I have just had a performance review with my boss and there are some areas that are not going well; I have come away feeling very negative. What can I do to improve the situation?

Whenever you have a performance review with your boss, it is an opportunity to get some feedback. Ideally, there should not be any surprises as you should have had an ongoing dialogue during the previous months to manage your expectations - however, many managers do not do that, and so the performance meeting can come as a shock.