Success Myths that stop you being Successful

In this article, you will find 16 best myths and mistakes most people associate with success. Learn how you can avoid these traps and turn your life into a success story.

People complain that they cannot succeed, using phrases such as “I’ll never make it”, “I can’t”, “I don’t have whatever it takes…” or my all-time favorite, “I’m not good enough”.

So little time, so many excuses.

As long as you maintain your excuses, you never will reach your goals.

So snap out of it!

Take a look at the following list of excuses, identify yours and discard them in the direction of oblivion…

Success Myths: You Believe You Can’t Be Successful

As a result of past conditioning, most people believe they can’t be successful.

We’ve all experienced failure at some time in our lives. Whether it was an unsuccessful attempt to pass your driving exam, a bad mark in school exams, or a disastrous relationship, we can all relate to the feeling of trying to accomplish something and failing.

We interpreted those individual ‘failures’ as “I am a failure” or “I’ll never make it” or “I always f**k it up in the end”.

It is in these interpretations where the danger lurks, not in the actuality of the ‘failures’ themselves.

A failure is simply a result, which differs from your expectation. Nothing more, nothing less.

Of course you can be successful. You are already successful in every important area of your life and can walk, talk, read, write, take care of yourself, make contact with others, make enough money for living, etc… etc…

Definitely, you were not born with all these skills. You acquired them successfully throughout your life. Nobody did this on your behalf .You have to do it yourself.

Talking or reading and writing are probably more complicated and difficult than any other skills you’ll ever need to master. And you acquired them as a child.

Today you are more skilled and prepared to deal with life.

Success Is Hard Work / Success Is Difficult

How many times have you heard that success is hard work?

This phrase is so widely used that it’s become a clich? A sentence you were conditioned to believe has become the truth, simply through never ending repetition.

Let me ask you a question.

What else would you consider as a success: the result of a long struggle and hard work, or the result that you achieved easily and quickly?

Most people’s first response is that the result achieved through hard work is superior to a result that was achieved easily.

This shows how disturbed we are!

 The two results are exactly the same, but we value more that which was achieved through hard work…

This not only defies logic, it is madness!

Success is natural.

Our expectations and our disturbed value system conditions us to believe that success is hard work and difficult. This faulty belief system ensures that we won’t easily succeed thus making the vicious circle complete.

Success Takes Time

Time is a concept we developed a long time ago in order to make sure that we can meet with each other…

When we believe that success must take time, sure enough – it takes time.

Change this concept and you’ll notice, success happens in no time.

Why should success take more time than failure?

I got rid of my 10-year asthma “condition” in a short 5-minute healing session I gave myself. That was almost 10 years ago…

I started leading my first personal-growth group while still being a student and two years before I was authorized officially to lead this group. In the two years preceding authorization I led via that process, more people than some of my teachers did in their whole career.  Success can take time, but it is not a prerequisite.

Success Myths: Success Is For The Chosen Few 

“I’m insufficiently educated”, “my upbringing was not supportive enough”, “I’m too old / too young”, “I’m a man / a woman” – all these and a ton of other external factors play major roles in people’s excuses as to why they cannot be successful.

Success is always in the present time.

It never notices where you came from or what you did previously.

You have at your disposal today anything you need in order to be successful in whatever you are willing to create. The only thing that will stand in your way is your convictions and concepts.

More often than not, people use their past to excuse their unwillingness to create for themselves a successful life.

When you were young, your mother threw you 3 times in the air but caught you only twice. This is WHY you’re fu**ed up!

So, what now?

Do you wander happily through life, having obtained your very own ‘fu**ed up certificate’ to make you feel better about not living the life you deserve to?

Don’t fall into this trap!

You deserve and are capable of success just like anybody else.

Just go and do it. NOW!

Learn how you can avoid these traps and in so doing turn your life into a success story.

People believe that they cannot succeed, cemented with such self-fulfilling prophecies such as “I’ll never make it”, “I can’t”, “I don’t have whatever it takes…” or my all-time favorite, “I’m not good enough”. 

So little time, so many excuses.

As long as you maintain your excuses, you never will reach your goals.

So snap out of it!

