2) Reducing Importance Why does exam fear occur? What creates it? Let's figure it out. When thinking about an exam, a person usually feels a lot of stress and is concentrated on the only thought “just to pass.” At the same time, his future is narrowed to only two options for the development of events: victory or disaster. It’s scary to even imagine the unpleasant consequences! That is why I don’t want to consider my own future in detail if the result is unfavorable. The person seems to deny the possibility of failure and does not agree with the possibility of the existence of other options. As a result, the picture of the future loses its realism and clarity. It is distorted, acquiring enormous scale and dramatic coloring. It is not wise to close your eyes and fear imaginary monsters lurking in the dark. By blindly surrendering to the will of fate, you risk bumping into a lamppost. To get rid of fear, you need to analyze all the options and possibilities in case of failure. Open your eyes, study the map of the area and develop “escape plans.” And it is necessary that there be several of them - from three to five. This way you will gain freedom of choice, flexibility and will be protected from the feeling that everything is at stake. Searching for information and the experiences of acquaintances and friends will help expand the list of possibilities. Spend time asking what they did in similar circumstances, what options they considered, what they experienced. Everyone loves to listen to success stories while dreaming. But the most useful are stories about failures, because they contain information about different strategies, their advantages and disadvantages. There is no doubt that important events in life depend on the results of passing exams: admission to a university, form of education, receiving a scholarship, the risk of joining the ranks of conscripts. These events are quite tangible and concrete. Alternatives to these events are no less real. Think about what you will do if you don’t get into your chosen university? Will you go to another one? Will you gain experience at work and prepare for admission next year? Will you choose an evening course of study and then transfer to full-time? Are you going to hitchhike around the country? Will you take care of your personal life? Learn to drive a car, play the guitar? Maybe you'll start learning a second foreign language? Will you become a volunteer? Failing is a sea of ​​opportunities, your only job is to find them and use them to your advantage. Get additional benefits and benefits from this event. If you follow the recommendations and are ready for any scenario, then you should feel better now. Next time we will look at a few more specific and exciting techniques.