The 10 Most Causes Of Failure

By Author: CJ Alba
Total Articles: 87
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The discovery of what is false leads us to seek after what is true, so that we can carefully avoid the same errors that we have made. We have to know how to deal with adversity in order for us to avoid becoming a failure in the future. Adversity is a stumbling block that obstructs our way and stops us from moving forward. This stumbling block is designed to let us down until we fail because we surrender.



Louis Binstock, the author of the popular book, The Road To Success, outlines some major stumbling blocks which we unconsciously erected in our lives. These blocks are errors that we make again and again, which are hurting us everyday.



To avoid failure, we should be able to recognize well, what may cause us to fail, so that we can learn to avoid each of them.



Here is the 10 Most Causes Of Failure according to the Book- the road To Success. See how you can learn from each of them:





1. The age-old trick of blaming others



Most of us practice this trick as if it's a virtue. Instead of looking inside ...
... and taking responsibility of the actions done, the emotions felt, or of thinking that thoughts, and accept that it's our fault, we blame others. Our intention, of course, is to save ourselves. Eve passed the blame to Adam when God asked her why she disobeyed the rule. That was the very first sin ever committed by a human being. Instead of asking ourselves WHAT causes the problem, we ask WHO causes the problem, so we can start blaming.



2. The tendency to blame oneself



Instead of wrestling or struggling to resolve the problem behind the failure, in order to prevent its recurrence, we blame ourselves. We let it go at that. This attitude is dangerous. It eventually makes us inferior and insecure. It's like planting the seeds of inferiority and insecurity. When these seeds grow, they will dominate our decision making process and will cause us to fail more and more until we become so content and happy with the failure we make. Blaming oneself opens the door to guilt feelings when it becomes excessive. It closes the door to self-development. Self-blame such as self criticism, self-contempt, self-depreciation, isolates us from others- friends, family and community.



3. Having no goals



If you are going to get anywhere, you should know where you want to go. You don't go to school just because you want to do your parents a favor. Don't go to work just because you expect a check at the end of the month. Do your things because you have a goal. Having no goal is like sailing a ship without direction. Set your goal that is workable and make the most of every situation. Be willing to go the extra mile. Be ready for the next thing that comes along on the road to your goal.



4. Choosing the wrong goal.



Having no goal is bad enough. But having a wrong goal is worse enough. To be happy and successful, we must choose the goal that is in accordance with our passion in life.



Og Mandino in his University Of Success book says:



Here is a dangerous paradox: most of our choices, vocational and domestic, are made when we are young; and yet the responsible man cannot easily take advice; he must find out for himself what life is all about. Often he is beyond the possibility of change when he comes to realize what happiness consists of. It takes great honesty and serious thought to be able to make a firm and confident choice before it is too late. Too many of us allow the choice to be made for us- by family or circumstance- and regret it later.



5. The short cut



No one who starts from above stays there for long or moves to a much higher degree of success. The only way for them is down. Good things never come easy or instantly with short cut. That is plain and simple logic. Most successful top executives started from the bottom. They started from the acquisition of master's degree, then probably a slow start in a small company, they passed a long road of hard work and low salary and gained significant amount of relevant knowledge and experiences and of course, they learned a lot of people skills and work ethics. No athletes can become superstars without spending more and more time for practice. Short cut is no formula for success!



6. Taking the long road



A family man who set his financial goal too high knew that it would take him many many years before he achieved the numbers he wanted to acquire. His family had to make a lot of sacrifices in order to support his vision. They vowed not to take pleasure while their income rolls in even if they knew they have sufficient money to spend. The man never attempted to stop somewhere along the road to rest and enjoy the fruit of his hard labor (unless he was sure enough that the ultimate goal has been achieved). Until one day, the man died without achieving his ultimate success.



7. Neglecting little things



Most people have the tendency to ignore little things. These little things are sometimes the most important link to success. Edison did not get his patent and was taken by someone, instead, just because he misplaced a decimal point in the document. I for one, was not able to get the job I wanted just because I mistakenly provided the company president with the wrong telephone number when he asked me for it. I only learned that the company attempted to call me for several times because I was being considered, when I called to follow up, but it was too late. Sometimes, it's the little thing that counts! The good executive must keep his fingers on the little things, knowing that they may become big problems, when mishandled.



8. Quitting too soon



I started blogging in February, 2009. We are now in June, 2009. In my first 2 months, I was able to manage to place my website on the first page of the search result for a particular keyword. I worked my way up to reach that position in the search result for two months with a lot of hard work. Only to find out that only a very few people search for that particular keyword. That's the reason why my website did not get huge volume of traffic the way I expected it. I was so frustrated. But I never gave up. Instead, I spent more time for self-study and research on how to go about SEO on my own using the right meta tags. It took me another month to optimize my website. Today, the way I see my position in the SERP moving up little by little, I am sure that my solid work optimizing my website is now making progress everyday. Traffic is the life of every website and that forms part of the dreams of the many webmasters. One day, I am sure I will see my website on the first page again bearing some popular meta tags that will drive significant amount of traffic to my site. Had I given up after making that mistake, You won't see my writings in this blog ever again.



Don't Quit, keep playing!



Don't stop trying in trying times!



9. The burden of the past



We can never free ourselves from memories, we can only face them honestly. (Og Mandino)



Good memories can be encouraging memories but sad and painful memories, the memory of loss and failure can make life seem not worth living. However, no matter how temporary, they harden, so that we carry them like weights, disabling our ability to transform them into creative energies.



Face the reality with honesty. Be able to understand. Detach yourself from the bad effects of the past sad memories. Move forward, be able to advance!



10. Illusion of success



The achievement of success becomes precarious when it appears to be permanent. As Napoleon once said- The most dangerous moment comes with victory. We tend to be overconfident when we thought we have achieved success. But when a new problem arises, we ask, how can we have troubles now when we have already succeeded?



Remember that success, being fickle, must be continuously attracted. Success CAN NEVER BE WON FOREVER AND EVER. Success is always temporary unless we can use it as a means to even greater ends.



Source: Og Mandino's University Of Success, A Bantam Book, August 1982