Ten Habits Holding You Back from Success

You can develop any habit of thought or behavior that you consider desirable or necessary – Brian Tracy

People think that success is external; they assume successful people work hard to make more money. But that’s only half of the story. The other half is that successful people aren’t just putting in long hours at the office; they’re avoiding the habits that would drag down their success. Their external success is a division of hard work externally and internally.

The internal work is the tough question of, “Do I have the same habits as a successful person?” If you can imagine a seven-figure entrepreneur choosing to spend their day exactly as you do, you’re on the pathway to success. If you can’t, then you’ve found your problem. You’re asking for success without becoming the person who reaches that level of success. Successful people don’t fall through on their word, and they definitely don’t blame others for their misfortune. To be successful, you must drop these ten habits first.

1 – Making Empty Promises You are a representative of your business or the company you work for. If you don’t come through on a promise made, it taints your image and your company’s. When somebody tells you they’ll do something and they don’t, do you want to ask them to do it again? No, and the same applies to you. Avoid making empty promises by taking your calendar seriously. Every time you make a promise to do something, put it in your calendar so it’s impossible to forget. When you promise you’ll do something by a certain date, have it done.

2 – Blaming Others When everything goes wrong, it’s not your colleagues’, friends’, or family’s fault. When we blame others for our misfortunes or lack of success, we’re expecting other people to be the reason we become successful. Success is internal; it is our choice to live by the habits of successful people, and it is our choice not to. Instead of blaming others and wondering, “Why did this person do this to me?” we can change the question to, “How do I avoid this happening again?”

3 – Waiting for the Perfect Time “When I’m ready” is a common trap that unsuccessful people fall into. We wait for a sign instead of making one ourselves. The idea that we’ll be ready one day but aren’t now is like a mirage that keeps moving farther away as you think you’re getting closer. If you wait for the perfect time to go for it, you’re going to miss the opportunity.

4 – Talking About Your Goals but Not Setting Them Have you ever told someone you had a plan to do something and met them a few months later only to have made no progress? This happens when we talk about our goals instead of setting them. To set goals, reverse-engineer your way from start to finish.

5 – Procrastinating Procrastinating is an interesting indulgence. We procrastinate because it feels better than working, but afterward, we feel terrible for not working. It makes us feel unsuccessful, unworthy, and like a failure.

6 – Doubting Yourself How you deal with doubt will be what pushes you towards or away from success. If you’re not successful yet, you’re spending more time doubting yourself than believing in yourself. Doubts fuel fear, and fear keeps us stagnant.

7 – Comparing Yourself to Others Comparison is the thief of joy. The problem with comparing yourself to someone else is that you’re comparing your chapter 1 to somebody else’s chapter 20.

8 – Not Taking Care of Yourself Successful people know the importance of their health when it comes to their ability to be productive and focused.

9 – Giving Up Instead of Persisting Overnight success is a myth. Overnight successes are a culmination of years of hard work suddenly put under the spotlight. If you want to find success, you have to be willing to persist for months and even years before striking gold.

10 – Forgetting the Importance of Continuous Learning Even at 99 years old, you still won’t know everything. Successful people know that their successes are linked to their education. This doesn’t mean that they’re chasing college degrees and PhDs; it means they read books, attend conferences, and find ways to become better at what they do.

If you’re waiting for success, it’s right in front of you. Success is on the other side of bad habits patiently waiting for you to change so that you can step into all that you deserve. What habits can you change today that will transform your tomorrow? Now we’d love to hear from you. So our question today is, what habits are holding you back from success?