I will often be met with the idea that fear motivates people to achieve things. This is not an uncommon theory and has been pushed and indeed championed by successful people.

I’ve been coaching students at Y11, 12 and 13 and listened to the way they think about and see their lives, and the way they have to perform. This idea of motivational fear will often come up. Teens taking important exams will be driven to revise by a fear of failure. One boy even referred to this process as ‘almost natural’.