Success is a word that elicits different emotions in different people. For a person who has achieved what he wanted, a soft warm smile spreads on their lips. And their eyes glisten on remembering their days of hard work. That smile is that of a satisfied and established person. For a person who had to face hardships in his life to make ends meet, he’ll feel the pangs of guilt. He will wish he could have held on, and worked a bit harder. Their eyes would glisten too, but from regret and sadness.

It is easy to praise and congratulate a person who emerges victorious. But it is not easy to visualize the sacrifices he had to make and the hardships he had to endure to achieve that success. It is by the dint of a strong will power and endurance that a person reaches his goal. It is one thing to declare something, and another to actually work for that. Thus success is not an overnight affair, but a gradual process of perseverance and penance that leads you to the treasure. And here we have a list of 15 reasons why most people do not achieve success. If you check any one of them, you now know the consequences. Work hard, you have been warned.

15. Always Wasting Your Time

For a winner, time is more precious than money. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition,” Steve Jobs rightly said. Most people do not follow a strict time table for themselves and end up having an unproductive day. Have you observed the difference between your CEO and some of your lazy colleagues? Your CEO keeps himself busy throughout the day and that’s the reason he has gained such a prestigious position. But your colleagues spend too much time having food or gossiping about the CEO’s secretary. Do you do the same thing, eh? Grow up.

14. Procrastination will not get the job done

Most of the people don’t prioritize their work according to the time they have at hand. And because of this, they suffer. They keep postponing their works just to have time for enjoyment and this attitude has ruined many people’s life. Doing the right thing at the right time is the first step to success. It is a lesson everyone must learn in order to achieve their goals. Those who ignore this fact dig a path to their downfall. Today’s young generation is very trendy and the #YOLO thinking philosophy makes them both rash and brash. They party all around when they are supposed to invest time on their academics. Sure they’re going to scale great heights, heights of failures!

13. Having an unsupportive life partner

Falling in love is something everyone desires, at least once in their life. A healthy relationship can change the destination of a person and forge him into a hero. Bill Gates would not have been the man he was had he not received constant support from his wife Melinda. There are thousands of similar examples all around the world. A person may not be able to focus on his career if he has to deal with the wrong type of partner. Just like everyone, a person aspiring for success has their eyes set on the goal. They need the cooperation and support of their loved ones to achieve that. And if they do not get that vital support from their wife or husband for that matter, they might as well fail in their ventures. The blocked emotions and unsatisfied psychological needs would act as obstacles on his career path.

12. Lacking a daring personality

Most people who reach the zenith of their career dared to take a risk at least at one point of time in their career. James Cameron could have produced ten movies with the money that was invested on “Titanic”, but still he decided to make a movie about an ill-fated ship and everyone knows how “Titanic” stormed the box office the world all over. Had he not taken the risk the Oscar in 1998 would have gone to some other person. People refrain from taking risks because they think about the negative aspects. Stop thinking along those lines. Even if you fail, at least you’ll have the experience of a method that won’t work. As is evident in this famous quote by Thomas Edison: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

11. Calling it quits really easily

Failure will lead a person to success. Most people would laugh at this adage and dismiss it as false. But let it be known, every failure has a lesson that contains promises of a brighter future. The key is just to recognize and act upon that. Napoleon Hill has acknowledged this fact in one of his quotes: “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” 90% of the people believe that failure is the end of their journey. Either they will change their career path or stop thinking of trying again. This is what separates the strong willed from the weaklings. No wonder why successful people are usually so charismatic.

10. You should actually love your job

Successful men are those who have fallen in love with work that entertains them more than anything else. Their passion is what fuels them to live another day. Perhaps, they do not have to look for a place to derive pleasure. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook leads a simple life despite earning billions. His wedding was held in the backyard of his home! Mark and his wife were seen eating at McDonald’s when he was celebrating his honeymoon in Paris. He knows the value of money and prefers saving it for a good reason rather than spending on unnecessary stuff. This does not mean that you should not celebrate and declare yourself a hermit. Do what you wish to do, but make sure that your work is above all.

9. Get out of your comfort zone

Some people are happy in their comfort zone and they never think of exploring new avenues. All they want is a stress-free life, and on getting it they will settle down without any hesitation. There are thousands of software engineers working in the United States, but hardly any of them dream of becoming another Sergey Brin or Bill Gates. Why? Because they really do not want to step out of their comfort zone. At present, they are getting a handsome salary and the company is taking care of their other expenditures, so they do not find the necessity to go out and start something new. Stay hungry, and new avenues will open up for you. Feel the heat and beat it.

