"... Every ugly exam score, blown deadline and failed project provides the opportunity to try out new excuses. ... Q Are there any know solutions to preventing this behaviour?"
I think the real problem with trying to achieve something is a combination of not "knowing how" and thus having "no way to estimate" what it takes and just give up. For example, if I said to you, "go and walk 1000Km over hilly terrain" most people would probably give up because it seems impossible to do?
But if I said, "could you walk 10Km a day for 100 days?". This is doable. The second bit is the estimate. Could you "walk the distance in 100 days straight? Or 5 to 6 days out of every 7?" Breaking the big unachievable goal into smaller more achievable goals, you do regularly, means you have an understanding of:
- where you are now
- how far you have to go
- how much effort is required, right now
I imagine some peole still might flat out choose not to do 10Km/day five or six times a week, but I imagine quite a few could see that the effort is doable and achievable and not give up. Breaking down the tasks means you are not overwhelmed by the perceptions of impossibility. This could be the reasons kids give up for instance if you tell them to do a task and simply give up. Break it into smaller achievable tasks and you can hack their automatic flake response.
