12 Things You Are Doing To
Sabotage Your Future
I have mentored, counseled,
encouraged, discouraged, hired and fired hundreds of people over the past 25
years. Oftentimes failure is less about a lack of talent or ability, and more
about self sabotage. These are frequent road blocks I see in people, myself
included.
1. You are lazy.
Most
of us default to indolence. We take the easy way. We get comfortable. We like a
routine. This may be fine for 90%. If you are reading this, I suspect it’s not
fine for you. So get off your ass and get started.
2. You lack focus.
You
start out great. You spend thirty minutes of uninterrupted time putting
together a plan, making a list, and polishing your resume, so you decide to
take a break. You check Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, your friend’s blog, Game
of Thrones, iTunes, etc. and two hours later you’re back. No one gives a
shit about your high score on Candy Crush or Flappy Bird.
3. You are too
isolated.
No
one is going to pluck you from obscurity or discover you working at a diner.
This isn’t 1930′s Hollywood.
If
you were going to advance your goals with the help of the people you hang out
with right now then you’d already be on your way. But you aren’t. So get out.
Meet new people. Do you have a great idea? Call me. Find someone who has a
career you want and reach out to that person. What have you got to lose?
4. You fear
rejection.
You
know the answer to the question posed above: “What have you got to lose?”
Nothing. But you still won’t do it because you are afraid of rejection. If you
call me with your great idea, chances are I will decline. This may have nothing
whatsoever to do with you or your idea. So don’t do what is next.
5. You give up too
easily.
Many
of the cases I have won and most of the money I have made is because someone on
the other side gave in. Quit. Especially when things got a little dicey.
Know
this: there are very few obstacles that cannot be overcome. Hang in there and
you will be amazed at what happens. You will achieve much of your success by
attrition.
6. You bitch too
much.
Stop
complaining. It’s a waste of time. Your problems are not unique to you. Get
over it.
7. You buy into
other’s perceptions of you.
There
was a busboy at one of my favorite restaurants who wanted to be a chef.
Unfortunately, the owner of the restaurant never thought of him as anything but
a busboy. So he quit. He went to work for another restaurant where he started
again as a busboy. But he made it clear that he wanted to eventually be a chef.
Now he is one hell of a chef.
8. You listen to
other people.
“You’ll
never get that job.” “You have to have a (blank) degree to work there.”
“They’re not hiring.”
The
sad truth is that most people don’t care whether you succeed. They really don’t
give more than a fleeting thought to something you think about every waking
moment. Don’t listen to them. They don’t know.
9. You are waiting
for the perfect job.
There’s
no such thing. Even if you work for yourself you are always working for someone
else. Take a job that allows you creative freedom or some means of
independence or some level of fulfillment and ignore the rest of the bullshit
that comes along with it until you find one that offers even more.
10. You lie to
yourself.
Our
brains are wonderful at self delusion. We tell ourselves we are smarter than we
are, more handsome than we are, funnier than we are. This leads to
arrogance which leads to complacency. Be brutally honest with your self
evaluation.
11. You rest on your
past accomplishments.
You
made good grades in college. You wrote a novel. You were a high school track
star. That’s past tense. As Babe Ruth, the greatest hitter of all time, said:
Today’s ball games aren’t won with yesterday’s home runs.
No
one gives a shit about what you accomplished yesterday. What are you doing
today?
12. You compare
yourself to others.
There are thousands of talented people out there, many of whom are
better than you at whatever it is you want to do. There are lawyers and
entrepreneurs who are immensely more talented than me. I don’t have to run
faster than the bear. I just have to run faster than one other person.
COURTESY: FROM INTERNET.
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