You’ve sat through the first week of class, and you’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not the class for you. You contemplate whether you should take a credit/no credit, or drop it all together. Or maybe you can pull it off - but do you really want to risk getting a “C”? What if you can get a “B” if you work really hard? In the article It's Easier To Remember When It's More Difficult To Do: Everything is About Trying and the Travails of Effort, E. Paul Zehr Ph.D. argues the obvious: putting yourself under stress will force you to work harder, and potentiate your chances of succeeding in the class. More importantly he argues that the effort itself is what is critical to learning, with research showing that "the very act of investing effort influences learning." Furthermore, those individuals who were most reluctant to invest their efforts into a task showed the greatest positive effects. It seems that motivation is the key to learning. As Zehr says, “…trying and trying to "try" actually lead to success at the doing.” So the next time you’re feeling overwhelmed by a class, stop and consider the fact that trying to go after that “B” may be all you need to jumpstart yourself to actually getting that “B”.
-Irene Tussy, Writer Source: Psychology Today