43 habits for failure – are you aware of them?

Most of the time you hear about success, you read about it, you see videos about it. What they don’t tell you is that the amount of success you can get is many times proportional to the sacrifices you make, or what you give in return. However, it’s only the successes that end up of the cover of magazines. You never see the failures. And for every success, there are 99 failures that everyone forgets about. I’m thinking of millionaire-type success here, not just “being comfortable”. So why are there so many people who fail? Could it be because they have habits for failure?

So why is it that such a small percentage of people have real success? Many great thinkers have wondered about this. It has nothing to do with the amount of schooling. Reality shows that there are many billionaires who did not even finish university.

Here is the list of habits and behaviors I believe to be at the root of all failures. All of these, can be avoided if you learn to control the first three. The only obstacle that you cannot go over is a physically impaired brain. Anything else can be overcome, provided you channel your brain power to achieve your desire.

Major habits for failure

Evaluate your daily life to find out if you have these. Getting rid of  them will only benefit you in the long run.

1. Living life without a definite major purpose. No purpose means no mission. No mission means no action. Without a purpose you will mostly waste time all your life.

2. Lack of faith (in yourself, in the future, in fellow men and especially in God)

3. Failure to develop the will power to achieve your goals. You need to have faith that you can do what ever it takes to achieve your purpose. Without faith, your will power is limited.

4. Lack of self-discipline – the excess in drinking, eating, sex etc.

5. Being affected by one or more of the basic fears (poverty, criticism, ill health, loss of love, old age, death)

6. Intolerance – having a closed mind based on ignorance or prejudices about religion, politics, or economics will only disrupt your relationships with those around you

7. Failure to budget and use you time properly. Time is your most precious asset. It is the only asset that you cannot recover once you have lost it. Stop wasting your time.

8. Lack of vision and imagination.

9. Habit of procrastination – stop postponing, start doing. Find what you want (your purpose) and start taking action. Laziness and excuses will get you nowhere.

10. Indecision and changing your mind. Being able to make decisions and stick to them is very important for success.

11. Lack of qualities of an attractive personality

12. Being vengeful and greedy

13. Not being prepared for the work in which you engage – this can be either inadequate schooling or lack of technical skills

14. Inability to notice opportunity for self-advancement

15. Lack of persistence – most people are good starters but poor finishers. You need to carry through your activities from start to finish

16. Maintaining a negative attitude to life in general. Negative thoughts never lead to positive outcomes.

17. The habit of spending out of control, without managing your budget. You need to take control over how you manage your balance of income and expenses.

18. Over-cautiousness in business and occupational relationships

19. Lack of ambition to aim above mediocrity. If you don’t aim for greatness, you will never be great.

20. Failure to cooperate with others in the spirit of harmony. One of the most important aspects of success in business is a high performing team, the so-called “dream team”. If you and your team are not cooperating in harmony, your business will suffer.

21. Wrong choice of associates in business or work

22. Lack of control over your emotions. Reacting emotionally will only enable other people to take advantage of your weaknesses.

23. Belief in chance and superstition, instead on relying on your own actions to progress.

24. Trying to find ways to gain power or wealth by means not related to merit

25. Absence of enthusiasm or lack of control over it.

26. The habit of speaking before thinking.

27. Exaggerated selfishness

28. Lack of personal initiative, due to lack of a major purpose

29. Inability to concentrate your effort, leading to the dissipation of your time and energy

30. Profanity of speech. It may seem cool in certain circles, but never in those that matter

31. Speaking bad things of other people, regardless if there is a good reason for it or not

32. Lack of loyalty where loyalty is needed (friends, team, company, business associates).

33. Bad influences during early childhood (parents, neighborhood)

34. Wrong selection of a partner in marriage. Your partner should support you in pursuing your purpose, not cause more problems for you to solve.

35. Being curious and meddling in other people’s affairs, wasting time and energy which would be better used elsewhere.

36. Bad health issues, due to little or no exercise, improper diet, conditions like hypochondria.

37. Engaging in gambling, cheating, stealing or any other dishonest activities.

38. Wrong choice of a vocation, or total neglect to choose one.

39. Lack of control over egotism and vanity.

40. The habit of forming opinions and basic plans without basing them on hard facts and specific knowledge.

41. Failure to do an alliance with the people whose education, experience or native ability are needed for the achievement of your major purpose

42. Ignorance about how important and powerful your thoughts can be and how you can condition your mind to produce ideas that will help you to achieve your major purpose

43. Lack of self-reliance, caused by the lack of motivation towards your major purpose. If your major purpose does not motivate you, perhaps it is time to think about choosing another purpose.

What to do if you fail

You need to realize the facts: everyone fails from time to time. The difference between winners and losers is that winners get back in the saddle with lessons learned. Learn from your habits for failure. Master the means to avoid them.

Every man who rises from defeat becomes mentally and physically stronger. So allow yourself to fail. And then try again, try better.

Only those who do not work do not make mistakes. But they don’t succeed either. So fail often, fail fast, but always fail forward!