining the individual and much more about the individual defining the business. What are you doing to allow others to discover their gifts and reach their full potential?
The only one that stands in your way – is yourself. Don’t ever second-guess your ability and capabilities. Life is about confronting constant disappointments. Not everyone will value you or understand why they should. Rather than get frustrated, take a moment to understand their different perspectives. Write these down and create a journal; perhaps you will find a common thread over time as to why you are being negatively judged. Appreciate feedback, whether good or bad – and learn from it. But never let it disrupt your focus, attitude and motivations.
Acceptance commitment therapy (ACT) is a type of therapy that focuses on first accepting negative behavior, personality traits, or situations. Thereafter, it promotes commitment to positive thoughts and behavior patterns, to help motivate change.
A 2017 review that analyzed the results of 207 studies found that people could change their personalities and experience improvements in mental health conditions with the support of therapy and interventions. 2
ACT can help them recognize these unhealthy behaviors and promote healthier ones that are sustainable and safe.
For instance, if you’ve made mistakes, you may regret them and promise yourself that you’ll change and do better next time. Or, if you feel like there’s something wrong with you, you may have tried to change but may not have succeeded yet, says Aimee Daramus, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist and author of “Understanding Bipolar Disorder.”
Damarus notes that you may also want to change someone you love, such as a child or partner. Their words or actions may have hurt you or upset you, and you may desperately want them to change, for your benefit or their own. Sometimes, you might find it difficult to love them unless they change.
You’ve probably heard the phrase “A leopard can’t change its spots,” which basically means that people are born a certain way and they can’t change.
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