Take a look at the following list of excuses, identify yours and drop them…

Success Myths: You Don’t Always Get What You Want

This is another one of life’s classic clich?s. You have been told this lie over and over since you were a child, conditioned to believe that you are not capable of getting it all.

Your parents and teachers are a part of this belief system only because they wanted to believe in themselves. It was often done with good intention, and with no malice intended, but the damage was nonetheless created.

Once my daughter wanted an ice cream – so I bought her one.

Two minutes later, “daddy, I want chocolate.” “Sorry honey, but no”.

But I want it.

“I said NO!”

I WANT CHOCOLATE NOW!!!

Sorry dear, but you can’t always have what you want…

OOPS. I did it myself.

Kids are like sponges. They believe what they hear as reality. So after years of our parents telling us “you can’t always get what you want” it is stored in our internal computers forever, limiting our experience of success.

The truth is that you can always create what you are willing to have.

I’m sure you have your own experiences of this phenomenon.

Remember a time when you really, really wanted something, which appeared to be practically impossible. You wanted it so badly, that your whole being was focused on that outcome. And from seemingly nowhere, against all odds, suddenly it was manifested.

These are the situations you hear about when people “mysteriously” recover from a terminal disease; win the lottery, or journey beyond a major obstacle in their life.

Success Myths: It’s Impossible To Be Successful In Everything I Do

I am giving 100% in my job, but it takes so much time and effort that it hurts my relationships and my family. It is just impossible to succeed in both.

This is one of the most common complaints I face on a daily basis.

Or,

I’m an expert in painting and graphics, but I’m not able to dance as well.

The truth is that the more you practice creating success in one area, the easier it becomes to create success in another area.

This phenomenon is called synergy. When 1+1 equals more than 2.

It is like learning a foreign language. The first one is the most difficult. The second one is easier. The third one is even easier. It’s not because you know more words, it is because you learned how to learn…

Another benefit when you become successful in ever increasing areas is that the skills are often interwoven or interlinked.

I became a good communicator as a result of my desire to improve my intimate relationships. And these days, communication is the most important tool I use in my daily work with people. My old computer skills still serve me well these days, as I can supervise most of the technical work concerning our business’ websites and desktop publishing.

Success Myths: Success Is Something Out There

Believing that success is something separate from who you are, will always make it harder to achieve.

We tend to believe that in order to be successful we first must achieve a certain status or level, such as “When I become the CEO, I’ll be successful.” Or “when I get married, I’ll be happy.”

Or we believe that in order to be successful we first have to have something, such as: “If I’ll have a million dollars in the bank, that is when I will have attained success”. Or, When I’ll be a father, I’ll be completed.

In reality, you’ll never be successful whilst you rely on doing or having any external things.

The truth is that the reality of success works the other way around.

First you have to BE, and from there DO and/or HAVE.

For example, When I’m happy, I communicate better and it’s easier for me to have better relationships.

Or, When I’m successful, I feel more comfortable and have more time for myself.

Success Myths: I Have To Pay My Dues

Another common destructive belief that has nothing to do with reality is that you have to pay your dues before you can reach success.

I’m too young to succeed, I’m only a newcomer etc…

In most situations, the direct opposite is the truth.

When a new man succeeds, we call it “luck.”

In reality, enthusiasm and freshness will beat pre-conceptions and old ideas almost every time.

I’ll repeat myself again, there’s no prerequisite for success.

Drop this limiting “belief system” and realize how freeing it is.

A young, fresh, inexperienced but passionate lover will always win over the experienced, cultured, well-mannered lover. 

The owner of a company, will usually prefer a young and enthusiastic employee over the tired, experienced “been there, done that” candidate.

All you have to have on your resume whilst applying for success is passion, enthusiasm, willingness and commitment.

Bring these with you on your journey and you can’t go wrong.

We also covered other myths and illusions such as… you can’t always get what you want or you first have to pay ‘your dues’ or that it is impossible to be successful in everything you do.

Once you abandon any one of these myths, you will soon discover that life becomes easier, and success appears to come to you rather than you chasing after it.

Below are the following four myths/mistakes/excuses in the series that may be currently hindering your birthright to success.

