We live in a competitive society. Whether you live in the United States or in Europe or elsewhere you have probably felt at least some degree (if not a whole lot of) competition in your lifetime. Right now I am taking some very hard classes, and I must admit I am not grasping all of the material, and it takes me a long time for me to grasp what i can (for example Honors Chemistry and Honors math). I'm in 11th grade so there is a lot of emphasis on performing well (for college and the SATs and what not). I have been trying to "effectively not care" about how I do. This doesn't mean that I don't care how I do!!!! This just means that I try to tell myself rational things like "Okay, now I know I might not do too well in this class, and if I don't do well that is more or less all right because I am not a bad person for not doing well". or "If I do poorly and am embarassed that is not the end of the world. Much worse things could happen". However I am usually so incredibly anxious that I can't think because i am so worried about how well I perform. I have anxiety about raising my hand even when I am fairly certain of the answer, just because there is a chance I might not get it correct. I have been trying to practice REBT (Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy) for some time now. It has worked quite well for quite some time (especially with learning programming). Now that school has started and I am taking difficult courses I am having trouble staying rational and hanging in there when things get rough. I would like all of your opinions, and I am going to attach some sort of a poll so people can vote on how to survive in a competitive society.
