Why people fail 2

Last week, we discussed despair and fear as being 2 of the reasons why people fail. In this edition, we shall be looking at some other reasons:

• Myopia- Myopic people see only the present, oblivious of the future. They see only the surface, ignorant of unseen depths. Short-sightedness will lead you to making hasty generalisations, shoddy decisions and shallow thinking. It’s the source of character flaws, social vices, leadership quagmire, failure and loss of opportunities. “Opportunities are regularly knocking on your door, sometimes so slowly you attribute it to something else, sometimes so silently the noise of your fears and worries clutters it.” (Deolu Akinyemi) Martha Stewart is convinced that, “Without an open-minded mind, you can never be a great success.” See beyond your own limited comfort zone. Enlarge your circumference of experience by reading the interviews, articles and books written on your role models. Get the keys into successful people’s world and soon you’ll be celebrated.
• Hesitancy- The failure to decide what to do, when to do it, where to do it or how to get it done is a major setback for success. Indecision is like a tossed coin, which keeps spinning, not choosing whether to stay head or tail. Opportunities have a lifespan. Passing Over Opportunities Repeatedly leads not only to poverty, but to failure. One common trait with all failure stories is indecision or the inability to stick to a decision. Weight your options, make a choice and be passionate enough to hold firmly to your decision. Don’t become a victim of hesitancy, standing at the crossroads of life wondering what to make out of it.
• Ignorance- I’d always waited for the wow moment when my 10-month old daughter, Rike, would shout “Daddy” for the 1^st time. Unknown to me, she had said it many times before that I failed to realise it because I didn’t get it in the form that I’d expected it. A few days ago, to my amazement, she muttered, “Tatty” that it took my wife’s observation to realise it. Many times, the ignorance of the opportunities in your environment shuts you out from the doors of utopia. When you look but you don’t see and you hear but you don’t listen, information is not transferred, knowledge is not gained and opportunities are not seized. Develop the skill to critically interpret the information at your disposal. Technology has aided the increase of information, leading to information clutter. Emails, BB, FB, Twitter, TV, radio, CD, iPod, pocket PC seem to be slipping us further into ignorance. We have access to more and more information that we interpret only on surface level. I think we should have less and less of these but meditate more and more on the little we choose to focus on. See more, listen more and achieve more.

Also, be ready to learn from anybody. Descend from your lofty height; learn from those who are ahead of your game- even if they are younger than you. Age, self esteem, education, achievements and culture are limiting people from their next level of success. Will you be next?

To be continued…

Pix: Microsoft images