The thirty major causes of failure. How many of these are holding you back?

Joseph Murphy analysis proved that there are thirty major reasons for failure.As you go over the list, check yourself by it, point by point, for the purpose of discovering how many of these causes-of-failure stand between you and success.

1. UNFAVORABLE HEREDITARY BACKGROUND. There  is but little, if anything, which can be done for people who are born  with a deficiency in brain power. This philosophy offers but one  method of bridging this weakness— through the aid of the Master  Mind. Observe with profit, however, that this is the ONLY one of  the thirty causes of failure which may not be easily corrected by any  individual.

2. LACK OF A WELL-DEFINED PURPOSE IN LIFE. There is  no hope of success for the person who does not have a central  purpose, or definite goal at which to aim. Ninety-eight out of every  hundred of those whom I have analyzed, had no such aim.

3. LACK OF AMBITION TO AIM ABOVE MEDIOCRITY.  We offer no hope for the person who is so indifferent as not to want  to get ahead in life, and who is not willing to pay the price.

4. INSUFFICIENT EDUCATION. This is a handicap which  may be overcome with comparative ease. Experience has proven  that the best-educated people are often those who are known as  "self-made," or self-educated. It takes more than a college degree to  make one a person of education. Any person who is educated is  one who has learned to get whatever he wants in life without  violating the rights of others. Education consists, not so much of  knowledge, but of knowledge effectively and persistently  APPLIED. Men are paid, not merely for what they know, but more  particularly for WHAT THEY DO WITH THAT WHICH THEY  KNOW.

5. LACK OF SELF-DISCIPLINE. Discipline comes through  self-control. This means that one must control all negative qualities.  Before you can control conditions, you must first control yourself.  Self-mastery is the hardest job you will ever tackle. If you do not  conquer self, you will be conquered by self. You may see at one and  the same time both your best friend and your greatest enemy, by  stepping in front of a mirror.

6. ILL HEALTH. No person may enjoy outstanding success  without good health. Many of the causes of ill health are subject to  mastery and control. These, in the main are:
a. Overeating of foods not conducive to health
b. Wrong habits of thought; giving expression to  negatives.
c. Wrong use of, and over indulgence in sex.
d. Lack of proper physical exercise
e. An inadequate supply of fresh air, due to improper  breathing.

7. UNFAVORABLE ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES  DURING CHILDHOOD. "As the twig is bent, so shall the tree  grow." Most people who have criminal tendencies acquire them as  the result of bad environment, and improper associates during  childhood.

8. PROCRASTINATION. This is one of the most common  causes of failure. "Old Man Procrastination" stands within the  shadow of every human being, waiting his opportunity to spoil  one's chances of success. Most of us go through life as failures,  because we are waiting for the "time to be right" to start doing  something worthwhile. Do not wait. The time will never be "just  right." Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you  may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you  go along.

9. LACK OF PERSISTENCE. Most of us are good "starters"  but poor "finishers" of everything we begin. Moreover, people are  prone to give up at the first signs of defeat. There is no substitute  for PERSISTENCE. The person who makes PERSISTENCE his  watch-word, discovers that "Old Man Failure" finally becomes  tired, and makes his departure. Failure cannot cope with  PERSISTENCE.

10. NEGATIVE PERSONALITY. There is no hope of success  for the person who repels people through a negative personality.  Success comes through the application of POWER, and power is  attained through the cooperative efforts of other people. A negative  personality will not induce cooperation.

11. LACK OF CONTROLLED SEXUAL URGE. Sex energy is  the most powerful of all the stimuli which move people into  ACTION. Because it is the most powerful of the emotions, it must  be controlled, through transmutation, and converted into other  channels.

12. UNCONTROLLED DESIRE FOR "SOMETHING FOR  NOTHING." The gambling instinct drives millions of people to  failure. Evidence of this may be found in a study of the Wall Street  crash of '29, during which millions of people tried to make money  by gambling on stock margins.

13. LACK OF A WELL DEFINED POWER OF DECISION.  Men who succeed reach decisions promptly, and change them, if at  all, very slowly. Men who fail, reach decisions, if at all, very slowly,  and change them frequently, and quickly. Indecision and  procrastination are twin brothers. Where one is found, the other  may usually be found also. Kill off this pair before they completely  "hog-tie" you to the treadmill of FAILURE.

