The trouble is that some people get discouraged very easily. They fall at the first hurdle because they expect failure and the merest hint or suggestion of anything starting to go wrong is enough of a confirmation for them to give up completely.

If all this sounds familiar then we have a real problem, because you have created a personal mind-set where you always expect everything to fail and when you think like that, then the great Amazon of the Universe will assume it’s what you want.

Life is never smooth going and all of us have reason to feel discouraged from time to time, but positive thinking people never give up – they brush themselves down and try to learn from the experience, but more importantly never lose sight of the original goal.

Positive thinking people always remember the prime objective and while it may need an occasional change of course they can always see what they are trying to achieve and will never be phased by the odd setback – even when they seem to be coming thick and fast.

I am reliably informed that when NASA was trying to put a man on the moon they were getting it wrong for 98% of the time but they never took their eyes off the ball – or the moon in this particular case – in their efforts to succeed.

I have no idea whether that previous statement is true or just fake news, but it is a good analogy of what we are talking about here. Setbacks will occur and when they do you look for solutions and new ideas to take you forward.

But it’s not so easy for those who are easily discouraged and if this is you we should ask the question – why are you like this? What went wrong in the past that now makes you think that you will always fail at everything you try to do?

There is no point is me writing a list of possible previous failures as everyone is different, but just because something went wrong in the past does not mean it will fail a second, third, fourth time or more – unless of course that’s what you expect.

It’s interesting to note how these patterns repeat themselves. Many abused women go on to attract new partners who do just the same. Divorced people go on to attract new husbands or wives who are equally unreliable.

We see similar patterns in business where one failure is swiftly followed by another. Maybe you are just a poor business person but more likely you never expected to succeed in the first place and of course – you were not disappointed.

Positive thinking people know that things will go wrong and when that happens they accept it as one of those things and try to correct any mistakes. Those who are easily discouraged assume that when a problem occurs, it is a divine sign that everything is about to end in disaster.

So what are we going to do about it? Is there really any point in me trying to build a road map for you to follow towards a brighter future? After all, as soon as you hit the first set back you will make the decision to give up again – am I right?

I know you don’t want that so let’s do it. Choose something you want to achieve, something modest to begin with – dinner at a posh restaurant, the money to buy that special item - because we have to ensure that you get a few small victories under your belt before you go on to the bigger stuff.

Get those objectives into your head, set a time line when you can achieve your goal, plan to introduce some action and common sense to help the Great Amazon of the Universe deliver. Most important of all – check out in advance all of the things you believe might go wrong. Write them down if you can and then decide that these will never happen to you, but if they do you will be prepared and have a Plan B ready to go.

When you start to win at the small things you will find that the rest will quickly follow. It’s all about training you mind to expect success and not failure. Vow never to be discouraged again because you have the answers – are you ready?