Why You Failed

Posted on November 11, 2009 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

I can across an interesting post on failure by Tony Morgan, “10 Reasons Why You’re Probably Going to Fail.”

Here is his list

:

1.

It is not your passion

. If it doesn’t make your heart beat fast, or cause your mind to race when you’re trying to sleep, you’re probably doing the wrong thing.

2.

You don’t have a plan

. You need a vision - and you need to identify specific steps to make your vision become reality.

3.

You’re waiting for it to be perfect

. Be willing to test-drive a new idea. You’ll fall into the trap of inaction if you think it has to be absolutely right from day one.

4.

You’re not willing to work hard

. Everything worth pursuing in life will demand discipline and perseverance.

5.

It outgrew you

. Keep learning. Keep growing. But more importantly, build a team of people around you that are growing too.

6.

You’ve had success in the past

. I’ve watched organizations hang on to a good idea for too long. Time passes. Momentum fades. It’s risky to let go of the past and jump onto a new idea. Take that risk!

7.

You’re unwilling to stop doing something else

. Complexity is easy. Simplicity takes discipline. For example, you can’t build a healthy marriage if you’re unwilling to give up dating other women. Who/what do you need to stop dating (doing)?

8.

You don’t take the time to build a team of friends

. You need to find people you want to share life with. In the long run, great relationships will get you out of bed in the morning.

9.

You walk away from tough conversations

. When breakdown happens (and it always does), you need to initiate the difficult conversation that leads to relational healing.

10.

You are afraid of failure

. When fear consumes you, it will cause you to do stupid things. It will cause you to embrace the known, and grow comfortable with mediocrity. The more often you fail, though, the more often you’ll find success.

** This is a great list to work through when embarking on a new and challenging initiative.