Take a look, and identify possible areas where you may be currently sabotaging your success and then simply drop these impending ideas by choosing to replace them with better, more productive beliefs.

Success Myths: Success Means Doing It perfect

This myth is my absolute all-time favorite.

Believing that things can be done in a perfect manner is a ridiculous concept, yet so many people fall into this psychological trap.

There is nothing created by man which is perfect and there never will be.

Here is a mental exercise:

What is so important that it needs to be done perfectly?

When you arrive at the answer, please let me know.

I was busy with this myth for years.

Students of mine, suffering from perfectionism, have been preoccupied with this illusion for years, and up to this point in time, I have never received a single appropriate answer.

There is only one possible result relating to perfectionism.

Inactivity.

I have three words of advice for you, if you’re suffering from perfectionism:

Get Over It!

Observe nature.

Everything in nature is perfect, and yet it is in a state of perpetual change. Nothing remains constant. The ocean is at all times in motion and yet always perfect.

So are you.

You are the perfect you.

Nobody can be YOU as perfectly as you can.

So abandon the illusion and choose, instead, the creation process.

And by the way, any imperfect manifestation is infinitely more successful than a perfect idea or concept.

Success Myths: Someone Else Is Doing It Better (Or Can Do It Better)

There will always be someone else doing something. So what?

In what way does this simple reality affect your individual process of becoming successful in whatever you’d like to create?

Does the fact that your friend has a wonderful relationship and a beautiful kids, mean that your quest to create likewise is in some way impeded?

Does the fact that the Mona Lisa is already painted mean that there is no more space left in the world for your masterpiece?

Comparing yourself to and with others will without doubt, always invalidate your creativity.

You are different from everybody else. You are unique!

No one can be YOU better than you, and you are your own contribution to the world.

If we were all the same, there wouldn’t be any necessity for creativity in the world.

You don’t have to be the first in order to be successful.

You don’t even have to be better than others in order to be successful, even if this is what you were conditioned to believe from an early age.

The real ingredients of success are to care about what you’re doing.

Be passionate and enthusiastic about it, and committed to making the world notice it.

Forget the illusion of outside competition.

There’s enough space for all of us here on this planet…

Success Has To Happen On The First Attempt

What nonsense!

Very little, deemed later as successful, happened the first time round.

When you were a baby it took you months of falling on your pampered ass, until you learned to walk those hesitant first steps on the way to the mobility you now take for granted.

Edison experimented with thousands of coils until he finally got it right and the first light bulb was created.

All children, great inventors and creators have a high tolerance for mistakes and ‘failures’.

It’s only when we grow up that we lose this tolerance, and with it, our willingness to create success.

You try the first time to get your driving license, and you fail the first exam – you’ll probably try again. Maybe even 3 or 4 times. But that’s it.

If you were forced to do your driving exam a few more times before you pass, you’ll probably just give it up.

People do this constantly in relationships.

They try once or twice or maybe three times, and if it fails again, they give up.

If we would have to learn to walk as grown ups, all of us would probably keep on crawling…

Creating success is about tossing everything you’ve got into whatever it is you wish to achieve.

And… if the result is not what you’ve expected, creating success is about trying it all over again with the necessary corrections, until you get it where you want it to be.

Success Myths: I Failed Before, I’ll Fail Again

Two things you must keep in mind:

1. Success Is A Series Of Failure

Somebody once said that success is just a series of failures.

I like the concept. It gives failure a better name.

Being intelligent is nice, but not enough.

Your intelligence is just your potential.

Experience is what actualizes this intelligence and transforms it into wisdom.

Your past failures are all part of your life experience.

You become richer with experience every day that you live.

And this experience can never be lost.

I’m not talking about material abundance here, but about experience and its correlation to wisdom. Every day that passes by you’re wiser through experience and therefore creating success becomes easier every time.

Most successful people have had major failures in their lives before they achieved their current status of success.

Perhaps it was a bankruptcy (or two), a heartbreaking divorce, etc…

Your past failures are the lessons of your future success. They were your tuition fees in the university of life. Cherish them, learn from them and they will never happen again. Fail to do so, and you’ll probably create these same errors continually until you learn the lesson that needs to be learned.

2. Committing To Your Success

One more thing to remember when fear stops you from really committing to your success.

