It’s fairly safe to say that all people want to find success at some point in their lives. But because of the way life works, some people’s journey to the top can take much longer than others. People find success in many different ways, but unsuccessful people tend to find failure because of their negative habits. These habits can be dangerous to your future and may significantly harm you if you take part in them!
Here Are 7 Habits Of Unsuccessful People, And How To Avoid Them:
1. They Fail To Interact Well With Others
Success is often about politics, meaning it’s about people and how you interact with them. Here are some bad habits that successful people perform around others:
They Refuse To Listen
We’re meant to listen more than we speak. Unsuccessful people do the opposite. They refuse to pay attention to anyone else and don’t care what others say about them, causing them to miss out on valuable advice and positive, constructive criticism. (1)
They Burn Bridges Too Quickly
It goes without saying that, at some point in your life, you’ll probably have to cut off some toxic people. But a mild disagreement, dislike, or discomfort should not directly cause you to burn bridges in an impulsive and extreme fashion.
Not only could these people potentially cause trouble for you later on, but it’s generally a good idea to maintain contacts as you go up in the world. So keep your acquaintances!
They Hang Out With The Wrong People
If you’re hanging out in the wrong crowd, you’re going to slowly begin to pick up on their traits. Surround yourself with bums and people who have no drive for success and you’ll incorporate their energy into your life.
Hang out with friends who hold you accountable. They’ll support you, but they won’t stand for you making any ridiculous excuses to get out of doing what needs to be done.
They’re Just Not Nice
Going up in the world means networking, building positive relationships, and making friends in high places. You won’t get very far with a nasty attitude that makes everyone think you’re mean.
Instead of doing this, open your mind. Listen to criticism, learn to build a network of contacts, and be friendly. Be accepting of others and surround yourself with successful people!
2. They Don’t Know What Their Goals Are
You need to set goals in order to succeed. There is little you can do if you’re hiding behind a “winging-it” personality. Sure, winging it works for some things – but not for your entire life. Here are some ways this manifests:
Unsuccessful People Waste Time
Unsuccessful people don’t have a very good idea of what their next plans are. This causes them to laze around a lot, wasting their time and falling complacent. As everyone else works hard to move up in the world, they’re stuck in one spot, and they don’t bother doing anything to get out of it.
Act Impulsively
Those who are unsuccessful tend to react naturally on impulse. They spend money on whatever they see. In addition, they make snap decisions without thought. They react immediately to new information without taking the time to process it.
This leads to a lot of regrets and bad choices that ruin their chances of success. Instead of making plans and goals, they rush into things and muck them up.
Conform
Conformity isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but many unsuccessful individuals don’t have their own sense of self. This leads them to copy those around them. They don’t know what to do in life, so they just follow the crowd, blending in and becoming just another monotonous face that could have tried to stand out.
It’s a good idea to list down your short-term and long-term goals. Then, once you have them, create an action plan that will feasibly allow you to get to where you want to be.
3. They Have Bad Work Ethic
Success involves the desire to work towards it. If you have a terrible work ethic, it’s going to stop you from achieving great things. An unsuccessful person doesn’t have a particularly good work ethic at all. They’re mainly interested in doing the bare minimum that they can get away with, just to scrape by.
Unsuccessful people also procrastinate, often putting things off for days, weeks, or even months. They do everything last minute, and not because of any form of executive dysfunction – it’s just because they can’t be bothered to do it earlier. Don’t fall into this trap! Get off your behind and do something, even when it’s difficult!
4. They’re Quick To Give In
Someone who is successful didn’t become that way overnight. They stumbled and fell a lot of different times. They use positive thinking to get them through the most humiliating failures, knowing that each time they fall, they are learning new lessons that they will use on their way to success. (2)
This is why, if you want to avoid unsuccessful behavior, you need to be strong and resilient. You need to be determined to succeed, no matter what. Here are some areas where unsuccessful individuals tend to fall short:
Taking The Easy Way Out
People like to say that there is usually an “easy” way and an actual “right” way. Guess which one unsuccessful people choose? They have no interest in doing things correctly if there’s a simpler and faster way to do them, even if that means the results are lower in quality.
