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"   You won&amp;#039;t have missed the news that Britain got it&amp;#039;s very first gold medal in the 2012 Olympics courtesy of female rowers Heather Stanton, 27, and Helen Glover, 26. But you might have missed the tiny detail that just four years ago, Helen Glover was just a normal trainee PE teacher, who could barely hold an oar. Her potential was only spotted after she responded to a piece in The Times calling for tall sporty types by Sporting Giants, the talent identification programme. &amp;quot;My mum rang me up at university,&amp;quot; Glover said yesterday. &amp;quot;She&amp;#039;d seen the piece in The Times and said, &amp;#039;Helen this sounds like you.&amp;#039; I&amp;#039;d just handed in my dissertation and was on my way to a night out. All my friends were shouting at me to come but I found some Wi-Fi and sent in the form.&amp;quot; At trials, she had to lie about her height to make the grade (&amp;quot;I managed to stretch half an inch&amp;quot;) but she was on her way to gold. SEE THE SEXIEST OLYMIPIANS EVER! What we love about this is that it waves away our favourite excuse for not going for what we want in life: &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s too late. I&amp;#039;ve missed my chance.&amp;quot; If in just four years, a non-rower can become an Olympian rower, we&amp;#039;ve got NO EXCUSE AT ALL for not retraining in a new career, going for that guy who makes us shy, or even taking up water polo ourselves.  To achieve her goal, Glover trained six days a week, and sacrificed the standard social life of a twenty-something woman. &amp;quot;I haven&amp;#039;t drunk any alcohol in years, and I haven&amp;#039;t been on a night out, and I had to miss my grandma&amp;#039;s 90th birthday,&amp;quot; she explained. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s really hard, but I think it&amp;#039;s worth it because the highs I&amp;#039;m getting with the rowing are just better than anything else. &amp;quot; Inspired? Life coach and author of The Big Leap Suzy Greaves has this advice on taking that first step: &amp;quot;First, make a step-by-step plan: break your goal down into concrete, measurable baby steps. Then announce your goals to others: making a public declaration increases motivation. Think about the good things that will happen if you achieve your goal. Reward every molehill. Don&amp;#039;t wait until you&amp;#039;ve climbed the mountain to celebrate. Give yourself weekly and monthly treats and rewards for taking action. Keep a weekly journal or a record which plots your progress.&amp;quot; HAVE AN OLYMPIC SEX SESH And nobody takes gold at the Olympics if they spend time with haters. &amp;quot;Surround yourself with supportive people versus the pessimists who tell you that your business will fail / the Outer Hebrides is freezing, and did you know that internet dating is full of psychopaths?,&amp;quot; says Greaves. &amp;quot;Read inspiring books and autobiographies of people who have lost 3 stones / moved their whole family to Scotland / found love on the net / started their own business and succeeded. They did it \u2013 why not you?&amp;quot; So...What are you waiting for? SEE THE AMAZING WOMEN COSMO VOTED ULTIMATE WOMEN OF THE YEAR "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/worklife/careers/a16888/how-to-succeed-at-almost-anything/>