You too need to become better under pressure. Anyone can cope well when things are going well. It is only when you shine under pressure that you prove to yourself and world that you are destined for better things.

2 Exceptional people skills happen at margin.

To go from average to good and from good to excellent is possible in a short time when you make incremental improvements each day.

You do not need to change your personality or go on a two week course. Simply focus on listening skills, on non verbal communication and on building confidence.

Read some good books, get advice from experts and apply what you learn. By making only very slight improvements where it matters most you will quickly develop exceptional people skills.

The very best performers in sport and in business are only marginally better than their closest competitors and these slight margins make all difference between winning and losing.

Aim to make marginal improvements in your ability to communicate with confidence and your results will improve dramatically. Now would be a great time to get started!

3 Say what you mean and mean what you say

Mark Twain famously commented that common sense is not that common and today sincerity and honesty are far from common either.

You can stand out from crowd by making a point of saying what you mean instead of saying what you think people want to hear. Insincerity is a game you can never win as you are always living in fear of getting caught out.

If you follow through on what you say people will respect you for your integrity and you will be known and appreciated as someone who can be counted on.

Be unusual -- hold yourself to a high standard of integrity and commit to saying what you mean and doing what you say you will.

When you live like this each day other people develop confidence in you and in what you say. And success in world gets a whole lot easier with a team of people who believe in you paving road ahead.

Do this regularly to reclaim your independence from negative people.

3 Eliminate your own negative thoughts:

Often friends reflect back negatives you quietly hold inside your own mind. If you were 100 per cent positive about your life and your plans it would not matter if people close to you were negative.

In fact their negative comments might even make you laugh because their opinions would seem so absurd to you.

You can become more positive by reading books that expand your knowledge and understanding, spending more time with positive, dynamic people and by stretching yourself daily.

By stretching I mean challenging yourself to perform better than your previous best. When you make stretching to be more part of your life your belief in what is possible grows and grows at a furious pace. Before long you will not have room for negative thoughts.

Choose to find a positive in all things and it quickly becomes a habit that will transform your experience of life. I am always asking myself:

-- what is good about this?

-- what is great about this?

-- what have I learned from this that makes me stronger?

Ask yourself right questions and redirect your mind back onto positive.