13 reasons you aren't as successful as you could be

Background

Came across this Business Insider article on some good points / reminders mostly relating to attitude; factors that influence one’s success in work and also life in general.

Should vs. could

The Business Insider article is entitled “13 reasons you aren’t as successful as you should be”. The article starts with:

If you’re not quite where you expected to be, you probably spend time wondering why.

So the context is the thought that “I’ve put in so and so much effort but have not reached what I expected to reach after having put in that effort."

Nevertheless, using the word should also subconsciously implies or brings to mind success as defined by the business world which often revolves around money, possessions etc. Hence I’ll rather use the word could instead of should.

The 13 points

The 13 points brought up by the BI article as reasons for not being as successful as one could be are are. I wrote my own one-line summaries for each bullet point. You may also want to read the summaries on the BI article:

1. You don’t believe in yourself.
   • Self belief => action
2. You engage in negativity.
   • Try to see an opportunity in every difficulty/challenge
3. You follow the path of least resistance.
   • Go and make it happen.
4. You’ve lost sight of your goals.
   • Set BHAGs
5. You spend too much time sitting around.
   • Avoid laziness
6. You are waiting for perfect.
   • Done is better than perfect.
7. You are easily distracted.
   • Self discipline…
8. You embrace your fears.
   • Facing fears loosens their grip.
9. You hold on when you need to let go.
   • Learn the lessons to be learned.
10. You make excuses rather than decisions.
    • Don’t put the blame on others (even if you could).
11. You ignore your gut instinct.
    • Need to be wise on this one; not a license to cutting corners.
12. You overcomplicate everything.
    • KISS principle
13. You’re waiting for permission.
    • Sign your own permission slip.