English Level 6 (Unit 5: L1 & L2)

Introduction: What keeps people from giving up?

In this unit, you will read about the different ways people succeed and thrive in the face of adversity or difficulties. There are cycles of excitement, enthusiasm, creativity, and they are followed by despair, discouragement, and the desire to quit. Our brains are wired to giving up easily, it’s normal. Those are the hard moments when the negative thoughts start taking over. You start to question yourself. Am I good enough? Is this company going to succeed? I have no idea what I’m doing. What happens if I fail?

And that’s when you know you’re in the dip.

The dip is when most people break down. It’s a time of struggle right after the excitement of early success. A time when you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. But if you survive the dip, you’ll come out the other side stronger than you can imagine. Instant success is a myth, always. Many successful people failed hundreds of times, if they chose to give up instead of working harder to reach their goals, they would never succeed.

For example, Walt Disney had been fired by a newspaper editor before because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” If he gave up imagining and dreaming about big ideas, he wouldn’t have found the successful Disney business.

You will learn about different people’s experiences and difficulties by reading a memoir ‘A Schoolgirl’s Diary’, short story ‘The First Day of School’, and poem ‘Speech to the Young: Speech to the Progress Toward’.