Reasons why we don’t achieve excellence

Many people go through life with our emotional brakes on. Brakes are the factors that prevent you from achieving success that is - fear, procrastination, lack of pride etc. The way to release your emotional brakes is by building a positive attitude, realizing your self-worth and accepting responsibility.

There are some factors that can cause you to fail. By working to overcome these factors, you can release this brakes that are holding back your success.

1.       Unwillingness to Take Risks

Success involves taking calculated risks. Risk-taking is relative. Risk taking does not mean gambling foolishly and behaving irresponsibly.  Take risks but don’t gamble. Risk takers move ahead with their open eyes but gamblers shoot in the dark. Responsible risk taking is based on knowledge training and courage to act while facing fears. Risk taking is the part if the life. Sometimes not taking risk could become the greatest risk. People who doesn’t take any risk, they doesn’t do anything. We have to take risk in life for success.

2.       Unwillingness to Prepare

Preparation leads to confidence. Preparation means learning from our mistakes. There is nothing wrong with making mistakes. A fool is one who makes the same mistake twice. Prepared person tolerate failure but never accept them. It means prepared people have the courage to face defeat without feeling defeated.  Confidence comes from preparation. Winners put pressure on themselves. That is the pressure of preparing and not worrying about winning. If we practice poorly, we play poorly because we play as we practice. Remember one thing only preparation will gives you the competitive edge.

3.       Lack of Persistence

Lack of persistence is the greatest cause of failure. Persistence is a decision. It is a commitment to finish what you start. Persistence represents a strong will. When problem seem insurmountable, quitting may look like the easiest way out. Most people fail because they quit. The total secret of success lies in two traits: persistence and resistance.  Persist in what must be done and resist from what ought not to be done.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “a man is a hero not because he is a braver than anyone else, but because he is brave for ten minutes longer.”

4.       Instant Gratification

The problem with today’s people is that they want instant answers. They don’t want to work but want all the rewards. They are living in age of instant gratification. They are looking for one minute solution to everything. Like instant coffee they want instant happiness but there are no quick fixes. This attitudes leads to disappointment. Remember that when going for instant gratification and never think about consequences, it only gives you a momentary pleasure.

5.       Lack of Conviction

People without conviction do not take a stand. They go along to get along because they lack confidence and courage. One of the important secret to success is instead of being against something, be for something. That way you don’t become part of the problem, but you become part of the solution. It takes conviction to take a stand.

6.       Lack of Courage

Courage is not an absence of fear. Courage means the overcoming of fear.  Character without courage is ineffective and courage without character is oppression. Character and courage are the critical combination for success. People who have lack of courage can never be trusted. They will always let you down at the last moment. Successful people do not look for miracles or easy task. They seek courage and strength to overcome obstacles. When our minds are filled with courage, we forget our fears and overcome obstacles.

7.       Fear

Fear can be real or imaginary. Fear makes people do strange things. It primarily comes from lack of understanding. To live in fear is to live in an emotional prison. Fear results in insecurity, lack of confidence and procrastination. Procrastination is the thief of time. Fear destroys our potential and ability.

8.       Low Self-esteem

Low self-esteem is a lack of self-respect and self-worth. Low self-esteem leads to self-doubt. 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, not realizing that one’s self is not to be found. It is created. Idleness and laziness are consequences of low-esteem. Idleness is like rust that eats into the most brilliant metal.

9.       Fatalistic Attitude

Fatalistic attitude prevents people from accepting responsibility. People with fatalistic attitude attribute success and failure to luck. They resign themselves to their fate. They accept the predestined future written in their horoscope or stars. People with fatalistic attitude wait for things to happen rather than making them happen. Failure always says that success is a matter of luck. If you want to fail then believe in luck. If you want to succeed then believe in the principle of cause and effect, and you will create your own luck.

10.   Lack of Purpose

A lifetime goal is called a purpose. It gives meaning to life. Washington Irving says,” great minds have purposes, others have wishes”. When people lack of purpose and direction, they are unable to see opportunity. If a person has the desire to accomplish something, knows the destination, moves in that direction, focused with dedication and the discipline required, then success will follow. If you don’t have purpose and direction, it doesn’t matter what else you have, you won’t succeed.

11.   Lack of Commitment

Commitment makes people who play to win. Successful people are 100% committed toward their dreams and their goals. They will do whatever it takes to reach their success. On the other hand, unsuccessful people will do what is convenient because they are not committed to their dreams. Most people feel nothing when they fail to reach their goals. They can still survive and still live well if they did not hit their targets. This is why most people are not achieving their goals.

12.   Not Learning from Past Mistakes

Many people take their mistakes as signs of their unworthiness. They take setbacks as proof that they were never meant to achieve anything in the first place and that they were stupid to even try. Mistakes are crucial to success if we take the time to analyze them and learn from them. The lesson we learn from our mistakes help us to make new and better goal. Some people live and learn, and some only live. Wise people learn from their mistakes but wiser people learn from other people’s mistakes, because our lives are not long enough to learn only from our own mistakes.

If you are one of those people who consistently fails to reach your goals, it may be that you see goal setting as the whole process. Setting effective goal is essential but unless you take action to achieve the goal, it never truly be a goal, merely a dream. Goal setting and achievement is life-long process and we are forever learning but if you overcome the problems above, you will have taken giant strides to reach your goals.

Napoleon hill said,” A goal is a dream with a deadline.” Setting a deadline for the achievement of your goals is another critical step in the process but unless you strive to meet that deadline, you are still just dreaming. It is necessary to identify what it is that holding you back. Once you do, you can take corrective action to get back on track and reach you goals.