THE 31 MAJOR CAUSES OF FAILURE

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



Before you even start to negotiate for a readjustment
of your salary in your present position, or to seek employment elsewhere , BE SURE THAT YOU ARE WORTH MORE THAN YOU NOW
RECEIVE.

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 thir-teen 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
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 col-lege 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 effec-tively 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 condi-tions, 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 step-ping 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 ten-dencies 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 some-thing 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 de-feat. There is no substitute for
PERSISTENCE. The person who makes PERSIST-ENCE his watch-word, 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 applica-tion 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 power-

ful of the emotions, it must be
controlled, through transmutation, and converted into other channels.
12. UNCONTROLLED DESIRE FOR “SOMETHING FOR NOTHING.”
The gam-bling 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. Indeci-sion 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 con-tact. 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 un-der-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 emu-lating.
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 per-sonal 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 bargain-ing 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 po-litical 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 posi-tions 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
gradu-ally, 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 con-trol, 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 oth-ers 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.
30. LACK OF CAPITAL. This is a common cause of
failure among those who start out in business for the first time, without
sufficient reserve of capital to absorb the shock of their mistakes, and to
carry them over until they have established a REPUTATION.
31. Under this, name any particular cause of
failure from which you have suffered that has not been included in the
foregoing list.
In these thirty major causes of
failure is found a description of the tragedy of life, which obtains for
practically every person who tries and fails. It will be helpful if you can
induce someone who knows you well to go over this list with you, and help to
analyze you by the thirty causes of failure. It may be beneficial if you try
this alone. Most people cannot see themselves as others see them. You may be
one who cannot.
The oldest of admonitions is “Man, know thyself!”
If you market merchandise successfully, you must know the merchandise. The same
is true in marketing per-sonal services. You should know all of your weaknesses
in order that you may either bridge them or eliminate them entirely. You should
know your strength in order that you may call attention to it when selling your
services. You can know yourself only through accurate analysis.
The folly of ignorance in connection with self
was displayed by a young man who applied to the manager of a well known
business for a position. He made a very good impression until the manager asked
him what salary he expected. He re-plied that he had no fixed
sum in mind (lack of a definite aim). The manager
then said, “We will pay you all you are worth, alter we try you out for a
week.”
“I will not accept it,” the applicant replied,
“because I AM GETTING MORE THAN THAT WHERE I AM NOW EMPLOYED.”

It is one thing to WANT money-everyone wants
more-but it is something entire-ly different to be WORTH MORE! Many people
mistake their WANTS for their JUST DUES. Your financial requirements or wants
have nothing whatever to do with your WORTH. Your value is established entirely
by your ability to render useful service or your capacity to induce others to
render such service.
No comments:
Post a Comment