Overcoming Obstacles: How Your Biggest Failure Can Lead to Your Success

    There's been a lot written on the theme of failure and how essential it is to success. In a world where {#blank#}1{#/blank#} is given for people's accomplishments, failing feels dangerous. The fear of failure can stop people taking risks that might lead to success.

    Heidi Grant Halvorson, a psychologist, points out much of success is {#blank#}2{#/blank#} not on talent but on learning from your mistakes.

About half of the people in the world hold that ability in an area — be it creative or social skill — is natural. The other half believes, instead, that someone might have a preference or something — say painting or speaking foreign languages — but this ability can be improved through {#blank#}3{#/blank#} practice or training.

It's almost impossible to think rationally (理性地) while shouting at yourself, “I'm a failure”. But when you {#blank#}4{#/blank#} your thinking, you will probably see what you can control — your behavior, your planning, your reactions — and change them.

The primary {#blank#}5{#/blank#} between successful people and unsuccessful people is that the successful people fail more. If you see failure as a monster approaching you, take another look.

Success is as scary as failure. Researchers report that satisfaction grows on challenges. Think about it — a computer game you can always win is boring; one you can win {#blank#}6{#/blank#}, and with considerable effort, is fun. In pursuit of success, failure exposes areas that you need to {#blank#}7{#/blank#}. So the failure serves as a brick wall to test how you apply yourself to {#blank#}8{#/blank#} your objectives and how much you want them.

    There is a way to distinguish whether a failure {#blank#}9{#/blank#} you to double down or walk away, says Halvorson. If, when things get rough, you remain fascinated by your goal, you should keep going. If what you're doing is costing you too much time and energy or it's not bringing you joy, you should give a second thought to the {#blank#}10{#/blank#} of your goal and even set a new one.

    Chen Lei studied art history and the early {#blank#}1{#/blank#} of China in a university. He was able to recognize the {#blank#}2{#/blank#} of different cultural relics from former times, especially the Tang and Song dynasties. One day he was looking in a second-hand furniture shop when he saw an {#blank#}3{#/blank#} object among the many different vases and {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. It was a mirror {#blank#}5{#/blank#} in the Song Dynasty and {#blank#}6{#/blank#} in the {#blank#}7{#/blank#} style of that time. He recognized that it was a {#blank#}8{#/blank#} cultural relic, but at a price he could afford, so he bought it at once. Later he gave it to his local museum. The people there were very happy and without {#blank#}9{#/blank#} consider it one of the treasures of their collection. To them, it was {#blank#}10{#/blank#} much more than Chen Lei paid.

    Thank you for choosing me as the best{#blank#}1{#/blank#}. In our school, I'm really happy to share with you how passionate I am about sports and what I do to{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. I'm a big{#blank#}3{#/blank#}of many sports, including basketball, football and gymnastics. I love to watch these events on TV at the weekend. I also{#blank#}4{#/blank#}regularly, too. In the morning. I often {#blank#}5{#/blank#}on the running{#blank#}6{#/blank#}for about half an hour. I don't run too fast or for too long so that I have enough{#blank#}7{#/blank#}for the day. In the afternoon, I usually play football or basketball. I'm on the school football team. The training is always {#blank#}8{#/blank#}, but we all do our best, since we all want to{#blank#}9{#/blank#}on the team when playing against other schools. Believe it or not, we also occasionally do yoga in the{#blank#}10{#/blank#}! It helps relax our muscles and focus our minds. If you want to become fit and healthy, my advice is to try different sports and activities to see which one you enjoy the most.

The Floating School

    Life on the islands can feel a bit isolated due to a lack of electricity and internet connectivity.

    Although some of the islands have primary schools, most young people must travel to the larger islands or to the mainland to attend high school. Schools on the islands follow the {#blank#}1{#/blank#} curriculum (课程). They don't teach subjects such as maritime skills, swimming or local fishing traditions, and so the curriculum isn't always {#blank#}2{#/blank#} with students' everyday life.

    So, we {#blank#}3{#/blank#} the Floating School after winning funding through a US State Department grant competition called Seeds for the Future. Before we started the school, we spoke with young people, community leaders and teachers on the islands to find out the topics young people are most interested in. We also learned about the various {#blank#}4{#/blank#} of students and young people who don't go to school. Thus, we {#blank#}5{#/blank#} our own non-formal educational programme that fits with the context of life on the islands. For example, those working in fishing have responsibility {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the marine life, so we teach environmental protection and discourage destructive fishing practices.

    The Floating School is a wooden boat that can {#blank#}7{#/blank#} up to twenty people and it goes to the students, not the other way around -- we use it to transport educational materials, tools, and teachers to young people living on the islands. Our teachers are local young {#blank#}8{#/blank#}— so far we have had journalists, photographers, computer engineers and musicians — and students who want to {#blank#}9{#/blank#} their skills.

    At first, many of the young people thought the Floating School would be the same as their schools on the islands. They had thought of the teachers to be {#blank#}10{#/blank#}. But our students learn through art, media and literature. They don't have to wear uniforms or shoes, and the teachers treat the students as equals, without judging them. This means our students can be themselves.

Can a precise word total ever be known? No, says Professor David Crystal, known chiefly for his research in English language studies and author of around 100 books on the {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. "It's like asking how many stars there are in the sky. It's impossible to answer," he said.

An easier question to answer, he {#blank#}2{#/blank#}, is the size of the average person's vocabulary. He suggests taking a sample of about 20 or 30 pages from a medium-sized dictionary, which {#blank#}3{#/blank#} about 100,000 entries or 1,000 or 1,500 pages.

Tick off the ones you know and count them. Then {#blank#}4{#/blank#} that by the number of pages and you will discover how many words you know. Most people vastly underestimate their {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

"Most people know half the words—about 50,000—easily. A reasonably educated person about 75,000 and a really cool, smart person well, maybe all of them but that is rather {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. An ordinary person, one who has not been to university say, would know about 35,000 quite easily."

The formula can be used to calculate the number of words a person uses, but a person's active language will always be less than their {#blank#}7{#/blank#}, the difference being about a third.

Prof Crystal says exposure to reading will obviously expand a person's vocabulary but the level of a person's education does not {#blank#}8{#/blank#} decide things. "A person with a poor education perhaps may not be able to read or read much, but they will know words and may have a very {#blank#}9{#/blank#} vocabulary about pop songs or motorbikes. I've met children that you could {#blank#}10{#/blank#} as having a poor education and they knew hundreds of words about skateboards that you won't find in a dictionary."