The Number One Reason Why You Don't Succeed

Have you been into self-help materials but still find yourself in the same situation, the same place, same financial status year after year? Maybe you’ve been wondering what is wrong with you when all the success formulas don’t seem to work for you. I felt the same thing until I’ve discovered why some self-help books fail: the number one reason why you don’t succeed.

I can tell you hundreds of ways to the path of success but this is also what tons of books teach people and I think some of them missed one thing. Self-help materials teach you steps to achieving your goals in life; answering the question “why some people are successful?” but fail to provide the answer as to “why some people are not?” Just like some authors point out the habits of successful people; I think it is also important to figure out the behavioral patterns of unsuccessful people. And the number one factor that affects one’s failure is feelings.

If your productiveness depends on your mood, then I am telling you that you are in big trouble. Circumstances, hassles, challenges and sudden changes are inevitable. Regardless how good your morning routine is or how prepared you are; things happen that are out of your control. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. For an instance, right after I’ve set my mood for the day, that’s the time when I would receive a bad news that would instantly made me sad, discouraged and unmotivated. Just like when I am getting serious about my diet, my mom would suddenly remember cooking my favourites. Or maybe just when you’ve decided to make time for something that you’re truly passionate about; something urgent would happen that needs your time and attention immediately. 

You see, things simply go out of hand regardless how prepared we may seem to be. And challenges and distractions are the obvious signs that you are actually on the right path of personal growth. There are forces that will stop you from being the person that you should have been a long time ago and these are negativity, bad habits, fear, procrastination, even other people’s jealousy, to name a few. We may not have control of things that happen but we have the power to choose how we respond to them.  So if your feelings basically decide for your schedule, then I bet you’ll be in the same exact place year after year, and no self-help books can actually help you improve your situation.

Feelings actually produce all the negative thoughts, worries, fears and even depression. I know a lot of great people who are way talented than the rest but their performances depends on their moods. I remember this one friend of mine who was very smart, in fact he’s more intelligent than anyone I know but the problem is he knows how good he is and that makes him procrastinate in everything he does. And because of his procrastination, he couldn’t even keep one regular job. Then I have another friend who is I swear could have been one of the best singers in the country now only if she pursued her singing career. The problem is she gets discourage easily. Years later, these two friends I’m talking about stays at the same place, wasting their potentials and let their feelings get to them.

Feelings actually play a big role why you don’t succeed. I’d like to contradict what is popular belief that we should follow our hearts. In fact, even the bible does not support the idea that the world embraces about following one’s heart. Even the L-rd states that the heart proceeds evil thoughts. Jeremiah also states that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Feelings and negative thoughts are a sure way to destruction if we are not careful enough to resist them. Even the Proverbs tell us to guard our heart above all else.  

If feelings hinder us to be the best person that we supposed to be, then it is also good to know that there is something we can do about it. Imagine if we could only be the master of our own feelings; then every possible success tips out there would simply work immediately and effortlessly. So to master our feelings is as simple as mastering our thoughts. But we just have to understand how it actually works.

Let’s say you failed at a job interview you applied for; now your thoughts would simply remind you how unqualified you are, how not good enough you are and it would exaggerate all the past rejections it could remember and made you doubt on your capabilities. When you feel insecure, it would make the situation worse because your feelings would make you question your entire relationship with the  people you love. It could even make you compare yourself to your colleagues. That’s the time your feelings would give you a sense of insecurity, hopelessness, discouragement and all the negative feelings you could possibly have. And these feelings manifest physically and it would be hard for you to focus and finish a single task. 


This is how feelings are actually being maneuvered by negative thoughts. Now, I will tell you a secret (which was hidden in plain sight) on how to actually stop the negative thoughts almost immediately. Yes, it is very possible. There’s actually a way for you to stop the negative thoughts or whatever feelings of hopelessness and negativity you may have in an instant. Yes, it’s actually almost a miracle how fast you can actually reverse the negative thoughts to something positive in an instant, without costing you anything at all.

The secret is actually no secret. I am talking about the power of the Word. In fact, you may have been doing this all these time without you even aware of using the power and miracle of it. If you’re still not convinced, let me give you an instance on how you actually use the power of the Word on a regular basis without even realizing it. Have you experienced getting on bed, preparing to sleep, then suddenly a thought came to you; maybe a bad memory of something traumatic in the past that it playback in your mind then you suddenly just wanted to shout and jump from the bed? And when we can’t bear it anymore, what usually happens is we shout or say a loud "No!" and then the negative thoughts would just stop suddenly--- in an instant.

The Word is a powerful tool to help us overcome fears, bad feelings, and negative thoughts. The thoughts stop when we speak because the mind listens to what you’re saying. Using the power of the Word has been the secret of many successful people in the history and one of them is king David who has won not only a number of battles but he also won over his feelings using the power of the Word. If you read the book of Psalms, you’ll see that king David was just like the rest of us who felt pain, worries and sometimes uncertainty. But you can also see how he fought and contradicted these negative feelings by speaking positive things out loud. It even became songs. These beautiful prayers turned into beautiful songs of assurance, security and power.  If you would only read the Psalms carefully, you'd realize that these are bunch of positive declarations and affirmations. The power of the Word has been practicing in ancient time even before the first self-improvement book has ever been published.

So next time that you feel discouraged hopeless or unworthy, say a positive affirmation out loud. Sometimes my thoughts would remind me of my ugly past and what I say out loud is: “I am at my best state. Good things are happening in my life. There’s a bright future ahead of me.” Then suddenly my thoughts would stop reminding me of how bad my life used to be. Sometimes, I don’t feel like working out, so before I even listen to my thoughts, I would contradict it instantly by saying this out loud: “I am a person of discipline. I work out every day. I am at my best shape. I inspire people.” Then I suddenly become what I say.  

You might find it silly to talk to yourself but I encourage you to do that. In fact, I don’t just talk to myself randomly, I even find time to do it. I believe that the happiest people are the ones who talk to themselves. Be your own bestfriend. Be your own fan. Encourage yourself until you come to a point when you wouldn’t need other people's recognition anymore to do a job well. Motivate yourself until you come to a point when you do what you do effectively and efficiently regardless of how bad your day is. Discover yourself and never stop improving until such a time when you wouldn’t be affected by people’s negative opinions about you. Turn to the Word. Use the power of the Word. Speak of the Word.

I just can’t stress enough the importance of the power of the Word. It has the power to create and stop things. It has the power to give life to our dreams. It also has the power to shut down all the negativity in an instant. The Word is a gift to us and we shall start making good use of it. Remember, you shall not let your bad thoughts and feelings get to you. You are the master of your own thoughts. Your thoughts should be listening to you and not the other way around. So next time your feelings and thoughts try to stop you from being the awesome human being that you actually are; use the power of the Word, speak of it and win the battle every time.