Chronically Unsuccessful People Usually Have A Few Habits That Make It Tough To Ever Get Ahead
Jasen Wright | Shutterstock Being chronically unsuccessful might feel like being dealt a bad hand in the game of life, but sometimes it's not luck. The common denominator in every situation is always the unsuccessful person.
These people often say that they've tried everything, but have they, really? Sometimes people are simply just unwilling to see how they're contributing to their own misfortune.
Chronically unsuccessful people often have 5 habits that make it hard to get ahead:
1. They procrastinate
Procrastination is something we can all relate to, but chronically unsuccessful people don't seem to learn from their past mistakes. These people continue to choose to procrastinate and do it again and again and again. The outcome never changes, they are still scrambling to get their work done on time in the end.
Procrastination adds to unsuccessful people's stress, which can often trigger feelings of being frozen. Their response to this is part of the problem: they just try the same solutions again and again with no results.
2. They believe there's nothing to learn from past failures
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One challenge for people who've faced a lot of failures is to accept that they do have some control, primarily in how they react to mistakes. Successful people have a growth mindset, which means they're willing to see almost any situation as an opportunity to learn and become better at what they're trying to do.
One study showed that it's not an emotional weakness that keeps people from learning from failures, it's an almost definitional challenge. They believe failure offers nothing but misery and never go looking for the lesson. The study showed that people see no informational value in possible future failures, meaning that they will continue not to learn from past or any future failures as well.
3. They rely way too much on instant gratification
Instant gratification is the impulse to receive happiness without work or delay. For example, when a person posts something on Instagram and they immediately get a bunch of likes and comments, that's instant gratification. The delight they feel and self-esteem boost they experience is thrilling, but only for a short time.
In contrast, working hard toward career goals hor higher education can't give someone instant gratification, but they can offer satisfaction that's deeper and longer-lasting. And that's the problem for someone that is chronically unsuccessful.
They turn to social media or other apps that give them a big burst of dopamine rather than developing skills and authentic confidence. That's how chornically unsuccessful people end up in such unfulfilling lives. Sadly, they often don't even know where to start in order to break this cycle.
4. They shift the blame
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In order to feel less guilty about the bad habits that they have, chronically unsuccessful people shift the blame from themselves onto others or the environment that they're in. For example, someone might struggle to find a job and blame it on the politicians in charge. When those politicians and policies change, however, nothing changes for them. This year it seems like unsuccessful people blame their inability to get a job on many company's reliance on new technology
This doesn't mean politics and tech don't affect someone's job prospects. But once you face the reality of what's holding you back, you need to do whatever you can to change it, not just wallow in it. Blaming other people or outside forces for what's not working keeps people stuck unless they also have a plan for changing what they can control on their end.
5. They're always late
Being tardy for any event is never a good look, but being late for a job interview? It pretty much sets you up for failure. No hiring manager wants to meet with someone that doesn't respect their time so much that they showed up late (especially not with an iced coffee, according to social media).
Getting up early is the worst, we absolutely all agree on that, but it pays to do it when something really matters to you.
Lyss Micalizzi is a writer covering human interest and pop culture, with a master’s in Literature and Culture, a bachelor’s in English Literary and Textual Studies, and over six years of writing and social media experience.
