Book excerpt: We all aspire to succeed in work and life. According to Abraham Maslow, once our basic needs such as food and shelter are taken care of, we want to fulfil our potential, to be the best possible version of ourselves. So what prevents us from achieving this? Some of us are beaten by the setbacks and challenges that life inevitably scatters across our path. For others, the fear of failure or lack of confidence can cause us to retreat into our comfort zone and avoid risk. In short, we simply give up and reconcile ourselves to disappointment. In work, this can lead to demotivation and disengagement. Whatever inhibits us from fulfilling our potential, there is now a remarkable groundswell of scientific research from the disparate fields of sports psychology, positive psychology and neuroscience. Elite athletes such as tennis player Johanna Konta have increasingly been exposed to this science. This has helped them persist in pursuit of their goals with passion and determination and has helped them bounce back from the inevitable setbacks that they encounter. Ultimately, it helps them succeed. The great news is that this is applicable to you – the science can be applied to anybody. You don’t have to be in search of sporting glory – if you simply want to achieve in work and in life, then these tools will help you. Using the tools offered in this book will help you, like an elite athlete, build your own mental toughness personal development programme and enable you to get ready and persist towards achieving your goals, whatever life throws at you. The full text downloaded to your computer With eBooks you can: search for key concepts, words and phrases make highlights and notes as you study share your notes with friends eBooks are downloaded to your computer and accessible either offline through the Bookshelf (available as a free download), available online and also via the iPad and Android apps. Upon purchase, you'll gain instant access to this eBook. Time limit The eBooks products do not have an expiry date. You will continue to access your digital ebook products whilst you have your Bookshelf installed.