Is your year not going well? Feel like giving up? Me too (sometimes).

Before you give up, do yourself a favor and try and avoid these critical mistakes first. You’ve come this far so why not? Another rhetorical question for the hell of it? You bet.

Failure can get you down until you realize that it’s all you. Don’t give up because there is so much you have to offer. The failure has clouded your judgment and that’s why you feel dreadful. We can clear the skies again though. We have the power to do anything we want. Your dreams are possible.

But first, you must avoid these critical mistakes:

1. Always being right

Most of the time you’re wrong and so am I. Stop pretending otherwise. Admitting when you are wrong is sexy and people dig it.

“The aim is not to be right all the time, it’s to grow”

2. Never making a decision

In the corporate world, indecision is like a virus. Nobody wants to make a decision because having another strategy session and delaying the inevitable is easier. Then, a new senior leader comes in and the process starts all over again. This is why many corporates die in the long run.

“We don’t need more innovation; we need decision-making ability to be faster and more agile”

3. Putting no time into your passion

Your passion is bloody important and every time you avoid putting the effort in, you become pissed at yourself. You develop a bad attitude without even realizing it because deep down you want to do something that you love. What’s your passion look like?

“Whatever you’re happy to do without being paid, that’s likely your passion.”

4. Talking down to yourself

The conversation you have with yourself is the only one that matters. Stop telling yourself that you are stupid, unlucky in love, not rich enough, aren’t good at business or need cosmetic surgery. You’ll be surprised how the conversation you have with yourself can be empowering if you keep it positive.

Tell yourself that your goal is hard, but that you’ve got this. You’ve gone through way tougher things in your life and only you know what they are. Reference those when your negative mind tries to butt into the conversation. Show your mind that positivity is going to be the dominating force.

5. Not believing in yourself

If you don’t think you can do it, then no one else will either. Forget the mumbo jumbo advice that you saw on some picture quote and start believing in yourself even when there is no reason to. That’s how simple believing in yourself can be. No super powers are needed.

6. Doing everything by yourself

Achieving greatness by yourself is very challenging. Trying to do every little task towards your goals by yourself is lonely and likely going to fail. Outsource the stuff you hate. Bring other people along the journey with you who have a similar passion. Grow your mind and your passion with people. It feels a lot better trust me.

7. Forgetting to count your wins

Our minds concentrate on the negative for our survival, but rarely remind us of all of our wins. That’s why you need to remind yourself. Count your wins! Write them down in a journal or on your phone like I do. When you punch that ugly fear you have always had in the face, sit back, and hi-five yourself.

You’re achieving a lot more than you think, but you have to take note. Believe in yourself!

8. Comparing yourself to others

Joe that sits next to you has a better BMW than you. The problem is that there’s always someone that has a better BMW than you. And then there’s the guy or girl that has the Lambo which is ten times better than any BMW you could own. What are you going to do?

My advice is simple: stop comparing yourself to others. Compare yourself to who you were exactly twelve months ago. If you’ve come a long way, then you’re on the right track. If you are way behind where you were twelve months ago then hustle your way back again and work five times harder!!!

9. Pretending to be something you’re not

We’ve all met these people. They hang out in fancy bars and tell you about their amazing wine collection and home. They then roll out their iPhone and show you their Instagram with their two and a half perfect kids, brand new Mercedes 4WD, holiday house by the water and all the exotic locations they’ve been to that you haven’t.

What they don’t tell you is how unhappy they really are and how life sucks but they can’t admit it and would rather pretend to be something they’re not. See the previous point: stop comparing yourself to others.

“The person you are right now is beautiful. If you can’t see it, then no one else will”

10. Settling for second best

This girl said to me the other night, “Tim if I don’t find the right man for me, then I’m going to settle for whoever comes my way because I’m tired of being single.”

Don’t do it, it’s a trap. Settling for second best will make you have regrets about how your life could have been.

Success is about not accepting second best and having the belief, courage and hustle to keep going until you get what you want. Second best in the business world equals bankruptcy. Second best in life equals never ending suffering.

11. Having a Swiss Army Knife of excuses

What excuse is it today? You’ve got so many. You might be:

– Too tired
– Not knowledgeable enough
– Not have enough experience
– Going through a bad relationship
– Running out of money

Here’s the thing though: every problem you have and every excuse you try and use as an antidote, is the same as everyone else’s. Do you think your problems are unique? Do you think the universe invented a special flavor of milkshake that is named after you and that nobody else get’s to drink? No way Jose.

Your excuses are like a Swiss Army Knife; you seem to have one for every type of problem. Bin the excuses along with the bad language that goes with them. I know life is tough, but we’re all playing the same game. You didn’t get access to a different game that has more problems than the rest of us.

Getting rid of your excuses is so freeing. Try it some time and I promise you that life will get better.

12. Always looking at the future

Learn to love right now, otherwise, when the future comes you won’t be grateful for it anyway, so what’s the point? Life is not a race so slow down amigo. You’ll have parts of your life that will charge ahead at a million miles an hour and other parts of your life will take longer to cultivate.

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