Truth be told, about 90% of people fail to achieve their goals or resolutions. The other 10% are those who set small irrelevant goals that are easily achievable. The lack of goal setting is one reason why people fail early in life and have a hard time succeeding. Goal setting helps you get a clear perspective of what you want to achieve.
However, what most people don’t understand is that before success comes profound failure. You need to learn to overcome failure before you enjoy the sweetness of success. Did you know? Few of the most successful people in the world failed more than once and it did not stop them from achieving their dreams. Here are 10 common reasons why people fail early in life:
1. Negative Thoughts:
Developing negative thoughts is one of the main reasons why most people are unable to succeed and fail early in life. You might not know where they come from but you can surely learn to control them. A cluster of negative thoughts prevent you from thinking out of the box and hinder your daily routine. A pessimistic person often lowers the productivity and creates a negative, uncomfortable environment for everyone around them.
We, at Born Realist believe that optimism and having faith can do wonders in an individual’s life. It helps you see a clearer and positive aspect of every situation. Being positive will not just open new doors for you but also help you climb the ladder of success.
2. Unaware of Strengths and Weaknesses:
Most people fail to realize that every individual is different and unique. Their personalities make them function differently from each other. Another reason why people are prone to failure earlier in life is that they are unaware of their blind self. It is important for a person to know what they are capable of in life. Your strengths define your power; areas you are good at and your leverage over others. Whereas your weaknesses are not your shortcomings, in fact, they are areas where you can improve and excel at. Your weaknesses hold you back from achieving great things in life. It is important to self-evaluate and view yourself critically, in order to benefit from them.
3. Uncertain Goals:
The uncertainty of goals prevents a person from achieving success. To most people setting goals is just a checklist and procrastinating over it. Achieving your goals requires a lot of efforts, determination and a strong will power. Most people are also unaware of the reason for setting goals. This uncertainty hinders your success. In order to set goals, you need to understand the purpose behind goal setting and then develop relevant strategies to follow your plan. People with no goals tend to become followers of the herd. Success comes the hard way to them. You might not know but before becoming famous for his scholarly work in Physics, Sir Isaac Newton followed his father’s footsteps and worked at the family farm, until he realized his own potential and set some goals for himself.
“My powers are ordinary, only my application brings me success”- Sir Isaac Newton
4. Disorderly Lifestyle:
In life, an order is important to reach success. In order to succeed you need to organize your life, your thought and particularly your goals. Not everyone is gifted with the ability to stay organized. 80% of people lack the ability to set an order of things in their life, which might be one of the reasons of failure. Disorganized people do not make plans. They do not know where they are heading towards and often get distracted easily. Disorganized people are also really hard to work with. They might delay the work of the entire team and mess up the tasks. These people lack the ability of decision making and mostly rely on others to make decisions for them. They are unable to get a grip on their lives and lack the ability to overcome failure or might have a hard time accepting defeat.
5. Static Mindset:
Your mind is one of the most powerful things to exist. What you feed it speaks a lot about how you think and view everything around you and yourself. You will come across two kinds of people in your lifetime; One with a growth mindset and others with a fixed or static mindset. People with a fixed mindset; believe that their talents, strengths, and traits are all fixed. They tend to limit their intelligence and mind from thinking out of the box. These people mostly think short of themselves and lack self-esteem.
Feeding a fixed mindset can be disastrous as it prevents you from growth and developing new habits and experiences, which can sabotage your success and lead you to failure at a very early stage.
6. Give up Easily:
People usually give up on their goals because it is the easier way out. They also give up on their goals from the fear of failing which eventually leads them to failure. As you move forward in life you are going to encounter hardships, troubles, and defeat, but giving up is not an option. Success will only come to the person who is willing to fight, learn, practice and commit to their dreams. The secret behind the success of many people is that they never give up. They fail more than once but they get back up and continue the struggle. Before becoming famous for the Disney productions, Walt Disney was rejected because he lacked creativity but he never gave up.
“I’ve worked too hard and too long to let anything to stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down and I will not let myself down.” – Mia Hamm
7. Lack of Hard Work:
The path to success is never an easy road. Some of the most fruitful goals are also the most challenging and require a lot of effort. One cannot expect to become successful overnight with no hard work. Achieving your goals might take months and even years. You need to work hard, day and night, stay focused and patient in the entire process. Hard tasks often de-motivate people resulting in acceptance of defeat and never trying again. But remember “Good things come to those who wait”. The secret for overcoming a hard task is to practice the art of practice. The more you practice the better you get at a task. Always stay determined and don’t lose track of your path.
“When it is obvious that goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” – Confucius
8. Doubting Kills More Dreams Than Failure:
You are bound to fail in life if you doubt everything you do. In order to be successful, you have to stop questioning yourself, your relationships, and your goals. The reason why most people fail early in life is that they stop believing in themselves and their true potential. Our thoughts affect our actions. When we worry we also fear. The more you fear things in life you are more prone to hardships and failures.
If you doubt or fear that you cannot achieve your goal, your mind will trick you into believing that, which will eventually turn into reality. In order to avoid doubts and fears, train your mind to think positive thoughts and accept the different aspects of every situation.
9. Lack of Confidence:
Your level of confidence determines your self-esteem. Your acknowledgment of your abilities and yourself worth has a direct effect on success or failure in your life. People who are more confident in their work, relationships or life lead a successful life as compared to those who lack confidence. Lacking confidence also means that you are not certain about your work or your goals. It is very important for you to believe in what you aim for and how you plan on achieving it. People with more self-confident feel less embarrassed; they do not fear failure and are always ready to take a stand for what they believe in.
10. Lack of Motivation:
Motivation and enthusiasm build your interest and in the work. You are automatically urged to perform better than before. It is an important driving force that enables you to challenge yourself and take actions. Often people face a situation where the possess the interest and driving force but lack motivation. This can be annoying and stressful in goal achievement. Lack of achievement can be caused by laziness, procrastination, or physical and mental health issues. This can be a great hurdle in your way of achieving goals. It creates dissatisfaction and unhappiness in an individual’s life.
“Lack of motivation and lack of enthusiasm are two main reasons why people live a mediocre life”