I was inspired watching Cadel Evans win the Tour de France for the first time.

There were a lot of reasons to feel inspired.

First, Cadel is the oldest person (at 34 years of age) to win the race since 1923. He beat the best road cyclists in the World and is only the third Tour de France champion to come from outside of Europe - the two others were American - Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong.

Second, in the third last stage, Evans fell behind (had to change bikes) and then pushed hard to finish 57 seconds behind Andy Schleck. With one stage to go - the 42.5km time trial - Cadel not only made up the 57 seconds, he turned it into a one minute 34 second lead. An effort that won him the race.

Third, Cadel has been competing at the Tour de France since 2005. In 2007 and 2008 he was the runner-up, 2009 30th and 2010 26th before finally succeeding in 2011.

There are some key messages we can take from this:

1. Remove the barriers.

While many thought Cadel may have been too old, he knew he wasn't.

How many times do we let barriers get in the way of what we want to achieve?

Barriers like "It won't work", "I don't have time", "I don't have enough money" and "No-one will help me".

Then there are the barriers created by others: "You can't do that", "That will never work" and "You're too old/too young to be doing that".

Jane, what barriers do you put in place to stop yourself from achieving?

2. Most people give up too early.

When things start to get tough, many simply ‘throw in the towel' and think "I'm done".

After being 57 seconds behind with one stage to go, Cadel dug deep and was determined to give it everything he had.

Result: winner of the 2011 Tour de France.

Jane, where do you give up?

Do you give up when things get tough, when that assignment is not working out, when you are losing the game or when others say "You may as well quit"?

I've watched a lot of sporting games where one team or player has given in when they have thought it was all over. I have also watched many games where the team or player has come back from a hopeless situation to win.

3. There is always a way to achieve.

We learn from a young age that it's easy to quit.

When children have trouble with their homework, they often say "I can't do this" and will want you to do it for them. If you refuse, they will shut the books and go and do something else they enjoy - like conversing on Facebook ☺ .

How often have you noticed someone doing something and they are keen to quit prematurely?

You know, if only they would go a step further, they would get there.

If you are unable to see a way to achieve, start researching. Start asking people for advice and to help you. Start looking for possible solutions.

When a client consults with me for help to overcome a problem I have no knowledge in, I find a way. As an example, a pregnant lady asked for my help to overcome morning sickness.

Morning sickness? I've never consulted with a client with that problem. When asked "Why me?" she replied "I know it has an emotional counterpart and I know you can help me."

Nothing like some pressure to find a solution.

Now you are possibly thinking - like I was - morning sickness is a physical thing.

She was keen for me to help so I began thinking outside the square and came up with a solution that created the desired result.

I surprised myself in many ways and learnt a large lesson: Any thing is possible if you open your mind to it.