In this chapter the students are introduced to the concept of persistence and the need
and importance we place on actually finishing tasks that we begin and persevering, even
when things get difficult and it seems virtually impossible to reach our goals or achieve our
aspirations. We need to be able to reflect carefully and sensitively upon the ways in which
we’ve responded in the past. For example, there may be things that we didn’t complete in
our lives in the way that we would have liked to. We need to understand and identify why
this was the case, in order to then move forward in the future, and identify what we could do
differently in the same situation another time.
Sometimes it is far too easy to set unrealistic goals and this then causes us to become
quickly demotivated and lacking in persistence. It is vital that as human beings we identify
goals that can be achieved and also the process by which they can be achieved. Consequently
this chapter aims to support students in this process, providing them with a stepped problemsolving
format which enables them to specifically identify resources and smaller targets in
order to achieve the bigger goals that they may have in life. In order to do this it is essential
that they can remain motivated and persistent, and part of this process involves focusing on
hope and maintaining hopeful thoughts in our minds as we progress in our life’s journey.