Yes You Can Achieve Your Goals!

The key to success – at anything – is persistence, staying positive, and an ability to bounce back

- Sharon Walker

Just imagine the scenario. You have a presentation to give at work. The big day comes and your mind goes blank. You get through it, but only just. You vow “never again”. You’re no good at public speaking. That speech you were planning to give at your husband’s big birthday? Forget it.

But what if you handled the fallout differently? What if you said, “That didn’t go so well, but next time it will”? Or, instead of hiding away, you bought a book on public speaking – comedienne Viv Groskop’s How to Own the Room would be a good place to start – and had another go? And that, according to psychologist Ian Price, is the key to achieving your goals. Whether you want to make a speech, write a novel, or get a work promotion, the secret is the same – you have to pick yourself up and start over. “Evidence shows success isn’t about innate talent. It has far more to do with whether you quit or not,” says Ian. “It’s about building persistence muscles.” Resilience is the ability to bounce back and keep going. Luckily, it’s a skill we can learn as adults. Follow these steps...

So how can we keep going until we reach our goals?

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When it comes to striking out, many of us fall at the first hurdle. Or rather we don’t fall at all because we don’t try in the first place. “If you believe ‘I’m not cut out for this’, that will flow through to your behaviour,” explains Ian. “So you will either give up or you won’t try.” The first step, therefore, is to acknowledge the negative beliefs.