I’ve already spoken at a great number of schools this term and as always I’ve been talking to young people about how they can best inflate their balloons of self belief. After introducing the metaphor of the balloon I move on to our four pillars which outline the key ways that you can keep your balloon inflated.  One of these four pillars is the importance of belonging.  Here I talk about how significant mutual encouragement is – this is where pupils learn to encourage one another, operating in a place of collaboration rather than competition. I take this a step further and encourage pupils to use their time at school to recognise and dwell on what their peers can do, rather than their can’ts.  This is very powerful message for us all – I am learning the hard way with so many can’ts but I know that when I dwell on what I CAN do and when this is reinforced to me by those around me, it’s very powerful.

So let’s make it our aim this week to help people focus on what they can do and not what they can’t.