8 Ways to Sabotage Your Success
Ever know someone who "has it all," then throws it away by doing something stupid or worse--something fatal? The most well-known examples are celebrities; musicians, entertainers, and athletes, semingly making all the money in the worls and then doing something self-destructive. Think of Brittany Spears, Michael Vick, Paris Hilton, and Wesley Snipes; all are in a self-destructive spiral of their own decisions.
While, hopefully, you are not having similar experiences, many people sabotage their success in more subtle ways. What about you for 2008? Are you in a self-sabotage mode? Are you short-circuiting your own success? Check out the warning signs.
Success saboteurs:
Fail to place a premium on learning. They become content with what they know and are closed to new ideas and challenges. Because they do not commit to continuous learning, their world narrows as they age. A narrow perspective becomes rigid and stagnant leading to poor decision making. Successful people know that the more they learn, the more they realize that they don't know. They read a wide variety of books and periodicals and have an appreciation of history. A continuous education keeps you humble and curious.
Give up too soon. If at first they don't succeed, they quit. Yet, often people quit when success is just around the corner. A little more perseverance and the goal could be reached. If you look at the histories of very successful people, it often includes many "failures" that were turned into learning opportunities. Several years ago, more than 20 editors turned down two unpublished authors for a nonfiction book project. Refusing to give up, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen eventually sold the book for a nominal advance to a small Florida publishing house. Chicken Soup for the Soul became an instant best-seller and has sold millions of copies. The difference between a writer and an author is that the author did not give up.
