Why do people say that want to earn or acquire or success at one thing but you find they act in ways that undermine the very thing they target?

You have seen this for of self-deception many times. People who may not even realize they are lying to, deceiving themselves.

  • People who say they want a job, but undermine every lead and every effort by others to get them to interviews.
  • Someone who says they want to climb the corporate ladder but undermine managerial and executive directives at every turn.
  • The athlete who wants to achieve fame and glory but doesn’t practice or drinks alcohol and parties late into the evening on most nights.
  • The crook who achieves wealth by hurting others, stealing, cheating, all manner of unethical and corrupt thinking wanting to enjoy “success”, never finds it and soon is killed or loses all wealth to law enforcement.

This type of self-defeating behavior resulted in the axiom, “Within every plan of success is the seed of failure.”

Rule: Make ethical choices based on clarity and purity of thought. Do no malice or harm to others as you live your life.