The day before the exam, you try to cram all the information, but nothing gets into your brain and you don’t feel like studying. The easiest choice you can make in this situation is to go to sleep. Then, at least you can make an excuse to your parents or friends about why you didn’t get a good grade, and that it was because you fell asleep early the day before the exam, not because you were incompetent. This does not only apply to students who have an exam. When people have to show their abilities to other people, they often make an excuse for their failure ahead of time, just in case they don’t get a good result. The excuses are: “I didn’t have enough practice,” “I wasn’t feeling well,” “I didn’t have good conditions,” etc. This kind of cognitive strategy is called “self-handicapping.”
Everybody wants to be acknowledged by others, protect their pride, and avoid failure. This is why people utilize self-handicapping. However, if you keep shifting responsibility onto other people or circumstances, you will settle for poor results. Since there is no reason to do your best, you will not do your best and naturally good results will become more distant.
If you do not want to fall into the bad habit of self-handicapping, you have to be honest with yourself, and motivate yourself to do your best. That is a wisest way to protect your pride.