30 Causes For Failure

HOW MANY OF THESE ARE HOLDING YOU BACK?

Life’s greatest tragedy consists of men and women who earnestly try, and
fail! The tragedy lies in the overwhelmingly large majority of people who fail,
as compared to the few who succeed. I have had the privilege of analyzing
several thousand men and women, 98% of whom were classed as “failures.”
There is something radically wrong with a civilization, and a system of
education, which permit 98% of the people to go through life as failures.
But I did not write this book for the purpose of moralizing on the rights and
wrongs of the world; that would require a book a hundred times the size of
this one.

My analysis work proved that there are thirty major reasons for failure, and
thirteen major principles through which people accumulate fortunes. In this
chapter, a description of the thirty major causes of failure will be given. As
you go over the list, check yourself by it, point by point, for the purpose of
discovering how many of these causes-of- failure stand between you and
success.

1. UNFAVORABLE HEREDITARY BACKGROUND. There is but little, if anything,
which can be done for people who are born with a deficiency in brain power.
This philosophy offers but one method of bridging this weakness—through
the aid of the Master Mind. Observe with profit, however, that this is the
ONLY one of the thirty causes of failure which may not be easily corrected
by any individual.

2. LACK OF A WELL-DEFINED PURPOSE IN LIFE. There is no hope of success
for the person who does not have a central purpose, or definite goal at
which to aim. Ninety-eight out of every hundred of those whom I have
analyzed, had no such aim. Perhaps this was the major cause of their failure.

3. LACK OF AMBITION TO AIM ABOVE MEDIOCRITY. We offer no hope for the
person who is so indifferent as not to want to get ahead in life, and who is
not willing to pay the price.

4. INSUFFICIENT EDUCATION. This is a handicap which may be overcome
with comparative ease. Experience has proven that the best educated
people are often those who are known as “self- made,” or self-educated. It
takes more than a college degree to make one a person of education. Any
person who is educated is one who has learned to get whatever he wants in
life without violating the rights of others. Education consists, not so much of
knowledge, but of knowledge effectively and persistently APPLIED. Men are
paid, not merely for what they know, but more  particularly for WHAT THEY
DO WITH THAT WHICH THEY KNOW.

5. LACK OF SELF-DISCIPLINE. Discipline comes through self-control. This
means that one must control all negative qualities. Before you can control
conditions, you must first control yourself. Self- mastery is the hardest job
you will ever tackle. If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by
self. You may see at one and the same time both your best friend and your
greatest enemy, by stepping in front of a mirror.

6. ILL HEALTH. No person may enjoy outstanding success without good
health. Many of the causes of ill health are subject to mastery and control.
These, in the main are:

a. Overeating of foods not conducive to health

b. Wrong habits of thought; giving expression to negatives.

c. Wrong use of, and over indulgence in sex.

d. Lack of proper physical exercise

e. An inadequate supply of fresh air, due to improper breathing.

7. UNFAVORABLE ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES DURING CHILDHOOD. “As
the twig is bent, so shall the tree grow.” Most people who have criminal
tendencies acquire them as the result of bad environment, and improper
associates during childhood.

8. PROCRASTINATION. This is one of the most common causes of failure.
“Old Man Procrastination” stands within the shadow of every human being,
waiting his opportunity to spoil one’s chances of success. Most of us go
through life as failures, because we are waiting for the “time to be right” to
start doing something worthwhile. Do not wait. The time will never be “just
right.” Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have
at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.

9. LACK OF PERSISTENCE. Most of us are good “starters” but poor “finishers”
of everything we begin. Moreover, people are prone to give up at the first
signs of defeat. There is no substitute for PERSISTENCE. The person who
makes PERSISTENCE his watchword, discovers that “Old Man Failure” finally
becomes tired, and makes his departure. Failure cannot cope with
PERSISTENCE.

10. NEGATIVE PERSONALITY. There is no hope of success for the person
who repels people through a negative personality. Success comes through
the application of POWER, and power is attained through the cooperative
efforts of other people. A negative personality will not induce cooperation.

11. LACK OF CONTROLLED SEXUAL URGE. Sex energy is the most powerful
of all the stimuli which move people into ACTION. Because it is the most
powerful of the emotions, it must be controlled, through transmutation, and
converted into other channels.

