Book Review: Breaking The Patterns of Failure
This book is for anyone who is confused at their current state in life, you want to succeed but nothing seems to be working, whenever an opportunity shows up...something just happens to take it away...it is not the devil, he has been defeated already...you just need to be aware of some unconscious habits or patterns that may be holding you back.
A study of the most successful people in life, will reveal patterns...there are underlying commonalities that they all have in common. In the same way, a study of people who fail consistently will also reveal patterns, that is what this book aims to reveal.
The reason you are going round in circles is because you simply don't know better, you are in a dark room waiting for the lights to be turned on. The IN-FORMation in this book is the Light you need to break out of your current state.
The Author "Dele Olawanle" did a remarkable job breaking these patterns down, the book is practical and easy to read. With 80 short chapters, it is a book you will go through quickly and the stories make the points very easy to remember. I am currently still reading it because i don't like rushing through books and i read multiple books at the same time but i will be showcasing my top 15 habits in this piece which will hopefully instigate a desire within you to get the book yourself so you can get access to the rest. Please feel free to drop comments when you feel led, or if you have a story that further clarifies the points made.
The objective here is to allow us read together...a lot of you don't have time based on your busy schedule, so i am here to help you out. Information is the KEY to Transformation & Change, everyone was born to LEAD. You cannot LEAD if you do not READ!!!
Download the PDF here
1) Failure leaves God out: If you make decisions outside of Gods will, it is like building a house on a weak foundation, you may end up building it to a point where someone looking from outside thinks the house is solid but when the storms come, it will reveal the true strength of your foundation.
We look up to celebrities and secretly admire their lives, but these guys often end up as drug addicts, commit suicide, are depressed etc, they usually have money and fame but leave God out. God is the only one who can give you wealth without sorrow, a life you can truly enjoy
2) Failure gets excited but is not proactive: You hear the word and do nothing about it, reads books and do nothing. We can go through this book together but if you don't act on what you've read, it is as good as not reading it at all. Most people who fail, wait for adversity to strike before they take action. They focus on praying instead of taking pragmatic steps. Proactive people don’t wait for things to happen, they make it happen. Don't wait for that phone call, or that promise someone made you...create another opportunity, make another call...this is what successful people do differently
3) Failure is ungrateful: Do you take things for granted? do you say thank you when someone does something good for you? Be grateful for where you are right now because someone somewhere else has it worse. If you keep complaining, you will only see negative things and won't be able to see the opportunities that are around you. People who fail, have a disposition of ingratitude
4) Failure is blind to personal faults: Everyone knows that one person who never admits they are wrong, they see everything through a glass rather than a mirror. They don't apologise, they don't believe they have weaknesses…it is always someone else's fault. This is another trait of people who fail, it is hard to learn with this attitude and it is difficult to accept your weaknesses. Successful people are the complete opposite, they surround themselves with people that can confront them and tell them the truth without prejudice. They believe they don't know everything, but are humble enough to accept it.
5) Failure lacks integrity: In developed countries, if you take out a loan or credit card from a bank, stick to the terms and pay back when due you will be given access to more opportunities. If you fail to do so, you lose access and give way to loan sharks.
Successful people can be trusted…they've been able to build trust equity over time, where they can now make transactions based on their reputations.
Failures can't be trusted, they say one thing and do another. Think about it, do you honor all your agreements? Nobody is perfect but try as much as possible to do what you say you will do.
It even helps with your relationship with God, because if you honor your word, when God gives you His Word, you will trust Him more.
6) Failure is Lazy: I am yet to find a highly successful person that sleeps for more than 6hours everyday. Proverbs 19:15 says "Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger"
In essence, Sleep & Idleness are functions of Laziness. There's a popular quote that says "The Idle man is the devils workshop", you cannot be productive if you don't have a to-do list for your goals everyday. This is how people get attracted and addicted to drugs, excessive use of alcohol, sexual immorality and just the wrong lifestyle.
Go to bed earlier, set your alarm for 6am and put your phone far away so you literally have to get up to turn it off and eliminate the temptation of a snooze fest.Write your to-do list for the day the night before and schedule them into your day...that way you always have something to do.
7) Failure Procrastinates: The author describes Procrastination as the cousin of Laziness. These people put off what can be done today to another day. The language of Failure is "I will do it later" or "I will do it tomorrow".
The Bible says "Now Faith is...", not tomorrow...whatever you must do, do it NOW.
I personally believe there are some situations where this may not necessarily apply, but the point is if you are in a habit (keyword HABIT) of putting things off to another day, you are exhibiting the pattern of failures.
8) Failure Disregards Instructions: Every time we buy any sort of appliance or product, they usually come with a manual, but very few people take the time to read it first. Failures jump into things without adequate research, they experiment with ideas that already have instructions for success. Some examples he gave in the book was Moses striking the rock when he was instructed to speak to it, Saul reserving some of the spoils from battle when he was instructed to destroy all.
Successful people always obey instructions, they learn from the mistakes of others who have gone before them. They leverage of eternal principles that don't change.
9) Failure is always borrowing: An over dependence on credit is what made the worlds economies to fail and caused a global recession. Failure is always borrowing for consumption and not production or investment, they borrow to buy liabilities and things that don't really matter. If you have a habit of borrowing, it is a trait of failures...start saving more and starve yourself of some immediate comforts and think long term.
10) Failure wishes but does not plan to be rich: Failures look at rich people and say to themselves "One day i will be like them", but they don't study the rich people to understand how they got there...nobody just becomes rich, there has to be a plan.
Take a look at "The Blueprint" page on this website for some tips on how you can plan for your success
There are 70 more habits that form the patterns of failures...download the book here and get access to these secrets
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