In O.G Mandino’s The greatest
salesman in the world , a very
important fact was made which said
that:


“two amongst a thousand wise
men, will define success in the
same words, yet failure is
always described in one way.
Failure is man’s inability to
reach his goals in life whatever
they may be.”
While success is relative, subjective,
holds monetary and non- monetary
value, failure is more a “one size fits
all” recipe. Below are ten things people
do to fail on purpose.


1. They don’t understand the value of
time.
“Any successful entrepreneur
knows that time is more
valuable than money itself.” –
Richard Branson


Unsuccessful people don’t value their
time. They are everywhere, anywhere,
anytime because they lack the ability
to dedicate their time towards their
goals. And year after year they make
new promises which never come to
fruition simply because they couldn’t
be bothered to put in the time
required towards their goals. Time
management skills, learning how to
say no and knowing what
commitments to undertake, is a step
towards great success in any area of
our lives.


2. They don’t do things that are in
alignment with their goals
“It’s not hard to make decisions
when you know what your
values are.” – Roy Disney.

The more important a goal is, the
higher it will be on your hierarchy of
values and the more discipline and
order you will have associated with it.
The less important a goal is, the lower
it will be on your hierarchy of values
and the less discipline and more
disorder you’ll have associated with
it. Unsuccessful people have mistaken
busyness with productivity. They are a
part of everything but nothing which
they do is in alignment to their values
and their goals. Writing down in a
journal what your gaols are and
implementing strategies which can get
you there will help you identify things
that are not on par with where you are
going.


3. They never step up to the plate
“People seem to think that
success in one area can
compensate for failure in other
areas, but can it really? True
effectiveness requires balance”
– Stephen Covey

So your boss sucks and you really hate
your job but this is no reason to slack
and produce mediocre work. You’re
getting paid to be there so do it right,
life has this universal law of giving
you what you put in. It’s just maturity
and wisdom to pursuit excellence no
matter the circumstances. Unsuccessful
people are the ones who are okay with
getting bad grades and won’t bother
finding an effective studying method
that will help their learning ability,
because after all, being a student of
distinction is less about how smart you
are but more about how well you can
plan and prepare, and that makes you
feel smarter and that in itself produces
great results.


4. They have self-imposed limitations
“You are what you are by what
you believe” – Oprah Winfrey

Unsuccessful people tend to say things
like “I’m just not good with numbers”,
“I just really hate studying”, and “I
just don’t think I can run a successful
business”. They put limits on
themselves and excuse their behaviour
but it’s really just a way of
underachieving and aiming low
enough to not miss. Get rid of the idea
that you only have a specific set of
skills and talents for specific tasks,
stop thinking that you’re not as
intelligent as the next person. What
life requires of you is to make the most
of yourself, for yourself, and for
others.


5. They are good at making excuses
“If you can’t make it good, at
least make it look good” – Bill
Gates

These are the people who will find
reasons and logic as to why they can’t
and why they shouldn’t. They
sometimes mistake this abhorrent
tendency for “just being realistic”.
They lack imagination and always find
ways to justify why something
shouldn’t be but they never really try.
The best remedy for this is to stop your
mind when it’s about to start making
the excuses and re-ignite the engine
that has started it all.


6. They lack class
“You can easily judge the
character of a man by how he
treats those who can do nothing
for him.” ― Johann Wolfgang
von Goethe

Unsuccessful people usually tend to
have no social IQ. They say things like
“well at least I’m being honest” or
“this is how I am, deal with it”. They
don’t know how to treat other people
and tend to be arrogant, for no
apparent reasons most of the time.
Nobody likes a big mouth, a show off,
a humble boaster, or people who don’t
know how to just say thank you when
given a compliment. These traits are
unbecoming and are not what true
class acts are made of. Being nice and
polite to people you like is easy, being
nice and polite to someone you cannot
tolerate or who you are in constant
disagreement with – that is character.
Learning how to speak to people is a
skill only few have mastered. It has
been said the best way to test a man’s
character is by watching how he acts
when standing in a very long queue
and is met with bad service, how he
handles Christmas lights and his
reaction when you ruin their
expensive items.


7. They are procrastinators
“Only put off until tomorrow
what you are willing to die
having left undone” ― Pablo
Picasso

The funny thing about this one is that
they are usually self-proclaimed
procrastinators. They see no shame in
it. This goes back to them never
understanding the value of time. They
are okay with living a life that keeps
up with yesterday. They live life as
though they just have another one in
the bank. Let’s just see how round one
goes and if all else fails we press next
or rewind or pause. Understanding
that you start dying the moment you
are born and wisdom to realize
that every day is a gift and you owe it
to yourself to do everything you can do
in those twenty four hours because
nothing’s ever promised today
tomorrow.


8. They don’t’ take action
“Do something today, your
future self will thank you for” –
Les Brown

The simplicity of this rule of life may
be why they disregard the magnitude
of its effects. Unsuccessful people tend
to ponder and leave footprints in the
sands of time. They can talk a great
game and they dream really big but
they lack the courage to just go forth.
Stop dreaming about what will be,
dreams in themselves are not bad but
get up, show up and DO something.
Stop with the coffee shop meetings and
go do something.


