How To Fail in Four Easy Steps

"You are the way you are because that's the way you want to be. If you really wanted to be any different, you would be in the process of changing right now."
— Fred Smith

In this post I want to give you some keys to failure. Once we all know how to fail then we can work hard to achieve it. I think Fred Smith's quote above really sums it up. We are the way we want to be. Therefore if we want to fail we need to capitalize on the key characteristics of failure. Join me in this endeavor to fail.

Defining Failure:

Before we find out how to fail we must first define what failure is so let's first look at a dictionary definition:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Failure refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective

Okay, using the above definition let's apply it to our life. Take your age right now and then think back to when you were graduating from High School. Have you achieved what you would have desired at age 18? If not, then you have not met the desired or intended outcome. Ouch!!

Let's look at the sum total of our life and try to put it in a financial context. It is going to take a little math, but trust me it will be easy. First of all take your current age and subtract it from it. We will assume that the quest of your life started after you graduated from High School. For example, if you are 40 your equation would be 40-18 = 12 (just kidding the answer is really 22).

Now what is your net worth? Notice the word "net", that means you take everything of value (bank, savings, investment accounts, house(s), car(s), and personal property). Anything that has value add it up. Now, be honest with yourself. Just because it would cost $30,000.00 to replace everything in your house does not mean it's worth $30,000. What could you sell it for? And your 1992 Honda is not worth $20,000.00. There is no greater deception then self deception. So be honest and add up all your things of value.

Now take everything you owe (credit cards, mortgage(s), auto loan(s), personal loan(s), medical bills, collection accounts, money owed to uncle George, and the money to Payday advance that you have to take back on Friday).

Now subtract your liabilities from your assets. If your total assets were $450,000 and your total liabilities were $385,000 then your net worth is $65,000. Now that you have your age and your net worth divide your net worth by your age. For my example it would be 22/65,000 = $2,955 meaning that the 22 years of my life has resulted in a little less than $3,000 per year. This number represents what you have traded your life for.

What you will typically find is that even though people are making fifty or sixty thousand dollars a year their yearly net worth is horribly low. Now the big question: Did you intent (at 18) to spend 40 hours per week for 50 weeks a year to increase the amount you have increased? Have you succeeded in failing to meet the goal of your life?

So let's journey into our four keys of how to fail.

Now that we understand what failure is and whether or not we have achieved failure or not let's look at how we can take whatever success we have achieved and start succeeding at failure.

The world is constantly changing around. We have a multitude of books, CD's, and seminars that will help us keep up with the times. In today's world knowledge is money therefore if you want to fail stay at home and watch Bart Simpson and reruns of Gunsmoke.

A mind is a horrible thing to develop so don't waste the time learning. I mean we had to spend 12 years in mandatory school anyway so it's now time to play video games, watch movies, and complain about the government. Come on, if you have a job and you get a paycheck every Friday why would you want to learn anything new anyways?

One of the strongest keys to not improving your knowledge is to be a know-it-all. Know-it-all's have a closed mind to new information because they...know-it-all.

It's not our fault!!!!!!!!!! It's all those people who have money, it's my mother who treated me like a sissy, and our employer just doesn't get it. I think I could sit around all night and just talk about what everyone else has done to me.

When I look at my life I can honestly say that I have done everything that I know to do. I've tried to have a better life, but you just can't get ahead in America. I mean the system is rigged and it is all against me. You have to have money in order to make money and I have never had any money. What is a person to do? Is Bart Simpson on yet?

There are many opportunities in life to make stupid decisions. You need to capitalize on these. In fact there are many business out that who will be glad to help you make a stupid decision. Let's identify some of the biggest stupid decisions that people make.

Lease a car! Leases are designed for people who don't understand math and want a car that is more expensive then what they can afford. I know your lease is different, but every other lease is a capitalization on stupidity.

If you are too smart to lease a car then buy it and finance it for 7 years. Five years is stupid also, insuring that you will always be upside down, but don't worry we can roll over our negative balance into our new car and then extend the loan out seven years so that we will never have an asset, but always a debt.

Let's buy extended warranties on everything that we purchase. Who cares that we've only used 1 in 30 of them it's safety that we want and we don't care what we pay for it. Besides it was only an extra $30.00 what's the big deal?

Buy new electronics when they first come out...like the newest iphone. This is really important to our life -- to be one of the first of four million people who pay a premium for the item that will cost about half in just a few short months.

One of the key aspects of making stupid decisions is to be "now focused." Ask yourself, "What do I want today?" Don't consider tomorrow, next year, or how the decision will affect you or your families life. Just satisfy what you are feeling right now and you will ensure your ability to fail.

There is an old saying that goes something like this:

"If you continue to do what you've always done you will continue to get what you've always got."

Look at your annual net worth equation that we did above. If you want to know where you will be in ten years that equation will tell you. Just don't change what you are doing. What you are presently doing is what's creating that number. So stay the same and you will never see that number go up.

You have the controls of your life and if you want to fail then follow the advice laid out in this article.

However, the opposite is true also. Success is not a reward it's a result. It is the result of us doing something. If you want to change your life, increase your wealth, and live successfully what you need to do is:

• Have a willingness to learn
• Stop making excuses for your life
• Take the time to make smart decisions
• Have a desire to change.