How To Never Fail An Exam: Confidence

So, welcome to the first chapter of this series that is actually about a generic concept or idea. To be more specific, confidence. Why do I say that this characteristic is generic? Essentially because it doesn’t solely apply for exams, but in fact it is applicable for basically any area in life. Think of it as an equation, if you add confidence to the mix, it’s almost guaranteed to be a success. Nonetheless, since this is a guide with a central point focused on passing exams, I’ll try and emphasize about confidence in that context specifically, at least the best I can. 

First, I’d like to make clear that confidence could well work as a double edged sword. I mean, overconfidence is easily a thing that could hinder your performance. Thing is, lack of confidence will also be a disadvantage. Therefore, it’s crucial to find just the right amount. Does that sound complex? Well it is.

You can’t expect to go towards an exam with only confidence, that would for sure be your demise. Plus, confidence isn’t something that should only be present during the exam, I consider it just as important to have confidence while studying. If you convince yourself that you know, trust me you’ll know. The knowledge will just seem to magically store itself in your brain, at least it feels much easier to remember concepts if you approach them confidently. Of course, to one up that you’ll need confidence during the exam as well, and for many reasons. 

Think of it like this, we as humans are emotional containers, and as such we have a limited amount of space to contain said emotions. The more confidence you have, the less space there is to contain negative emotions such as stress, fear and nervousness. But also the less space there will be for actual positive emotions. So, be confident, but just enough. It’s a bit vague of a measurement since we’re all different when it comes to this, maybe trial and error is your best bet for this specific aspect. 

Second, confidence is an emotion that reflects upon your actions. If you feel confident, or at least convince yourself of feeling confident, you’ll be able to talk in a more loquacious manner, or write in a way that truly reflects your potential. Anyone who examines you will love this. Most times than not, you could have all the knowledge in the world, but if you aren’t able to transmit it successfully, then that information will be stuck with you. Worse case scenario, if you’re knowledge on a specific subject is somewhat lacking or vague, expressing the little information you do have with confidence, may be just enough to cover up your flaws. It’s basically the same principle for lying or bluffing: if you believe it yourself, everyone else will most likely believe it too. 

Now, to wrap things up I’d like to clarify a few things. Out of everything that will be stated throughout this guide, confidence is arguably one of the toughest aspects to actually achieve. Everyone is able to have and manifest confidence to some degree, but this also means we each manage it to our own extent and it adapts to our own personalities. Essentially this would mean no one can actually come up to you and teach you how to be confident, it’s just something you need to find out yourself. Sure, others can attempt to lend you a hand (for example what I’m trying to do with this blog post), but it’s impossible for another individual to give you an asserted answer on the topic. With this in mind, I wish everyone reading this the best of luck in their search for confidence. Just keep everything mentioned throughout this text present and you should be fine.