Why Do So Many People Fail At Life?

Why do so many people fail at life? Let me explain with a joke first. Then I'll get into the main reasons why we continue to hear stories about people failing at life.

Larry, Sergei, and Sheryl were stuck on an island after their plane crashed. One day, the fog cleared up and Larry saw a spec of land off in the horizon.

Larry tells Sergei and Sheryl, “Guys! I see land! Let’s swim for it and finally be free of eating coconuts and spiders for the past three months!

Sergei and Sheryl chime in and shout, “Let’s do this!

After swimming for three hours they finally see the shore clearly. There are people laying on loungers watching their children frolic in the sand.

They’re only 10 minutes away from drinking caviar and champagne on their private jets. When suddenly Larry says, “Guys, I’m so tired! I don’t think I can make it!

Larry then turns around and swims back to the desolate island from which he came.

Never Fail At Life Due To A Lack Of Effort

Too many people fail at life because they give up right before the going gets good. I’ve seen this happen with blogging since I started Financial Samurai in 2009.

The vast majority of new bloggers quit before the one year mark is up. They don't realize it takes at least one year of making no money to finally be taken seriously by readers. Nobody wants to commit their energy to a site that may be gone tomorrow.

Since most people quit writing after one year, even fewer people make it to the three year anniversary mark. That's when things really start getting good. I’m talking about making a livable income stream online so you can negotiate a severance and never have to work for anybody again.

The longer you are at your craft, the more lucky breaks you will get. You just have to stick around long enough to let people give you a chance.

And don't forget to be selfish with your time because time is so valuable. The more successful you get, the more people will bother you, try to get things from you for free, etc. Don't waste your time on folks who don't respect your time, only ask but never give, or have no emotional intelligence.

…Because Effort Requires No Skill

One of my favorite mantras is “never fail at life due to a lack of effort because effort requires no skill.”

Never in my wildest dreams did I think my hobby of writing personal finance related topics would generate a livable income stream for a family living in San Francisco.

The most I ever thought I would make was $1,000 a month to spend on food and travel. But three years after I started FS, I left my job in 2012 and have never looked back.

I was somewhat scared I could fail at life by leaving the corporate world to go out on my own. And sure there were five things I should have done before I quit my job. But, leaving was the best decision of my entire career.

If someone would have so kindly told me back in 2003 that all I had to do was write 2–4X a week for three years, I would have gladly done twice the amount of work!

If You Don't Want To Fail At Life, Hustle Baby!

Here’s a real life income statement from a fellow personal finance blogger who works about 25 hours a week wherever he wants. Everyone should have a website so they can at least own their brand online.

I recommend signing up for an account with BlueHost to get started. Their prices can't be beat and their customer service is superb.

Don’t let FB, Twitter, Quora own your brand. Own yourself and succeed. And who knows, if you build your website large enough, you might make a healthy livable income stream like these two real examples below.

The commitment and “sacrifice” is so worth it.

Fight on!

How much can a food blogger make
Who knew blogging about food could be so lucrative
Pro Blogging Income Statement
Real income statement of a professional food blogger

Further Reading

About the Author: Sam began investing his own money ever since he opened an online brokerage account in 1995. Sam loved investing so much that he decided to make a career out of investing by spending the next 13 years after college working at two of the leading financial service firms in the world. During this time, Sam received his MBA from UC Berkeley with a focus on finance and real estate. 

FinancialSamurai.com was started in 2009 and is one of the most trusted personal finance sites today with over 1.5 million organic pageviews a month. Financial Samurai has been featured in top publications such as the LA Times, The Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal.