Stop Telling Young People to Dream – Start Showing Them How

Young people need to raise their aspirations – that’s a line we often hear being touted about.

But aspiration doesn’t come from posters on classroom walls or assembly speeches about: ‘believing in yourself.’  It grows when young people actually meet individuals who’ve built something, whether that’s a sporting hero, influencer or a business leader who can show them what’s possible.

That’s one of the reasons why I’ve teamed up with Martec Training to launch a pilot programme called Inspire to Aspire. The idea behind it is simple.

If we want young people to succeed in the real world, we have to prepare them for it not just academically, but mentally too.

The real barrier isn’t talent. It’s confidence.

The biggest difference between those who succeed and those who don’t is rarely intelligence. It can often be about belief.

Too many capable young people quietly rule themselves out before they’ve even started. They don’t ask questions. They don’t put themselves forward. They don’t take opportunities because somewhere along the way they’ve been convinced they’re not ready or indeed worthy.

Inspire to Aspire is designed to tackle that head on.

Working with Martec’s founder Tracey Holland and with a small group of their learners, we’ve been focusing on the things that really matter through a series of workshops, covering:

• Confidence
• Resilience
• Decision-making
• The courage to ask questions
• And the mindset needed to keep on trying when things don’t work first time round.

Learners aren’t going to get that from text-books but they can get it from hearing from others who have the experience of both success and failure. Real stories change mindsets.  I know that first-hand.

Before building businesses in property, leisure and hospitality, I saw my own father’s businesses collapse. That experience taught me something important very early on: success isn’t always linear. The question isn’t whether you’ll face setbacks, it’s whether you have the mindset to keep on going when you do. That’s the message we’ve been sharing with the students at Martech. And it’s already making a difference.

One of the first participants, Sarah Edwards, who was the winner of the Newcastle-under-Lyme Young Hero Award this year, said the programme pushed her to step forward in ways she never would have before.

Another student, Owen Banks, summed it up perfectly: He used to be afraid of asking questions. Now he sees it as the fastest way to grow.

That shift in thinking might sound small but it’s those small steps that can make a big difference.

Opportunities and the confidence to take a leap of faith are not evenly spread. That’s something I want to change through the work we’re doing at MOmentum Capital and through partnerships like this with Martec.

The goal isn’t just to run a programme like this – it’s about building a system where young people are supported to compete, build businesses, create jobs and contribute to their local economy. It’s a journey I’m proud to be part of.