12. UNCONTROLLED DESIRE FOR “SOMETHING FOR NOTHING.” The gambling
instinct drives millions of people to failure. Evidence of this may be found in
a study of the Wall Street crash of ‘29, during which millions of people tried
to make money by gambling on stock margins.

13. LACK OF A WELL DEFINED POWER OF DECISION. Men who succeed reach
decisions promptly, and change them, if at all, very slowly. Men who fail,
reach decisions, if at all, very slowly, and change them frequently, and
quickly. Indecision and procrastination are twin brothers. Where one is
found, the other may usually be found also. Kill off this pair before they
completely “hog-tie” you to the treadmill of FAILURE.

14. ONE OR MORE OF THE SIX BASIC FEARS. These fears have been
analyzed for you in a later chapter. They must be mastered before you
can market your services effectively.

15. WRONG SELECTION OF A MATE IN MARRIAGE. This a most common
cause of failure. The relationship of marriage brings people intimately into
contact. Unless this relationship is harmonious, failure is likely to follow.
Moreover, it will be a form of failure that is marked by misery and
unhappiness, destroying all signs of AMBITION.

16. OVER-CAUTION. The person who takes no chances, generally has to
take whatever is left when others are through choosing. Over-caution is as
bad as under-caution. Both are extremes to be guarded against. Life itself is
filled with the element of chance.

17. WRONG SELECTION OF ASSOCIATES IN BUSINESS. This is one of the
most common causes of failure in business. In marketing personal services,
one should use great care to select an employer who will be an inspiration,
and who is, himself, intelligent and successful. We emulate those with whom
we associate most closely. Pick an employer who is worth emulating.

18. SUPERSTITION AND PREJUDICE. Superstition is a form of fear. It is also
a sign of ignorance. Men who succeed keep open minds and are afraid of
nothing.

19. WRONG SELECTION OF A VOCATION. No man can succeed in a line of
endeavor which he does not like. The most essential step in the marketing
of personal services is that of selecting an occupation into which you can
throw yourself wholeheartedly.

20. LACK OF CONCENTRATION OF EFFORT. The “jack-of-all-trades” seldom
is good at any. Concentrate all of your efforts on one DEFINITE CHIEF AIM.

21. THE HABIT OF INDISCRIMINATE SPENDING. The spend-thrift cannot
succeed, mainly because he stands eternally in FEAR OF POVERTY. Form the
habit of systematic saving by putting aside a definite percentage of your
income. Money in the bank gives one a very safe foundation of COURAGE
when bargaining for the sale of personal services. Without money, one must
take what one is offered, and be glad to get it.

22. LACK OF ENTHUSIASM. Without enthusiasm one cannot be convincing.
Moreover, enthusiasm is contagious, and the person who has it, under
control, is generally welcome in any group of people.

23. INTOLERANCE. The person with a “closed” mind on any subject seldom
gets ahead. Intolerance means that one has stopped acquiring knowledge.
The most damaging forms of intolerance are those connected with religious,
racial, and political differences of opinion.

24. INTEMPERANCE. The most damaging forms of intemperance are
connected with eating, strong drink, and sexual activities. Overindulgence
in any of these is fatal to success.

25. INABILITY TO COOPERATE WITH OTHERS. More people lose their
positions and their big opportunities in life, because of this fault, than for
all other reasons combined. It is a fault which no well informed business man,
or leader will tolerate.

26. POSSESSION OF POWER THAT WAS NOT ACQUIRED THROUGH SELF
EFFORT. (Sons and daughters of wealthy men, and others who inherit money
which they did not earn). Power in the hands of one who did not acquire it
gradually, is often fatal to success. QUICK RICHES are more dangerous than
poverty.

27. INTENTIONAL DISHONESTY. There is no substitute for honesty. One may
be temporarily dishonest by force of circumstances over which one has no
control, without permanent damage. But, there is NO HOPE for the person
who is dishonest by choice. Sooner or later, his deeds will catch up with him,
and he will pay by loss of reputation, and perhaps even loss of liberty.

28. EGOTISM AND VANITY. These qualities serve as red lights which warn
others to keep away. THEY ARE FATAL TO SUCCESS.

29. GUESSING INSTEAD OF THINKING. Most people are too indifferent or
lazy to acquire FACTS with which to THINK ACCURATELY. They prefer to
act on “opinions” created by guesswork or snap-judgments.