8. Looking For Instant Success

“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do,” said the football legend Pele. Success never comes to anyone overnight.

Usain Bolt is a household name all over the world. When he kissed his first Olympic medal, the world looked at him with admiration and many of us considered him the luckiest man to have had a big success in such a short period of time. But if you check out the YouTube videos about his life, you will get to watch his years of struggle. How long will it take? This is the question that most people ask. People get tired of doing hard work. Their patience wears off if they don’t get the desired results. However, as said earlier, only the strong-willed survive.

7. Lack of self-inspiration

Usually, people believe that they need inspiration only when they take their first step towards their goal. But, they are wrong. Success is a journey, not the destination. So, throughout the meaningful journey, one needs a source of inspiration that can keep him focused. If a person lacks inspiration, he will surely go off the track and one fine day he will realize what he is lost in his life. People who are bound to get successful find inspiration in each and every thing. They set a target for the day and when it’s completed they feel satisfied. And this satisfaction and happiness propels them to work even harder. Don’t compare yourself to others. Otherwise, you will start to feel inferior and that’d be the end of the game!

6. Living In An Illusion

There is a big difference between dreams and illusions. Dreams inspire people whereas illusion makes them escape from reality. A winner is the one who chases his dream and lives in reality, undoubtedly he will be very clear about the challenges he will encounter on his path. But a wimp’s attitude is totally different, he wants to daydream and derives satisfaction in that way. He knows that he has to face multiple challenges in order to become a winner. While listening to the victory speech of an award winner, you might have imagined yourself in his place. Perhaps you have been thinking that you will receive the same award in the future. But, you are not making any efforts in order to reach that position. That is an illusion. Come out of it and work hard to fulfill your dreams.

5. Making Excuses to Avoid Working

Giving excuses is what a child does, but you will find that grown-ups are filled with excuses as well about achieving their goals. They give excuses just to escape from work. There are some clever people who simply blame time for their failure. Many people say that they were born in poor families and that’s the reason they could not be successful in their life. It’s just a reason to escape! “Your complaints, your drama, your victim mentality, your whining, your blaming, and all of your excuses have NEVER gotten you even a single step closer to your goals or dreams. Let go of your nonsense. Let go of the delusion that you DESERVE better. And if you believe, go EARN it! Today is a new day!” said Steve Maraboli, a bestselling author and a behavioral scientist by profession.

4. Being a clumsy wolf who doesn’t seize an opportunity

Wolves always have their nose active for a prey, pouncing on every single opportunity. But we are men and as you know, opportunities never come to our doorsteps. We must search and grab them using our dedication. Steve Jobs is the best example for this. He founded Apple in 1976 and made it a global brand within a decade, but after a few years, he got fired from his own company. That was a challenging period in his life, but Steve turned it into an opportunity. He founded a new company called NeXT and in 1990, he introduced the first NeXT product. Later he moved to software development and earned $1 million in 1994. His intelligence and hard work brought him what he had lost. In 2000 he was invited to become the CEO of Apple! People wait for opportunities and never realize that there is an opportunity behind each and every challenge they have been confronting. Learn to close in on an opportunity, don’t be a clumsy wolf.

3. Laziness will not make you a success

Successful people spend most of their hours working and they reap its fruits at the end. In fact they can even be accused of polygamy because their profession is their first wife, no pun intended. That’s the beauty of life! They get tired when they reach home, but they find happiness in that. Each day is special for them. But for a lazy person, his job is a means to earn money. He waits for the weekends when he can sleep more and spend time on leisure activities. This kind of person will never sacrifice anything to get success, and in future, they may have to compromise with everything.

2. Not Having a Healthy Lifestyle

A healthy mind resides in a healthy body. Successful men never ignore their lifestyle. They hit their gym on time and also avoid junk food. If they can’t go to a gym, they at least go for a morning walk. And even if they don’t do this, one thing is for sure that they are early risers, since they know the value of time. Besides, you will never find successful men who don’t have a hobby. Their lifestyle is the secret of their success. In fact, losers do not want to makes changes in their lifestyle since they are addicted to it. Spending nights in dance clubs and waking up with painful hangovers is their daily routine. They lack enough energy that is required to be productive throughout the day. Such people think of saying goodbye to their work before reaching the age of retirement.

1. Dwelling Too Much on Past Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes, but the ones who learn from those mistakes become great. “You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space,” said Johnny Cash, one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. Losers always live in their past and they consider their mistakes as sins that can’t be forgiven. This unnecessary guilty feeling may slowly kill their sportive spirit.