Many people want to be successful, but will never be because of the following reasons. This list has been compiled after working with numerous clients so there is a good chance that if you are not yet successful and can not figure out why, then the reason may be here:
1) You listen to too many people:
This is my pet hate.
- Take action, don’t try to gather mentors, they are not trophies and all have different ways of doing things so will leave you confused
- Learn as much as you can from one mentor before moving on to the next.
Like people on here who gather tons and tons of advice, but never take any action.
2) You do not have a mentor:
I speak about this all the time to my clients
- Of course you can do it without a mentor it may just take you 3 or 4 times as long
3) You focus on too many things at once:
- Try the rule of three (I wrote about it on my blog). Ask yourself, what are the three most important aspects of my business. What three things do my customers like best about my product and what three things are my priority today.
- Think in three’s, don’t over complicate
4) You never finish things:
This is like how i used to be, your mind is in many places at once and you end up starting on something new before you finish something off.
- Learn to accept that something finished is better then 100 half finished projects
- Don’t aim for perfection, just finish it. Once finished improve it until its great. (concept of continuous improvement, relieves the pressure and makes finishing something fun)
5) You don’t listen to the advice given:
You make excuses as to why it will not work for you without trying hard enough at it.
- If you trust the person, trust the advice… try it
- If you want the lifestyle the advisor has, understand they may know something you do not know or understand yet.
6) You don’t really believe you can be successful:
By not believing you can give up easily and make excuses why something will not work without even trying it. You make it more difficult for yourself so you don’t have to risk anything and can give up easily and go back to your normal routine life like all your friends. Being different from your friends and being successful is alien to you.
- Understand most people are not successful on their first few attempts, and that’s why it’s called a learning curve.
- Hang out or surround yourself with people who are successful. There is a reason why this is widely known amongst the successful.
- Believe it is possible or just give up, your wasting your time and energy.
7) You’re just too lazy:
The sooner you learn that luck comes to those who make an effort to find it, the quicker you will start looking for it and stumble upon it.
- Do something, you learn by doing.
8.) You cannot learn to prioritise:
Goes hand in hand with number 3. You spend most of your time on secondary tasks when the most important stuff gets left behind.
- Remember the rule of three. Ask ‘What are the three most important things I should do today’
- Make a list of all tasks, number them, 1 = urgent, 2 = should do, 3 = would be good to do.
- Do 1′s first, then 2′s forget 3′s until you have done all 1 and 2.
- If more 1′s and 2′s get added to the list, accept they are more urgent and happily wipe them off.
- Put all you tasks on ‘post it’ notes, then feel the satisfaction of screwing them up and throwing them away when the job is done.
9) You do not have anyone to hold you accountable…
The best athletes do it, miss training they have a forfeit.
- Find an accountability partner and help yourself become accountable (preferably your mentor)
I can bet, because this title is negative, it will draw more response … change your thinking and habits for success to find you.
Feel free to add any points I have missed to make it an ultimate resource for newbies.
Im not commenting because it’s negative, but rather it’s a good article! (In reference to your last paragraph)
Despite the negative title, this was a good post. My question is how to do you find a good mentor. My current peers and friends are just drones following the same beat.
@Ron
Adding to Dee-
You may not be able to find a “mentor” right away for what you want to do, but you’ll find something/someone for every step. Just look for it. Pick your industry/career path, then research how to get in it. Then get an entry-level job, then just work hard and in the course of your day to day work you’ll find someone you respect who also respects you who is higher up. Talk to them, express your interests and ask for help. Most people want to help others who are interested in similar career paths.
For example, I work in entertainment. It’s a notoriously difficult and fickle industry. When I was first starting out, I read a couple books on getting into the industry. I followed advice I found interesting and actually got a job. I got to know the head writer and befriended her, and she recently gave me some advice that ended up getting me a position at the show I never thought I’d get. Now I’m finding mentors in even higher positions that can help me.
I guess what I’m saying is that find the right mentor for your current step. Dee wrote in #1 that you should learn as much as you can from a mentor before moving on to the next. You probably won’t have the same mentor the entire time… find the one (or even the book author) that will help you get to the next point, then find the next mentor. Let it happen naturally.
