Why You’re Not Successful & How To Change

So you want to become successful, don’t we all. There is no sure-fire way of becoming successful but there are many habits that successful people share with one another. We will go through each of these steps and dissect them one by one. Who knows, you may even be able to relate to some of these habits! I was definitely a perpetrator of all of these reasons. However, I found that once I changed my ways, these started turning around for me!

Contents

1. Discipline	2. Attitude
3. Procrastination	4. Undervalue Money
5. Perception	6. How To Change

 

1. Discipline

This is something that I used to have a major problem with. Being disciplined takes a lot of time and effort. It takes a lot of mental fortitude to become disciplined in certain areas. Regardless of what your goal is, there will be many factors that distract you. Here is a discipline motivational speech featuring Will Smith!

 

Waking up early has many benefits. However, most people hate it because they’re tired and would rather be sleeping. Although, if they were to wake up a few hours earlier, they would be able to get much more done in their day. For the average person living 75 years, they spend 25 years worth of time sleeping! This time can be used to hone in on certain skills or to work on self-development!

 

Social Life

Let’s not limit ourselves to sleeping. Having a social life is important, but there needs to be a balance. Those who want to be successful know that there need to be sacrifices. Instead of going out with your friends frequently, stay inside and read a book. Not only will you save money but you will also learn a lot and develop your mind.

 

Studying

One activity that we can all relate to which usually requires more discipline is studying. Studying can become tedious and boring, especially if the class isn’t the most exciting. However, taking the time out of your day and shaping your mentality can work miracles. Most people don’t realize that the thing that stops them from becoming successful are small changes. Changes that may seem minuscule at the time but have long-term positive effects!

 

My Opinion

I’ll be honest, I was not the best student or employee. I lacked discipline in all aspects of life. This means school, work, household tasks, you name it. I believe that a reason why I and so many other people lack discipline is that we become complacent in our current state. We wait for the next best thing to happen. However, we forget that the best things in life happen when we make them. Furthermore, we undervalue the importance of small tasks. Essentially thinking that neglecting certain things have no significance. This breeds bad habits!

 

2. Attitude

 

Attitude is another thing that many people have a problem with. Many people have different attitudes and react differently to certain situations. This can be due to past experiences or even how they were raised. However, I do believe that those who are successful have common attitude quirk which can be beneficial for many people. 

 

Small Things Matter

If you were to take two people and put them in the same situation, I strongly believe that the more successful person out have a better response. Let’s use myself as an example. If you were to put me in a situation where I would have to do something that I thought was below my pay-grade, I would not be happy. However, it’s these situations where you must take the time and show your worth. If you’re trying to move up in a company, showing that you pay attention to the smaller details can contribute to the bigger picture. Managers will see that you really care about your job and your work environment.

 

If you had your own business, you will essentially be doing all of the grunt work yourself at the beginning. One way to becoming the best boss you can be is becoming the best employee you can be. Make sure everything you do has a purpose and contributes to the overall end goal.

 

It’s Ultimately Up To You

There will be many disadvantages thrown your way. However, it will be up to you to look at these instances and find the benefit in them. These benefits can be anything. Sometimes it may even be a lesson! If you start a business and it fails miserably, don’t have the quitter attitude. Figure out what went wrong and try over again. The only difference is this time you’re less likely to fail because you’ve learned from past mistakes. Although this doesn’t guarantee success, it sure does bring you a lot closer to it. 

 

Persistence is key! I know you probably hear it all the time if you keep trying it’ll eventually happen. I believe that this is true. The reason that most people don’t have what they want is that they underestimate what it takes to get there. Most people have a quit when things get to hard attitude. I once heard a quote by Jay-Z and I still think about it. To paraphrase, he said, “Everybody wants to replicate the result, not the process.” He states that everyone wants what other people have but aren’t willing to put in the time or effort to get there.

 

3. Procrastination

I feel like for this section I won’t have to write much. 80% of people I know say that their new year’s resolution is to procrastinate less. This means that they know procrastinating is a bad habit. Procrastination is a bad habit for many reasons. I personally love motivational speeches so here is one to help you stop procrastinating!

 

Goals

One reason procrastination is bad is that you usually are not able to meet your goals. Back in high school, I was the king of procrastination. I would literally wait until the night before a project was due for me to do it. What I quickly learned is that my body is not conditioned for all-nighters which resulted in me falling asleep. As you could guess, I did not finish many of my assignments. This left me with horrible grades from time to time and I didn’t have the discipline to fix it. 

 

Not only did I not finish my work but the quality of the work I did finish was not up to par. This is obviously because I had less time to work on it.

 

Opportunities

Aside from school, procrastination can cause you to miss many opportunities. Although Bitcoin may not be the smartest idea to invest in right now, 5 – 7 years ago was a different story. Originally, I heard about Bitcoin in 2012 when it was a measly $13.00 per Bitcoin. I heard that it was an anonymous currency that was used to make payments online. I thought to myself that I would buy 10/20 just because it may be worth something. Eventually, I kept procrastinating and Bitcoin shot up to over $100 per coin. My plan was to wait for it to decrease but obviously, it did not.

 

The point I’m trying to make is that if I had bought 20 Bitcoin back in 2012 I could have sold it in early 2018 for $400,000. However, that is one opportunity of many that I’ve lost out on due to procrastination and I’m sure that many of you have your own personal stories. Therefore, procrastination is the silent killer of success.

