Why People Fail
Over the past 15 years I've discovered several concrete reasons
why people fail. Here are the Top 8 reasons people do not reach
their goals:
1. Incompetence. People lack the skills they need to
succeed.
80% of businesses fail. It is usually due to poor sales skills.
50% of marriages end in divorce. It is usually due to poor
communication skills.
The future belongs to the competent.
2. Lack of clear goals. Only 3% of the population has
clear, written goals with an action plan to achieve them.
3. Poor interpersonal skills, including: Inability to
receive criticism Resisting tasks; being argumentative and
stubborn Poor listening skills Inability to express ideas in
meetings Lack of self-assertiveness
4. Poor decision-making skills. This is usually an
extension of reason #1, incompetence. Most people either delay
decisions or make poor ones that impact the business negatively.
5. Pessimism and its counterpart, learned helplessness.
People give up too easily when they meet resistance from a
client, colleague, boss, or supplier.
6. Choking under pressure. People have not been taught
how to overcome performance anxiety to perform their best in
meetings, presentations, and negotiations.
7. Laziness. Most people are working at 30% capacity and
think they are working too hard.
8. Poor time management. People are working on the wrong
things; they choose tasks in their comfort zone instead of
priorities that really matter.
Mental Toughness Exercise
Take out a blank sheet of paper and write down your #1 goal in
life.
Now, walk yourself through every factor I've listed above,
giving yourself a ranking from 1 to 10 on each of them with
reference to your goal. 1 is the lowest score; 10 is the highest
score.
For example, you might give yourself an 8 on time management
because you work on high priority items most of the time.
This simple exercise will make it abundantly clear what you need
to do to attain your goal now.
Your friend, Lisa Brown