7 Reasons Why We Fail

Robert Schuller said, "Failure doesn't mean you are a failure...it just means you haven't succeeded yet."  How true this is.  For most of us, be it in our business, career, studies or social life, bad things do happen that we are not prepared for and because we do not persist, we give up and hence we fail.

I truly believe that the one thing you need to not fail is believing in yourself. You have to have faith in yourself and dare to dream in order to succeed.

Below are 7 reasons as to why we fail. I hope that you will benefit from reading them and improve your life.

7 Reasons Why We Fail

1) Lack of Persistence

People fail not because they lack knowledge or talent but because they quit.  The total secret of success lies in two words, PERSISTENCE and RESISTANCE.  Persist in what must be done and resist in what ought not to be done.

When problems seem insurmountable, quitting seems to be the easiest way out...Success only comes when we try different strategies to overcome problems and that needs continuous and focused effort.

2) Lack of Conviction

People who lack conviction take the middle of the road; and guess what happens in the middle of the road?  You get run over.  People without conviction do not take a stand.  They go along to get along because they lack confidence and courage.  They conform in order to get accepted even when they know what they are doing is wrong.  They behave like part of a herd.

3) Rationalizing

Winners may analyze but never rationalize.  That is a loser's game.  Losers always have a book full of excuses to tell you why they could not.  We hear excuses like...

• I'm unlucky
• I'm born under the wrong stars
• I'm not good looking
• I don't have contacts
• I don't have enough money
• The economy is bad
• If only I had the opportunity
• If only I didn't have a family.

4) Not Learning from Past Mistakes

Some people live and learn and some only live.  Wise people learn from their mistakes.  People who do not learn lessons from history are doomed.  Failure is a teacher if we have the right attitude.  FAILURE IS A DETOUR, NOT A DEAD END.  IT IS A DELAY, NOT A DEFEAT.  EXPERIENCE is a name we give to our mistakes.

5) Lack of Discipline

Anyone who has accomplished anything worthwhile had never done so without discipline.  Discipline takes self-control, sacrifice, and avoiding distractions and temptations.  It means staying focused.  Steam does not move the engine unless it is confined. Niagara Falls would not generate power unless it is harnessed.

6) Poor Self-Esteem

Poor self-esteem is a lack of self-respect and self-worth.  It leads to abuse of one's self and others.  People with low self-esteem are constantly looking for identity.  They are trying to find themselves.  One's self is not to be found but to be created.  Idleness and laziness are consequences of poor self-esteem and so is making excuses.  Idleness is like rust that eats into the most brilliant metal.

7) Fatalistic Attitude

 A fatalistic attitude prevents people from accepting responsibility for their position in life.  They attribute success and failure to luck.  They resign themselves to their fate.  They believe and accept the predestined future written in their horoscope or star, that regardless of their effort, what ever had to happen will happen.  Hence they never put in any effort and complacency becomes a way of life.  They wait for things to happen rather than make them happen.

Remember, continuous and sustained efforts combined with a variety of strategies are the difference between SUCCESS and FAILURE.