If you’re reading these words, then your past ‘failures’ haven’t killed you thus far.

So what is a great drama?

So your spouse left you once before. Yes, it is possible that it may happen again. But if you don’t allow yourself to get into a relationship again, you’ll manifest your fear of being alone anyway…

Life is too short to waste with excuses.

Success is your birthright.

As the Nike phrase says:

Just do it!

The last four myths and mistakes we explore differ from the first 12 we discussed above. These last 4 deal with what people refer to as the “prices” of being successful, which we’re supposedly meant to pay when we reach our goals.

These can all be classified under the heading “fear of success”.

When you have any of these ideas negatively reinforced in your conscious or unconscious mind, you will tend to, upon reaching the borderline of success; proceed to destroy it just a moment before it appears.

It is sort of like the cow that kicks over the bucket of milk, just before it is almost full…

Whatever your reason is to fear success, it is vital to identify the ways in which you sabotage your success.

By means of this awareness, you can avoid these traps and should you fall into them, you can at least find your way out as fast as possible.

Take a look, and identify possible areas where you may be currently sabotaging your success and then simply drop these impending ideas by choosing to replace them with better, more productive beliefs.

Success Myths: People Won’t Like Me If I’m Successful

For many people this fear is based on their own experience.

If you had success in the past, and people reacted jealousy, enviously or angrily toward you, the common reaction you can develop is a real fear of success.

Most of the times people react this way are when the ‘successful’ person experiences insecurity about his or her success and in an attempt to conceal this feeling of inadequacy they resort to arrogance: Look how great I am, how successful I am…

But when you come from a position of humility and simply state, “Hey, this is what I’ve created,” you inspire the complete opposite effect. People are lifted up and feel inspired as you communicate the belief, “If I can do it, you can too!”

The truth is that most people like to hangout with successful people.

Successful people are passionate, enthusiastic, energetic and fun to be with. They usually have been around, and have something to contribute. Their aliveness is contagious, and most people like to expose themselves to that.

The only people that cannot stand success around them, are those I classify as the ‘professional victims’. These folk enjoy their misery, which brings them a sort of attention, and your success causes them to lose their grip on the energy of the people around them.

For your own health, avoid these people at any cost…

Success Myths: Chasing Success Is Not Spiritual

A spiritual belief means you have the strong conviction that there is a purpose for you to fulfill in this lifetime.

Spirituality brings meaning to your life, knowing that there is a reason for you being here, and that life is much more than what Darwin taught about simply ‘arriving’ one day into the world as a coincidence, and then disappearing on another day without having had any reason to be here in the first place.

I cannot dictate for certain whether Darwin was right or not. But his theories sure don’t make life seem like much at all. I prefer to believe that there is a reason for my life and that there is a purpose for my being here.

Creating success is all about achieving or manifesting that purpose which you were born to achieve.

It is not a matter of going for a success which is or isn’t spiritual.

It is what success is for you that can be spiritual or not.

Manifest your highest values and you cannot go wrong.

After all, God (whatever you conceive it to be) is the biggest creator of all and with all the cynicism and criticism – he/she still did a pretty good job, didn’t he/she…

Success Myths: There Are Wrong Reasons To Want To Be Successful

Be aware that you’re not chasing after success because your mother wants this for you.

Too many people choose an education, a profession or a spouse because that’s what they were told was good for them. It may be good for your parents, but not necessarily for you.

Make sure you choose your own values…

Too many people choose a job, a lifestyle or relationships because of stylish considerations.

Style fades out at the end…

Make sure you are striving for what your definition of success is for you, not for others.

Many do not have clarity of what is success for them.

Make sure you get that clarity.

We’ll be dealing with the subject of gaining clarity on one of the future issues of Inspiration.

Success Myths: Becoming Successful In An Area You Don’t Like

The worst thing you can do to your aliveness, passion and joy is becoming successful in an area that doesn’t appeal to you.

Resentment, anger, boredom, and frustration will be your symbols of success.

Such a success creates a prison, from which it is difficult to break free.

Be aware…

Life is too short to waste with excuses.

Success is your birthright.

And it is a choice.

Choose to be successful!