Academic Success: Conquering The Dream Killer

How do you push through your worst times in school?

Think of the worst moment you ever had in school. Truly consider it. Notice how bad we feel when we’re not getting the desired academic success we long for—ours is always worse, it’s always different. You just don’t understand. Maybe it’s the unusual sicknesses – those that usually come only during examinations, cases of missing scripts, undeserved carry-overs, spiritual attacks, uncommon persecutions or intimidation from lecturers. Maybe seeing your school result with an F grade, that day you realize this isn’t the life you wanted, you’re depressed and your academic success looks bleak.

Congratulations, you have found your secret weapon. Those moments—the ones of pains and unfulfilled dreams, of undeserved carry-overs, of failure and bleakness—are where the greatest success stories always seem to begin.

So, read on to discover how you can conquer your dream killers.

As in any other worthwhile life’s endeavor, the starting point of any successful academic pursuit is a dream. It is the foundation upon which every success building blocks are laid. Without a dream or vision (as it may also be called) of what is to be achieved clearly defined, efforts will be misdirected, attention will be diverted, energies will be misapplied, time will be wasted, desires will be frustrated and eventually, future will be blank and bleak. Absolutely, nothing worthwhile and enduring can be achieved without a clear dream. Dream provides drive, impetus and energies that are directed toward the achievement of a worthwhile endeavor. So, dream is at the root of any life’s achievement. Academic success is a dream every student should possess and lack of it in any student is, to say the least, unthinkable.

However, very deep is the gulf that lies between dreams and their fulfillment. There are many “killers” abusing every dream or vision, ready to short it down and make it unfulfilled. Unfortunately, many students with great potentials for academic excellence and great dreams of academic success often fall prey of these dream killers and end up as failures in life. We must accept the fact that there are many dream killers in the highway between dreamland and the Promised-land. These dream killers are factors that militate against the achievement of your dreams of academic success. They manifest and operate in various dimensions – psychological, physical, social and spiritual.

Psychological dream killers include: fear, self-doubt, low self-esteem, depression, frustration, distraction, worry and anxiety, inferiority complex, among others. As abstract as these are, they are extremely pernicious and really harmful to your dreams of academic success. However, these psychological dream killers can easily be conquered by applying basic principles and practices, such as studying, meditating, believing in God and being hardworking.

“Some people dream of success while others wake up and work hard at it.” – Winston Churchill

Physical dream killers are the practical things that if allowed to thrive, can hinder the student academic success. Physical dream killers include: laziness, procrastination, idleness, time wastage, and absenteeism from lectures, indiscipline, and the likes. In this case, willpower, such as determination, discipline, and diligence are required to put the student on the ladder. Laziness is not a success virtue and so, it should not be found in your life as a successful student. Your dream for academic success should drive you to diligent, productive and determined actions in pursuit of its fulfillment. Great dreams without productive actions are just mere wishes.

Social dream killers include: peer groups, abuse of social media, getting involved in unnecessary social activities, distraction from family or love ones, unbridled quest for popularity, inability to maintain godly and rewarding relationship with fellow students, to mention but a few.

Spiritual factors account for some mysterious happenings in the student’s academic pursuit that cannot be explained. These are “devourers” that destroy the fruit of the students labour. These are “enemy” that sow tares among the wheat. These spiritual dream killers are responsible for unusual sicknesses – those that usually come only during examinations, cases of missing scripts, undeserved carry-overs, spiritual attacks, uncommon persecutions or intimidation from lecturers, and so on. Conquering these spiritual foes will demand engaging in prayer warfare. Remember, “…the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds” (2 Corinthians 10:4). With prayer and faith in God, every mountain can be moved (Mark 11:22-24).

Never you play Ostrich in life, but rather, face the battle with prayer and faith, for victory is sure.

Now that you have read Academic Success: Conquering The Dream Killer, How do you push through your worst times in school?