They Sacrifice Nothing
It’s rare that anyone is able to climb the ladder of success without sacrificing something – whether that’s giving up some of their free time, spending barely anything so they can save up, or having to live very far away from loved ones. An unsuccessful person doesn’t have it in them to sacrifice anything.
Unsuccessful People Give Up Quickly
The moment an unsuccessful person sees failure, they abandon the project and turn their attention to something else. They never sharpen their skills, instead accumulating barely mediocre knowledge in many fields that they continue to turn their backs on when failure strikes.
Avoiding Any Risks and Challenges
Unsuccessful individuals never challenge themselves. They stay put, never leaving their comfort zone. Often, they become stuck in one area and never broaden their horizons. They don’t grow – they stagnate.
5. They Are Endlessly Negative
If you don’t have positive thinking, you can’t get anywhere in life. You have to be aware of the power that negative thoughts can have on you. Here are some habits to avoid:
They Find The Bad In Every Situation
People are supposed to find the silver lining in every cloud. Unsuccessful people to the opposite – they find dark clouds in every shining opportunity. For some reason, they’re able to see imaginary bad in all that is good, which stops them from working towards a positive future.
They Dislike Many Things
There’s no end to what a negative person dislikes, probably because they dislike almost everything. They dislike so many people and things that it makes it impossible to get along with them.
They Constantly Complain
No one likes a complainer. Someone who isn’t successful may fall into the trap of complaining constantly. It’s one thing to vent and rant when you’re going through emotional turmoil, but it’s a whole different ballpark to always be running your mouth about what’s wrong with the world.
They Are Never Grateful
Gratitude is one of the most important traits of success. Those who do not practice regular gratitude are less likely to succeed, and they likely have a much worse sense of positive self-esteem, too. (3)
Remember, focusing on the positive will always help you. Don’t get too hung up in the downsides. Look at the upsides and see how you can make them better.
6. They Bring Others Down
Unsuccessful individuals have no interest in chasing success themselves, so they often attempt to bring down the people around them to their level. In other ways, they put other people down so they can feel like they’re higher up. Here are some ways that this may happen:
Judgment
An unsuccessful person doesn’t like listening to input from other people. As such, they wind up being very judgemental. Whenever someone says something to them, they scoff and ignore it, or pick it apart. This prevents people from being open with them again, ever.
Envy
Many unsuccessful individuals envy people who do succeed. But instead of asking those people for advice, they wallow in envy and jealousy. This extra negativity further prevents them from getting anywhere in life.
Manipulation
An unsuccessful person may spread rumors in order to bring down a person they are envious of. They may try to completely ruin that person’s career and life by gossiping, sabotaging, and manipulating in every way possible.
Hoping For Failure
Instead of working harder and hoping for their own success, an unsuccessful person lazes about and hopes for the failure of others. They do not want anyone else to rise above them or taste the blissful feeling of success. Unfortunately, this can bring down an entire team of people.
Make an effort to respect those around you – even those who are doing better than you. Better yet, befriend those people! You may learn a thing or two from them. At the end of the day, everyone is different, and it is okay if your journey to success takes longer. It’s still valid!
7. They Refuse To Take Responsibility
A successful individual is mature. They know that they are primarily in control of their lives. Furthermore, they hold themselves accountable and take responsibility for what is happening. They don’t blame their circumstances for failure – they recognize their mistakes and move on, armed with more knowledge than before.
On the flip side, someone who is always unsuccessful tends to make a habit of blaming other people. They point fingers and never admit to any wrongdoing. Their pride and ego must be shielded, and they, therefore, never learn anything from their mistakes.
It can be very easy to pass on the blame and insist that you had no control over any given situation. But your actions and reactions are all your own, and you get to decide how you conduct yourself, even in difficult times – so keep that in mind.
Final Thoughts On Some Habits Of Unsuccessful People And How To Avoid Them
Only you get to decide what your idea of success is. Once you have that idea, though, it’s time to go towards it with all the planning, intelligence, and determination that you can. Avoid adopting the habits of unsuccessful people and your journey will be much smoother.
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