It's useless to keep telling someone to "work harder",actually.

This is what i have learnt in the Educational Psychology module.

When a person has failed,and u tell him to work harder,u are making him more depressed and stressed. For all u know,he might have worked really very hard but yet still didn't achieve what he had expected. The fact that we say "work harder" implies that we think he has not put in enough effort.

Anyway.

Instead of advising someone to work harder,we should advise him to

1)look at his mistakes,
2)find out the root of the problem and
3)change his strategy in studying. (The strategies that he had been using could be wrong)

On our part,we could give more encouragement by praising him when he has made some improvement,be it slight or great; say "You can do it!" instead of "work harder"; ask him to "never say die","believe in yourself" etc. Instil a positive attitude in him.

People with positive attitude always think in a positive manner and that never fails them in whatever they do.

Trust me.

When i think in a positive manner,i feel happier.

Last but not least,i have this to encourage those who have not done well:

THE FAILURE DO NOT ALWAYS FINISH LAST.

I have experienced this personally. Really.