Don't stop

Every summer, dozens of orchestras flock to London for the BBC Proms, the world's largest classical music festival. Celebrated conductors and virtuosoSomebody who is highly skilled in music, or another form of art. violinists visit the Royal Albert HallA concert hall in London, opened in 1871 and named by Queen Victoria in memory of her husband Prince Albert. for nightly concerts.

But this year the name on everyone's lips plays a less well-known instrument: the French hornA circular brass instrument with a large opening at the end. When uncoiled, the horn is a piece of metal around four metres long.. On Wednesday, German horn player Felix Klieser led MozartAn 18th Century classical musician who composed more than 800 works. 's Horn Concerto No. 4 to great applause.

Klieser has a unique technique. He was born without arms.  But the sound of the French horn is usually created when a musician puts their right hand into the horn. They use their left hand to operate the valves that change the notes.

One day, aged four, he decided he wanted to be a horn player - despite having never seen one in concert. His family found him a teacher. But the questions piled up. How could a boy without arms play an instrument that relies on hands?

His teacher said: "You will never be a professional horn player. Never, never, never." But Klieser persevered. He found a new way to play with vales with his toes and create the horn's distinctive sound using his mouth.

Klieser explains: "When you have something you dream of and a problem arises, most people give up. But I think it is possible to solve every problem in the world". His life bears out this belief.

Many think problem-solving is crucial for success. "Today's 15-year-olds with poor problem-solving skills will become tomorrow's adults struggling to find or keep a good job," said the OECDThe Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 's Andreas Schleicher.¹

Ingenuous solutions shape the world. Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web to solve the problem of storing, updating, and finding documents and data files at CERNThe European Organisation for Nuclear Research is the scientific body in charge of the Large Hadron Collider..

We praise those who keep trying until they find solutions. As psychologist Adam Philips writes: "Heroes and heroines are people who don't give up".

Yet not giving up can lead to tragedy. ShakespeareAn English playwright and poet who is often called the greatest writer in the English language. 's Macbeth does not turn away from his bloody path and meets a sticky end.

It is important to be honest about one's own abilities. Ballet dancers often suffer from severe injuries. If you realise you will never be a professional, it might be wise to give up and spare your body the damage.

Yes: If at first you do not succeed, dust yourself off and try again. Klieser's life is proof that, through hard work and problem-solving, we can do almost anything we set our mind to.

No: Not every person can solve every problem. If you find yourself a bad fit for a task, change tack. The key is to never stop trying to do new things, even if we give up some of them.

Or... It is all about the situation. It is much easier to persevere when you have less need to worry about failure. If Klieser's family did not support his choice, his story might have been very different.