9. They can’t face adversity
“All sunshine and no rain
makes a dessert” – Arabian
Proverb

There was a shepherd boy, he was not
a warrior and he was small in size. He
looked at a giant and said “I will strike
you down and cut off your head” and
that is exactly what he did. The thing
with challenges is, they’re only as big
as we make them seem and as strong
as our weakness will allow.
Unsuccessful people have not
understood this and they give up all
too quickly because things got
uncomfortable, things got a little bit
rough, they want roses without the
thorns, babies without labour and a
pot of gold at the end of the rainbow
without bearing the storm.
Overcoming challenges not only bring
us closer to our goals but they turn us
into someone we never imagined
existed. Don’t be afraid to conquer
fears and to enter new territory, step
out of your comfort zone and
challenge yourself. In the midst of
adversity courage is born. You’ll never
know how strong you are if you’ve
never had to fight and sometimes you
might fail but at least you failed and
proved to Goliath that he wasn’t quite
the Giant he thought he was.


10. They are apathetic
“So, because you are lukewarm,
and neither hot nor cold, I will
spit you out of my mouth” -
Revelation 3:16

Yes there are natural fence sitters.
They never have an opinion about
anything, they can’t make decisions
and are over the border plain
ignorant. They can’t hold smart
conversations and are not open
minded if it isn’t directly in relation to
what they know. They think everyone
should view life the way they view it.
They are indifferent about everything
and stand for nothing. They don’t
read, they don’t educate themselves
past “formal education” and they put
no effort into how they present
themselves. Even if they never achieve
their highest potential this is okay with
them because in a world so full of
wonder and curiosity they have
managed to find a way to be bored.
Apathy is a silent killer. Find
something that you are passionate
about, even if you don’t get paid for it.
Put your gift to use.

 cc
 Lalasticlala, Mynd44, Fynestboi 
 

Lemme sit here n read

Nice write up...

Fantastic.

Franchise21:
Lemme sit here n read

You don collect my FTC na

Words of encouragement

Nicee

This is very insightful. Thanks a great deal

Seek you first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and every other thing shall be given unto you --Mathew 6:33.
Lazy youths --- No way!


Bring #10 and i will give you #1,000,000 --Baba Ijebu.
Lazy youths --- Here we come!

Ok

DID NOT READ
DID NOT READ!!

Okay.

Na so

BTW

take a look at my signature

una try.

Truth is, Not all of us will succeed in life, That's a fact, in this world we live in There will always be leaders and followers, Employers and employees, Rich men and poor Men

All these lists of do's n dont's. Nawa for nairaland. Can we have 5/10ways of downloading cash from nairaland. I tink dat will make sense

Nice write-up

THEY ARE ALWAYS JEALOUS OF ANOTHER MAN'S SUCCESS. THEY HATE SO MUCH THAT THEY DO ANYTHING TO PULL ANOTHER MAN.






THOSE PEOPLE ARE MANY HERE ON NAIRALAND

Nice thread. I love this

Following.

exceptional piece of writing.

AfonjasMustDie:
This is the dumbest shiit I've ever heard in my life

Your writeup describes me, i do everything on that list and i tell you what, i can feed you and your family for 300 years without going to the bank
Hard work doesn't determine success

Tell me what millionaire who works harder than bricklayers and bus drivers and construction workers

I can tell you how to procrastinate, stay in your house 365 days of the year without going outside of your house and still make 30 million naira every year

Your ignorance is naturally amazing

hardwork doesn't have to be physical alone. the mental work you do is also hard work

AfonjasMustDie:
This is the dumbest shiit I've ever heard in my life

Your writeup describes me, i do everything on that list and i tell you what, i can feed you and your family for 300 years without going to the bank
Hard work doesn't determine success

Tell me what millionaire who works harder than bricklayers and bus drivers and construction workers

I can tell you how to procrastinate, stay in your house 365 days of the year without going outside of your house and still make 30 million naira every year

Your ignorance is naturally amazing

omo ale oniro

What does it mean to succeed?

Mr. OP, I'm asking you.

God bless Oluwaseun Osewa for this nairaland forum. Click like if you think nairaland is more educative than some of this fake universities in Nigeria with strike actions the order of the day.

I've seen many people with those attributes but still didn't succeed

Kudos

zaydocheme:
God bless Oluwaseun Osewa for this nairaland forum. Click like if you think nairaland is more educative than some of this fake universities in Nigeria with strike actions the order of the day.

The haters will arrive

[color=#000099][/color]nice one

As someone rightly said, the only thing the less financially buoyant people have is time, which is why a lady can date a rich man or guy why befriending a poor man....The poor have all the time in the world to wipe any number of rounds at anytime, time to call a lady all day, all the time to show affection which a lady cherish.

Mmm

It really a productive write up, thanks for you enlightenment.