This week we've been thinking about how you can overcome the hand that life has dealt to you.

There'll be children and parents up and down the country despairing that they didn't get the grades they needed in their exams and fearing that their dreams are over almost before they've begun. But we've found loads of inspiration from some of our best-known celebs who have achieved huge things despite academic failure.

They all have one thing in common – determination, work ethic and a refusal to be defined by a piece of paper, as proved by the likes of X Factor's Simon and Cheryl (with only two O' levels between them).

Sometimes we're all guilty of hiding behind excuses but it's more liberating to power through them.

Controversial Katie Hopkins is on a mission to prove just that by deliberately piling on three stone so that she can lose it again to show that willpower can overcome obesity and Daniella Westbrook is bravely taking responsibility for her recent relapse into cocaine use and vows to get help for the rest of her life.

The secret of success isn't being perfect, it's overcoming imperfections.