Q: I have just given my class 12th exams. I am expecting 80% plus marks with PCM-IP faculty. I was a brilliant student in academics and extra curricular activities till class 9 but my performance started declining in 10th with 76% because I became less confident due to my over ambitious nature and desire to secure 90% plus marks. Now I am almost losing interest in studies because I am scared of hard work. I am able to grasp concepts but unable to reflect the same in exams. I do not know what happens to me that time. I get nervous too and forget many things. I am a career-oriented person & think I deserve success, but how? Please help.

A:The things that you have mentioned here indicate with a fair amount of clarity, that you have burdened yourself excessively with your own ambitions. Whether those ambitions are realistic or not is a separate matter. There is no point in forcing yourself to sit in front of your books as this will only make you more fed up of studies and also the productivity during such phases is bound to be low. Take a break. Sit and talk to some people and try and re-organise your thoughts about your ambitions. Make very short-term goals keeping in mind your current capacity. Take each day as it comes. Make sure that you are not spending all your time in front of your books or thinking about studies. Get more balance in to your life by taking up something in the form of recreation. Watch movies, take up a hobby, and get into some form of exercise. Over-involvement in one thing always makes you more prone to getting bogged down.