Thanks for your replies.
@ Ron
Finding a mentor comes down to narrowing down who is it that you actually want to learn from, and my answer to that is always ‘from somebody who has the life I want’. If you do not want to be like somebody, then they are a bad choice of mentor.
You state do not want to be like your friends and peers so you have to look further afield. My first internet marketing mentor, I never saw in real life, we just keep in touch via email and phone. I used a strategy of brefriending them via their blog and kept asking them interesting questions until they agreed to take me under their wing.
But it is an interesting question Ron, and I will be writing a series of articles about this next week. (also without knowing what type of mentor you are looking for, my answer will just be very vague)
Love your distinction, “somebody who has the life I want”. This is very different from someone successful in their field. For me, it’s surrounding myself with people that understand that long term success is achieved through a delicate balance of pursuing your passion with integrity while making time to maintain relationships with the people you love. But the life I want, may not be the life someone else dreams of. The important thing is to start by defining what YOU want. Otherwise, no one will ever be able to help you achieve it.
YOU’RE… not YOUR
It’s very easy to fall into these traps. good article!
#9 is vital to success. you really need someone who supports what you are doing 100%
7) Your just too lazy. Should that be “You’re just too lazy”?
infact i havd all the qualities mentioned. I have been through these phases and found the negatives myself. And strange enough, i m currently doing the practices u jst mentioned.
@ Terrance and Jodo – Spotted and corrected, thanks for the heads up.
@ bss, Support is great for motivation, just as good as someone who makes sure you are focusing on what you said you would focus on.
@ DNA, a lot of these have come from my personal experiences also. Work at one at a time and in a short while you too will be free of them.
Hey Dee.
Great article, as a blogger myself I know how much work and effort goes into constructing a well thought out blog post.
Top stuff, for me as a young entrepreneur. This is great advice to anyone who wants to be more successful.
The first point, listening to too many people, makes it easier not to take responsibilty for your decisions. This is something I have recently changed in myself and it has actually made it easier to make decisions.
I read lots of articles like this, and this is refreshingly clear and to the point. I never print out articles, but this is the first one I’m going to print out to keep as a reminder to myself. Probably because most of the points strike a chord with me.
Nice work Dee.
Dan
@ IIIiya – Thanks for the feedback, it’s nice to be appreciated by other young entrepreneurs
@ Tasha – Great to know you overcame your problem. I too suffered from all of these at one stage and had to take the leap to acknowledging the problem. Taking responsibility is so key to being successful.
@ Dan – Thanks for the kind feedback. I have printed out one sentence, which I keep above my monitor. It reads ‘I am going to be really successful’ and everytime I start to waste time I look at it and ask myself if what I am doing is going to help me achieve my dream. It’s been incredibly powerful for me.
That is so true Lauren, many people just want the life of someone else without thinking if it really is the life they want. When you define what you want, then it is much easier to pick good examples to follow and take advice from.
This is really an eye-opening article. Sometimes we think of many things. We forgot what to do exactly. A big thanks for sharing it.
Thanks Aira – Nice to know that even after all this time it is still relavent.
I strongly agree with point number one – its so easy to keep searching out the next bit of advice instead of taking action, something guilty of doing in the past. Action is everything.
So true. Many people look back at their day and say, although i did not do much, i learned a lot! Makes me laugh every time.
I definitely agree on reason no. 3: You focus on too many things at once. A lot of us spread ourselves too thin thinking that quantity is better. We forget that if we have so many things in our hands to do, we jeopardize the quality of our work and decisions. We can make use of the Pareto principle to prioritize our tasks and decisions: Focus on the 20% that give us 80% impact.
Cheers!
Mel Durbin
Exactly Mel. It was a lesson that practically changed my life.
There is ONLY one reason for me to fail is when I believe that I will fail. I am positive enough to succeed, no matter how many obstacles that I have to overcome. Set backs are designed to keep me humble and focussed on living life..
This is very true. Well put. I used to think I was too smart to have a mentor, but they can see things that you cannot.
Very true Alexander. The issue is always learning to listen to the advice they give!
Thanks for the list Dee will only add, there helps to have saved up some money before starting up.