How Passing a Tough Test Encourages Future Success: Tough Tests and Ego Development

Did you just pass a tough test? You succeeded! That is great, as success is important to everyone, at any age.

One of the ways passing a tough test encourages future success, is that it serves as an indicator of potential future success, related to whatever challenges you may face in life.

Ego development is another important part of the challenge to pass tough tests.

“Ego development was pioneered by Jane Loevinger as a way to assess how we identify self, our purpose in life, our needs, and the ends we move toward.”

Life is invariably full of tests and many of these are tough tests. Accepting the challenge of a tough test is the first essential step. It requires boldness, courage and sometimes, preparation. Endurance is another factor related to tough tests.

Every human being has the innate desire to accept new and different tough tests. In fact, people of all ages seek increasingly difficult challenges. The more challenges one has in life, the better. To succeed means to gain strength mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.  

For example, an infant will strive to accept a tough test and to succeed with respect to challenges, like walking. Passing each tough test, the infant becomes more intrigued and thus, is encouraged to accept further challenges, particularly if there is some kind of positive reinforcement. Many of these tough tests may be beyond his or her developmental level, but the child’s self-image is important to him or her, as well as to his or her parents and grandparents. As an infant succeeds in passing tough tests, the ego receives its own reward, too. It grows and develops further. 

Life is full of all kinds of tough tests for children, like school. As children grow, the tests get tougher and tougher. The desire for success with respect to passing tough tests grows, as there are increasing demands from parents and teachers, who thrive on children passing tough tests. Children are always eager to please. 

There is also the demand from the ego for its own self-fulfillment. Growing awareness related to competition and success on a peer level, adds to the ego’s satisfaction.

Entering into teen years, tough tests continue to present a challenge. Teenage years are not necessarily easy, as now the challenges become more goal-directed toward responsible adulthood. There are no guarantees of success on any level, but the ego struggles even harder towards self-fulfillment. Failure leading to rejection is not a viable option and often has dire consequences.    

In adulthood, there may be a more realistic attitude towards passing tough tests. Tough tests bombard adults of every age and passing them is important to them, their children and grand children, as well as others. 

Passing tough tests always remains central to the adult ego. Success continues to boost the ego, developing the adult’s self-esteem higher and higher, even in his or her senior years.

How passing a tough test encourages future success is still somewhat of a mystery and perhaps always will be. Just know it does. To succeed in passing tough tests is to succeed in life.