Nothing Ventured Nothing Gained

Being stretched and challenged moves you out of your comfort zone and into an area where GREAT things can happen.  For our students to achieve their best HSC results it is absolutely vital that they get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable.  Pushing their own boundaries can help our students find smarter ways to study, be more productive and focused, have an easier time coping with unexpected changes, cultivate self discipline and over time feel more comfortable challenging themselves.  All of which creates the perfect recipe for a great HSC result.

“Nothing worthwhile has ever been accomplished with a guarantee of success.” – John F. Kennedy

Being in your comfort zone is an efficient way for your brain to function ongoing as it takes a lot less mental energy. However for our students working towards their HSC it is necessary that they take risks from time to time in their work and their thinking in order to achieve far more than they think they are capable of. However for some students the fear of failure and judgement from others can be can be near paralysing and can result in poor or under performance.

Do any of these types of students sound familiar?

The ‘Avoiding’ Student 

Students who are performing quite well and look busy enough to have parents and teachers keep off their backs.  They avoid pushing themselves to a higher level of work and study. If they were to take some risks and put themselves out there they could achieve EXCELLENT results.

The ‘Unmotivated’ Student

Students who either lack interest or motivation can sometimes be hiding behind the fear of getting out of their comfort zone and feeling uncertain.

The ‘Unparticipating Student’

These students avoid participating in study or homework or submitting work.  They feel like they can’t be judged if they don’t participate and know one will know the real truth about their progress, including the student.

The ‘Comfortable Student’

These students like feeling comfortable and don’t like being stretched or challenged or trying new things.  They will often only do the minimum required and don’t like the slightly anxious feeling of going out of their comfort zone.

Tips for Parents

1. Share your own personal experiences around taking risks and the value it provides.

2. Have empathy for how your child is feeling.

3. Encourage your child to get feedback on their work in order to perform better – submitting work and acting on the feedback = great results.

4. Allow your child to fail and be there to support them – don’t rob them of these experiences that create resilience and personal growth.

Tips for Students

1. Take small steps at first.  Doing a task that makes you feel a little anxious is a great start.

2. Submit work as at least 1-2 times a week for feedback.

3. Have a positive mindset:  I’m going to…. ‘regularly submit my work for marking’ / ‘commit to performing high level thinking tasks’… because it will push me to work at a higher level and that will achieve the best results for my HSC.

4. Acknowledge your fear and be driven by what you want to succeed in rather than what scares you.

5. Ask yourself “what’s the cost of inaction?”

At HSC CoWorks our coaches provide HSC Coaching & HSC Tuition to continually stretch and challenge our students. We actively encourage submissions of work either in part or fully completed to our markers.  Having this type of ongoing, quick and specific feedback is one of the most successful tools our students can use in order to push themselves out of their comfort zone towards a great result.

JUST DO IT!