Andrew Carnegie’s 45 causes of failure

  1. Habit of drifting through life without a definite major purpose
  2. Unfavorable physical heredity at birth
  3. Habit of meddlesome curiosity into other people’s affairs
  4. Inadequate preparation for the work in which one engages
  5. Lack of self-discipline
  6. Indifference towards opportunities for self-advancement
  7. Lack of ambition to aim above mediocrity
  8. Ill health (due to wrong thinking, improper diet and exercise)
  9. Unfavorable environmental influences (esp during childhood)
  10. Lack of persistence in carrying through a finish what one starts
  11. Habit of maintaining a negative mental attitude
  12. Lack of control of emotions
  13. The desire for something for nothing
  14. indecision and indefiniteness
  15. Fear of poverty, criticism, ill health, loss of love, old age, loss of liberty, death
  16. Wrong selection for mate in marriage
  17. Over caution in business and occupational relationships
  18. Excess tendency towards chance
  19. Wrong choice of associates in business or occupational work
  20. Wrong choice of a vocation or total neglect to make a choice
  21. Lack of concentration of effort leading to dissipation of time and energy
  22. Habit of indiscriminate spending
  23. Failure to budget and use time properly
  24. Lack of control of enthusiasm
  25. Intolerance, close-mindedness and prejudice
  26. Failure to cooperate with others in a spirit of harmony
  27. Craving for power or wealth not earned or based on merit
  28. Lack of a spirit of loyalty where loyalty is due
  29. Egotism and vanity not under control
  30. Exaggerated selfishness
  31. The habit of creating plans without basing them on known facts
  32. Lack of vision and imagination
  33. Failure to make mastermind alliance
  34. Failure to recognize the existence of and adapting to the power of infinite intelligence
  35. Profanity of speech (unclean and undisciplined mind)
  36. Speaking before thinking. Talking too much.
  37. Covetousness, revenge, and greed
  38. A habit of procrastination
  39. Speaking slanderously of other people
  40. Ignorance of the power of thought & lack of knowledge on the operation of the mind
  41. Lack of personal initiative
  42. Lack of self-reliance
  43. Lack of the qualities of a pleasing personality
  44. Lack of faith in oneself, fellow men and God
  45. Failure to develop the power of will through voluntary controlled habits of thought

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