7 Deadly Habits

I’ve read a lot of Self-Help books because, hey, let’s face it, I always need help. A couple that had a strong impression on me were “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and “The Peter Principle.” The title “7 Habits” speaks for itself, however, for those who don’t know what the Peter Principle is, it basically states that everyone eventually rises to their level of incompetence in life.

If you combine these two concepts and spin them around a bit, you end up with my version of these best sellers called “The Seven Deadly Habits of Incompetent People.” Now, I’m sure you could come up with a dozen more, but seven seems like a good number to get the point across.

Deadly Habit #1 – They Think, Say, & Do Negative Things

They see problems in everything and at every opportunity they let you know about it. The sun is too darn hot. The cursed rain is ruining all their plans for the day. That darn wind has completely ruined their hair.

Yes, everyone and everything is against them. They see the problems but never seek the solutions.

Every little bit of difficulty is exaggerated to the point that small irritants become an excuse for a Greek tragedy. They regard failures as catastrophes and become completely discouraged instead of learning from their mistakes.

They never seem to move forward because they’re always afraid to come out of their comfort zone of blame and anger.

Deadly Habit #2 – They Act Before They Think

They move through life like a wild boar doing everything on instinct or impulse. If they see something they like, they buy it immediately without any second thought.

Then, of course, they see something better and immediately regret & curse for not being able to take advantage of the bargain because they’ve already spent their money on the first impulsive purchase.

They spend & spend until nothing’s left. They don’t plan for the future. What they’re after is instant gratification and damn the consequences.

Deadly #3 – They Talk Much More Than They Listen

They want to be the center of attention, so they always make themselves appear to be heroes, and so, what’s the problem with a bit of exaggeration or outright lying.

Oftentimes they are not aware that what they’re saying makes no sense whatsoever. Of course, when other people offer some advice, they suddenly haven’t got time to listen because they’re too proud to admit their mistakes.

In their mind they’re always correct. They reject suggestions because that will make them feel inferior.

Deadly Habit #4 – They Give Up Easily

Successful people consider failure a stepping stone to success.

Incompetent people call it quits at the first sign that failure is a possibility. They may be excited when they first start an endeavor, but they quickly lose interest, especially when they encounter a few bumps along the way.

Then they go & search for a new endeavor, but it’s the same story and same result. Their ability to be persistent is nonexistent and, of course, it’s someone else’s fault they can’t seem to get a break.

Deadly Habit #5 – They Try to Bring Others Down To Their Level

Incompetent people envy other people’s success. They consider successful people the enemy and instead of working hard to be like them, they spread rumors and try every dirty trick to bring their perceived enemy down.

They could have asked these successful people for advice, but no, they’re too proud. They don’t want to ask for advice because those people will just lie to them, anyway.

And besides, all of those people are probably slipping the right people a few bucks under the table to buy their success, which makes sense because why else would they be so happy all the time.

Deadly Habit #6 – They Waste Their Time

They never know what to do next. They’re satisfied with eating, getting drunk, watching TV, or just staring at a blank wall with a blank mind and no thoughts whatsoever on how to improve their lives.

Their real passion is finding pleasure and instant gratification of some kind. Time management and balance are words that never cross their minds. Work is such a burden.

Deadly Habit #7 – They Take the Easy Way Out

If there are two roads to choose from, incompetent people will always choose the wide road with few rewards but less risk rather than the narrow road with higher risk but much higher rewards.

Rather than striving for success in life they are trying to avoid suffering and hardship. They do want a good life, in fact, they think about it all the time. They just don’t want to put any effort into acquiring it.

Since they haven’t yet figured out that success often takes trial and error, they feel that everything should be handed to them on a silver platter. That’s why they spend so much of their money on lottery tickets and get rich quick schemes. Sure, they lose over and over again, but they have no doubt that one day their ship will come in and when that happens they’ll be able to sit back and relax and never have to work another day.

What these people ignore is that what they reap is what they will sow. Effort, action and persistence rarely enters the equation because they know that life is stacked against them so why bother.

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Glenn Cutforth is a writer, eBook publisher and graphic designer.

Visit his websites at: Self-Help and Wellness.com and The Complete Cat.com

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