While 2021 may be a year where resolutions might look a little different to ‘normal’ circumstances – new research has revealed that Wales is home to the UK’s most ambitious people in January 2021.

The research, from leadership and management training provider Corporate Coach Group, analysed Google search data for the final three months of 2020 to establish where in the UK residents were most likely to be searching for the tools and knowledge to achieve their personal and professional goals in 2021.

Search terms in the ‘Most Ambitious Cities’ study included ‘how to get a promotion’, ‘how to be successful’ and ‘how to set goals’. The search volume of each of these was then compared to population size to establish the likelihood of people in each city to search for self-improvement tips.

Wales was found to have the most ambitious people of the home nations with Welsh residents being more than twice as likely to search for advice on how to achieve their personal and professional goals this year. With an ambition score* of 35.12 Wales topped the charts comfortably followed by Northern Ireland (14.97) in second, England (13.20) in third and Scotland (11.70) in last place.

It was also the Welsh city of Bangor which claimed top spot when comparing all of the UK cities. Truro in Cornwall followed closest behind with Salisbury completing the top three.

The top ten ambitious cities in the UK based on Google search data in January 2021:

Rank	City	Population	Ambition Score
1	Bangor	17,258	115.89
2	Truro	19,798	50.51
3	Salisbury	42,519	47.04
4	Chester	84,025	35.70
5	Inverness	49,448	30.33
6	Lincoln	99,299	30.21
7	Bath	93,747	26.67
8	Londonderry	88,253	22.66
9	Durham	69,547	21.57
10	St Albans	148,452	20.21

Commenting on the results of the study, Sarah Ellwood, managing director of Bangor-based recruitment agency Supertemps, said:

“There are so many good ingredients to the recipe of success in Bangor.  Just look at where we are – surrounded by the sea and the Menai Strait, the currently snow capped mountains of Snowdonia – what’s not to like?

“I think there's a particularly entrepreneurial spirit in this area of North Wales. People will give it a go.  And probably the fact that Bangor is a university city helps too – I think this adds to the air of expectation and ambition. We have some great businesses, great people and great facilities in and around Bangor – look at M-SParc just a few miles away – dedicated to helping tech businesses thrive. It's a great place.

“2020 was an incredibly difficult year but, as a team, we grew closer, built deeper relationships and pulled out the stops to do whatever we could to turn the business around. I'm immensely proud of my team and the way each one of them has given it their all and stepped up.”

Although the study was unable to get data for St Asaph and St Davids, Bangor comfortably claimed top spot as the most ambitious city in Wales followed by Newport in second and Swansea in third. Cardiff finished bottom with an ambition score of 6.81.

The most ambitious cities in Wales: 

Rank	City	Population	Ambition score
1	Bangor	17,258	115.89
2	Newport	154,676	9.70
3	Swansea	246,993	8.10
4	Cardiff	366,903	6.81

Chris Farmer, leadership and management training expert and founder of Corporate Coach Group, adds:

“During difficult times, it is vital that we stay positive, because when we have a positive mental attitude, we solve problems much faster. The best way to create a positive mental attitude is to set ambitious goals. Having an ambitious goal gives us a specific target to aim at, which empowers us to make the future better than the past.

“Ambition is the starting point of all achievement: When people have ambition, they have something good to talk about, to plan for and to act upon.

“With the current situation that we’re all in, it is easy to lose motivation and to slip into bad habits. Setting ambitious goals, both for yourself and in collaboration with your employers, is the proven way to keep minds positive, focused and confident. It’s great to see from our research that so many people are being proactive in searching for advice which will help them to be successful in 2021 and beyond.”

Chris' four top tips on how to make 2021 your best year ever when it comes to achieving your personal and professional goals:

1) Set ambitious goals

The first step to making the best of 2021 is to set a series of high value goals in all of the key areas of our lives. Career goals, health goals, educational goals, family goals and social goals.

That’s because achieving goals is the very meaning of success. It also gives you a purpose and a target to aim for ensuring you remain focused even in the most difficult of circumstances. If you want a method to set goals – we have already pulled together a guide on how to ensure these are as effective as possible.

2) Develop self-confidence

People attempt only what they believe they can achieve. Therefore, it is important to develop self-belief and self-confidence. Self-doubt is destructive and ultimately a barrier to success.

It is important to develop self-confidence based upon a belief that you are capable of achieving any goal you set your mind to. People with self-confidence are sure to eliminate any destructive self-talk, and they consciously psych themselves up before any important event or task allowing them to complete it to the best of their ability. As a result, people with confidence tend to manifest greater levels of success, so it is important to take deliberate action to build up belief in your own potential.

3) Prioritise your time

Although the pandemic has resulted in many of us having more free time, it is still a limited resource. We each have only 24 hours per day, and we sleep through eight of them. Because productive time is so restricted, it is important to prioritise tasks, and focus energy onto those jobs that will take us closer to our goals. Simultaneously we must avoid tasks or people who would waste our time and energy.

Identify who and what wastes your time and focus energy onto those activities that will take you to where you want to go.

4) Gain new knowledge

The knowledge we gain should be specific to our goals. If your goal is to build a business, then learn all you can about business. If your goal is to become a police officer, then learn all you can about the role. Developing your knowledge or acquiring a new skill is therefore a fantastic way to ensure you focus on the factors you can control rather than getting distracted by external influences.

The link to the full study by Corporate Coach Group can be found here: https://corporatecoachgroup.com/blog/where-are-the-uks-most-ambitious-people-in-2021