Simply expecting to be successful is like walking into your kitchen and expecting there to be a cake: It’s not something that just happens – it is something that you do.
No matter what it is that you are trying to achieve, here are 10 bad habits that will prevent you from reaching the highest levels of success that you can:
1. Betting on being Lucky
If your plans for whatever you are working towards involve being lucky, expect them to fail. Sure, a little luck never hurts, but it shouldn’t be the foundation for a plan of action.
2. Waiting
So often in life, we find ourselves waiting for some mythical piece of the puzzle to magically fall in place so that we can move forward. Nothing gets done that way. There may be things that are out of your control, but at some point you either need to put that piece in yourself or come up with a plan that doesn’t involve on waiting for that missing puzzle piece to appear.
3. Avoiding Change
No one ever achieved anything without change. One of my favorite little cliches is “if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always had”. If you think about it, success in itself is nothing but change – that is the point.
4. Aiming for Perfection
Sorry to be the one to break it to you, but no one, not even you, is perfect. Failures are just the bumps in the road on the way to doing whatever it is you want to do. You don’t stop your car on the way to a destination every time there is a pebble in the road. So why would you do it on the road to success? Even if it is a boulder, just drive around it and keep going.
5. Complaining
When things get tough, complaining is the ultimate easy escape to avoid whatever it is that is getting tough. Escapism has never accomplished anything. Address the issue and conquer it. When it is done, you can vent appropriately.
6. Trying to Do Everything by Yourself
Unless you happen to be a cyborg or an alien, there is only so much that us humans can handle. There is nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it. Even Batman needed a Robin from time to time.
7. Seeking Approval
Be successful because it is what you want, not because it is what you think other people want. Trying to keep up with the proverbial “Jones'” leaves you living a life that someone else manufactured. If you want to be the greatest basket maker in the world, make baskets – don’t go into investment banking. Be you for the sake of being you.
8. Over-Promising
This is one bad habit that I am TERRIBLE about. In my heart, I want to do everything for everyone. I guess in a sense that makes me bad at number 7 as well. The problem is that over-promising and under-delivering is a death blow to success. Be realistic about what you can produce, and stick to that reality.
9. Pretending to be Something you Aren’t
Again, this goes back to number 7. If you have to become a character to be successful, your success is then based on something that you aren’t. You’ll only hold on to whatever success that you achieve as long as you can maintain the charade that created the success.
10. Over-Emphasising Weaknesses
This basically boils down to fear. If you know that you are not good at something, then you are afraid to do anything that could exploit that weakness. That is the basis of existing in a “comfort zone”. One constant aspect of success is that it exists outside of your comfort zone.