14. ONE OR MORE OF THE SIX BASIC FEARS. These fears  have been analyzed for you in a later chapter. They must be  mastered before you can market your services effectively.

15. WRONG SELECTION OF A MATE IN MARRIAGE. This  a most common cause of failure. The relationship of marriage  brings people intimately into contact. Unless this relationship is  harmonious, failure is likely to follow. Moreover, it will be a form  of failure that is marked by misery and unhappiness, destroying all  signs of AMBITION.

16. OVER-CAUTION. The person who takes no chances,  generally has to take whatever is left when others are through  choosing. Over-caution is as bad as under-caution. Both are  extremes to be guarded against. Life itself is filled with the element  of chance.

17. WRONG SELECTION OF ASSOCIATES IN BUSINESS.  This is one of the most common causes of failure in business. In  marketing personal services, one should use great care to select an  employer who will be an inspiration, and who is, himself,  intelligent and successful. We emulate those with whom we  associate most closely. Pick an employer who is worth emulating.

18. SUPERSTITION AND PREJUDICE. Superstition is a  form of fear. It is also a sign of ignorance. Men who succeed keep  open minds and are afraid of nothing.

19. WRONG SELECTION OF A VOCATION. No man can  succeed in a line of endeavor which he does not like. The most  essential step in the marketing of personal services is that of  selecting an occupation into which you can throw yourself  wholeheartedly.

20. LACK OF CONCENTRATION OF EFFORT. The "jack-ofall-trades" seldom is good at any. Concentrate all of your efforts on  one DEFINITE CHIEF AIM.

21. THE HABIT OF INDISCRIMINATE SPENDING. The  spend-thrift cannot succeed, mainly because he stands eternally in  FEAR OF POVERTY. Form the habit of systematic saving by  putting aside a definite percentage of your income. Money in the  bank gives one a very safe foundation of COURAGE when bargaining for the sale of personal services. Without money, one must  take what one is offered, and be glad to get it.

22. LACK OF ENTHUSIASM. Without enthusiasm one  cannot be convincing. Moreover, enthusiasm is contagious, and the  person who has it, under control, is generally welcome in any  group of people.

23. INTOLERANCE. The person with a "closed" mmd on  any subject seldom gets ahead. Intolerance means that one has  stopped acquiring knowledge. The most damaging forms of  intolerance are those connected with religious, racial, and political  differences of opinion.

24. INTEMPERANCE. The most damaging forms of  intemperance are connected with eating, strong drink, and sexual  activities. Overindulgence in any of these is fatal to success.

25. INABILITY TO COOPERATE WITH OTHERS. More  people lose their positions and their big opportunities in life,  because of this fault, than for all other reasons combined. It is a  fault which no well-informed business man, or leader will tolerate.

26. POSSESSION OF POWER THAT WAS NOT ACQUIRED  THROUGH SELF EFFORT. (Sons and daughters of wealthy men,  and others who inherit money which they did not earn). Power in  the hands of one who did not acquire it gradually, is often fatal to  success. QUICK RICHES are more dangerous than poverty.

27. INTENTIONAL DISHONESTY. There is no substitute for  honesty. One may be temporarily dishonest by force of  circumstances over which one has no control, without permanent  damage. But, there is NO HOPE for the person who is dishonest by  choice. Sooner or later, his deeds will catch up with him, and he  will pay by loss of reputation, and perhaps even loss of liberty.

28. EGOTISM AND VANITY. These qualities serve as red  lights which warn others to keep away. THEY ARE FATAL TO  SUCCESS.

29. GUESSING INSTEAD OF THINKING. Most people are  too indifferent or lazy to acquire FACTS with which to THINK  ACCURATELY. They prefer to act on "opinions" created by  guesswork or snap-judgments.

30. LACK OF CAPITAL. This is a common cause of failure  among those who start out in business for the first time, without  sufficient reserve of capital to absorb the shock of their mistakes,  and to carry them over until they have established a  REPUTATION.

31. Under this, name any particular cause of failure from  which you have suffered that has not been included in the  foregoing list.

In these thirty major causes of failure is found a description of the tragedy  of life, which obtains for practically every person who tries and fails. It will be  helpful if you can induce someone who knows you well to go over this list with  you, and help to analyze you by the thirty causes of failure. It may be beneficial if  you try this alone. Most people cannot see themselves as others see them. You  may be one who cannot.