Why smart people fail

Every single person in this massive world would have failed one time or the other in life. The one and only way to escape failure is by not struggling for success, yet learn from the mistakes.

There are six general reasons for failing.

Lack of social skills

One may be having academic intelligence but no social intelligence where he has no ability to listen to others, take and give criticism well and be sensitive towards others. People with social understanding will accept their weakness, take up blame and go forward.

Moreover, when socially intelligent, it helps you to escape from desperate faults. Some individuals let their emotion get away when confronted with a mistake and become irritable, temperamental and annoyed. As a result they title themselves as "prickly" and "temperamental". Social intelligence should be practised and learnt to achieve betterment.

Wrong Fit

One may not have failed but is going through hardship for a wrong deed. To gain success abilities, interest, personality, style and values should fit with the work.

For example David Brown, a popular movie producer was fired from three jobs before he realised that he had the behaviour of an owner than an employee, when he made use of the failure and produced his own movies.

There are some persons who take risks and then make them a lesson to fall into the correct track. But, for some, it is better to select the proper path and do something useful from the beginning.

Absence of commitment

Once a lawyer graduated very late from a law school, faced an interview, where he admitted that he had not gained his goals. He had joined to work in several places but was asked to leave because of his lack of motivation and he said that he never bothered since he never liked the firm.

People with no commitment, terrified with imagined failured, do not involve themselves in progress, thinking it as the way to prevent failure, but they unintentionally proceed towards it.

Employees seek for self-admiration in the applicant when interviewing because to be committed he should have the belief that he can do it. The person who lacks this may answer properly but not sound confident.

To avoid this, he should analyse his own voice by answering to an imaginary interview, recording it and listening to it himself.

Too scattered a focus

There are people who try to involve in everything under the sun and end up doing none of them well. For instance, there was a business man who gained tribute and expanded into more types of businesses where he came to a point, he forgot how many deals he was involved in.

Hidden barriers

Most of the time age, gender and race are considered as excuses for failure. A woman who was a sculptor found that none of the galleries wanted her work. She was finally explained by a dealer that her works were "middle-priced" since she is "middle aged". These hidden barriers are very difficult to make a stand against.

Bad Luck

At times things happen which you cannot do anything about. One day, in your working place you may get a new boss. He wants his own team to work and you may be simply thrown out having no fault. This is bad luck. What you must remember is, not blame it on yourself and remember that you have other choices.

Chances come to you and go. If you clearly analyse your failure and also realise that there are other choices, then you can win the race.

Why do smart people fail? They fail due to many reasons. But what is important in it is to experience it, and learn from it. Then, what is the distinguishing characteristic about 'really smart people'?

"They Learn".

Akiko Arunadee Jayatileke

Learning English the Fun Way

Thushara Kaluarachchi

English has taken the society by storm. At present, English has become essential in every activity we come across. Everywhere institutions are established to guide youngsters in learning English.

Daily enthusiastic students gather to add new words to their vocabulary and improve their skills needed in handling this most wanted language.

This time Daily News Teen captures the following group of hopeful students at one of the recognised English Institutions to ask why they strive hard to make a change in their lives and in turn make an improvement in the world they live in.

Demonstrating the meaning of the phrase, "Actions speak louder than words", among the hundreds that flock daily to the British Council, these students took a little time of their busy schedules to shed some light into their daily drive towards speaking, writing, and understanding the English language better.

Chamika Gunawardhana, having done her A/Levels recently, while awaiting her results, said she came to the British Council to improve her overall knowledge of the 'English World'.

"There are so many opportunities for people who are willing to work hard. I came here to improve my knowledge. I want to be fluent in the language. It's a lot of fun and is very interactive. We got the chance to make a lot of friends, local and foreign," she said.

Recommended to her by her school teachers, Chamika along with her friend, Isurika Cooray, claimed that the British Council had indeed proved itself as a sophisticated resource centre, which allows them to pursue their goals.

"I enjoy coming here. The teaching methods are very interesting. We have games too it is not just memorising what the teacher says. So we have a great time while learning," Isurika explained.

"English is essential for a job. It is the first qualification that is needed. Even to go abroad you need English. That makes the language very important," said Maheshi de Silva, another eager student. She also added that she has improved a lot.

Manorika Kalansooriya enthusiastically joined in to agree with the above ideas.

"The foreign teachers are extremely helpful, and are more like friends than teachers. There are other benefits such as library and internet facilities provided in addition to the classroom teaching," she said.

These girls also conveyed that they attended the British Council as they saw the service it provided, essential in obtaining a recognised, professional career.

Vivekananda Raja Varajan and Dharshan Jeyandra, another two young men learning at the British Council expressed their hopes of using the resources made available to them by the centre, to go abroad for higher education.

"There are lots of resources and it helps us a lot. English is important if you want to do higher studies so we are very keen not to keep any space for an obstacle in our future goals," they said.

Why do we forget?

Sometimes, while engaged in a conversation, some thoughts cross our minds. Within a moment, we lose track and are unable to recall them. Is it a sickness?

You need not worry about your memory getting affected. Years ago, during a session on concentration and memory at Bal Bhavan, Mumbai, a youngster claimed that his memory was very poor and he could not remember his text books. Later, it turned out that the youngster knew almost every film song.

We can remember things that we listen to or read with concentration. And you cannot concentrate on something which does not interest you.

The human eye is more sensitive to the colour yellow than to the colour red. Why is it that red is chosen to represent danger? Why red signals?

The human eye is more sensitive to the colour yellow. If the colour red is used at traffic signals and to communicate danger, it is only because it has been traditionally used. In Canada, post boxes are not red, but yellow.