You can achieve more when you are not afraid to fail and you are persistent in your quest to win.

So many people tell me that they don't like vegetables, they find them bland and boring, they'll eat some peas or sweetcorn nut thats about it.  They stopped trying vegetables years ago because they never found one that they liked.

Yet they drink wine and coffee.  There's nothing wrong with that, I love a good real coffee (not any of that instant crap) and Fran enjoys a nice glass of wine.

It wasn't always that way, I remember my first drink of lager, it was disgusting yet I drank it because I wanted to feel like a grown up and get a bit drunk.  I think I was probably trying to impress a girl too, like the time I tried smoking (I'll tell you about that another day).

I continued to drink lager, even though I didn't like the taste because I liked the feeling of being drunk.  Eventually I began to appreciate the taste, I now really enjoy a cold beer on a hot day; I rarely drink to excess anymore because I simply can't handle feeling below par, I feel like its a waste of a day.

However, most of the people who don't like vegetables never really gave them a try.  They haven't got the same appeal with an instant hit.  Not many people eat a plate of vegetables and start dancing the way they would if they downed a few pints of pear cider so they don't bother trying to get used to the taste.

I have always like vegetables but I can empathise because I don't really like the taste of fish.  Before I lived with Fran my fish eating experience was cod from the chip shop, fish fingers and prawns in vinegar from the cockles & mussels man at the Walsgrave Working Mens Club.

I was put off because my Mum used to cook kippers occasionally for my Dad, I would get home from my paper round and the house would stink.  I associated all fish to that smell and avoided it.  

Fran introduced me to salmon, tuna and mackeral; I'm still not keen on mackerel but will eat it if it's on my plate because I know it has some great health benefits.  On holiday, I'll eat sardines on the harbour.  Again I don't particularly enjoy them but know the health benefits will be worth it and I'm gradually getting used to the taste.

I'm sticking with it and with each exposure I get a little more used to the taste.

Training any behaviour is the same as our tastebuds.  Chip away a little at a time.

Something as simple as increasing the amount of water you drink per day can have a massive effect on your overall health, yet so many people struggle to do it.  The main reason is that they try too hard at the start and barely leave the loo, rather than building up gradually and adding a little pinch of sea salt to keep their mineral level balanced.

When we first took on Poppy as our dog, she was terrified of the car.  She would jump in and as soon as it started moving she would start howling like a banshee, it was deafening.  Any journey longer than 5 minutes meant she would work herself up to the point of being sick.

It took some time and patience but we gradually introduced her to small trips and tried to help her calm down.  We built up the time and distance slowly and always rewarded her with praise when she was calm.  

Now a journey in the truck is one of her favourite activities.  She loves having her head out of the window to sniff the air and feel her ears flap.  We just had to take small steps, be persistent and fail forwards.

If you have a habit you want to change, do it gradually and if you screw up one day, it doesn't matter.  Just press the reset button and keep going.

Darren 'smoke me a kipper skipper, I'll be back for breakfast' Checkley