 

4. Undervalue The Power Of Money

Many people say “Money isn’t everything.” Although this statement may be true in some instances, money is still extremely important. Money makes the world go round and you need money for almost everything in this life. It is true that you can live a prosperous life without an abundance of money. However, there are many ways that your life is limited. If you’re making a lot of money you will have more opportunities in many areas of your life.

 

Stress

Having a higher income can also lead you to become less stressed. It goes without saying that having more cash will relieve many stresses in your life. However, there are particular studies done that help the average reader visualize why being successful is so important. Here is an article by CNN where they explain the correlation between income and stress (Link).

 

Power & Respect

Money can also gain you influence and respect. Allowing you to live any kind of life that you want. However, becoming frugal and understanding what money can do for you will help you create good habits. If you understand how powerful money is, you can use it to help those around you. The most successful people in the world are also some of the most frugal.

 

The most common thing about them is that they make as much money as they can. Furthermore, they save as much money as possible. Many of the wealthiest and most successful people donate a large portion of their money because they understand that it has the power to change lives.

 

Although some may think having a lot of money isn’t necessary. It is a good thing to have that has more positives than negatives. Make a few changes to your life in order to earn more money and you’ll see the difference money can make. A couple of books that will teach you how to build wealth are The Next Millionaire Next Door by Lyons Press, Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey & The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles!

 

5. Perception

Everyone has a different perception of life. Some people strive to be successful by accumulating a lot of money. Others may be able to find success and happiness in different avenues. These avenues may not need to revolve around money. Iconic figures such as Bob Marley lived life without such a large dependence on money. However, he was able to find fulfillment in life.

 

Money Vs. Everything Else

Before striving for greatness, it is important to define what great means to you. For me, success is linked to financial independence. However, I know many people who want to be musicians so that they can share their story. Money does not necessarily need to be involved, they just want to be heard by many. Success can also mean learning a new skill or achieving a multitude of small goals. Find out what is important to you and reflect.

 

Is what you’re doing on a day to day basis propelling you towards your definition of success. If you were to die, would you say that you lived your life and achieved the things that are important to you? These are all points that need to be taken into account when striving towards success.

 

6. How To Change & Become Successful

 

Discipline

Becoming Disciplined is a simple matter of trial and error in many parts. First, you will want to identify what exactly your weaknesses are. What exactly is holding you back and what is constantly distracting you? For many people, this is an easy concept to grasp but many people struggle. I have known people who were lazy and had no idea. It’s not that they hated working but maybe they just didn’t care about their future.

 

However, changing this can be simple, it just takes some dedication. First, you will want to make daily tasks. Start with 3 goals and work your way up. These tasks should help progress you towards a short-term or long-term goal. Make sure these tasks are some of the first things you do in a day. Wake up early to get them done if you need to. Constantly create new habits that help you in the long run. These habits can be as simple as cooking at home once a week, going to the gym or saving more money! Once you become disciplined in one thing, you’ll noticeably become more meticulous in other areas.

 

Attitude

To change your attitude there needs to be a certain level of self-reflection. This is because an attitude problem is all in your head. Identify why exactly you react negatively in certain situations. Sometimes it may not be a negative attitude but a quitting one. I’ve seen many people get knocked down and I have monumental respect for those who get back up.

 

Failing to complete tasks that seem useless may be detrimental to your long-term growth. What if you were to create a business? Those small tasks can make all the difference to your products or the guest experience. You must look at if from both different angles. Customer, employee and employer angle. A single task can mean something different to each person.

 

Whenever something negative happens. Take a moment and look at it from a holistic standpoint. Find a lesson or take away from that moment. Turn the negative into a positive and grow with every situation that happens in your life. Having a positive outlook on life and using every situation to grow will change your life.

 

Procrastination

This is a difficult one to fix because procrastination is a habit that is embedded into many of us. Many years of procrastinating in school have caused us to procrastinate in our everyday lives. One trick I used in order to get over my habits was setting alarms. Sounds crazy but the day before I would set an alarm for certain times when I’d need to get tasks done.

 

When the alarm goes off I don’t think of anything else. The only thing on my mind is getting that task done. As you get busier in life you’ll that you can afford to procrastinate less and less. Therefore, try this simple trick that I use in order to get over any procrastination habits you may have! Remember, procrastinating and damages your opportunities in the long run!

 

Undervalue Money

This one is a quick fix because it also has to do with perception. Take a step back to see what money can do for you and those around you. I’m not saying that money is everything but it is definitely something. My advice is to look at money as a tool. A tool that can be used to enhance your quality of life or make it worst. Having more money and being successful isn’t necessarily the worst thing. You’d never have to worry about shelter or food every again if you have an abundance. 

 

Perception

Perception is all up to you. Find what is important to you and work towards it. I can strongly believe that becoming more disciplined in your daily life, having a more positive attitude and procrastinating less will help you progress towards your end goal. You may not reach there in a month or even a year. However, from my personal experience, I can say that making necessary changes goes a long way.

 

If your goal is to help the needy through volunteer work. Do it tomorrow. You may not be rich but you’ve made a difference to many lives. I believe that making a difference to the lives of those around you is one of the core objectives for anyone looking to be successful. What do you think? Comment Below!