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