For example, I’m sure when you were in school there were a bunch of cool kids who never studied before a test, or maybe even went out to party the day before. People like these are usually so worried about falling short of expectations that they deliberately sabotage themselves in advance . If they do fine on the test, then things are okay, but if they don’t, they can at least blame it on partying.

That’s a loser’s attitude and you know it. So try to see failure in a more positive light and take responsibility for it whenever you can.