How To Be A Guaranteed Failure In Life

When I was around 13-14 years old, my grades ranked in the bottom 1/3 of my class in school. I never studied. I often got into trouble. I got suspended for fighting. I was even put into detention for starting a massive food fight in the cafeteria. And I can’t remember how many times I was sent to the principal’s office because it happened so often. The craziest thing was that I always blamed the world for my problems. It was always someone else’s fault, and never mine. Luckily though, it dawned upon me one day that I was the problem. When I saw myself as the problem, it opened my eyes and gave me the opportunity to learn, grow, and evolve from my many flaws, mistakes and failures.

We all know people who complain about how unfair the world is, whine about how someone wronged them, cry about how unlucky they are, talk incessantly about how they deserve something, or gripe about how their problems are someone else’s fault. They blame everyone for their unhappiness and misgivings, but themselves. Quite frankly, I have very little patience for self-pity, especially if you are an adult. Everyone has problems. And the reality is that we are all the root cause of our problems. If you examine all of your problems closely enough, you will see that you are the root cause of your problems. The bad news is that you are the problem, but the good news is that you are also the solution.

The worst poison for the soul is the disease of entitlement. It destroys any hope for happiness. It nurtures the illusion of unfairness. It feeds the toxic emotions of jealousy, hatred, envy, and/or self-pity. The truth is that none of us are entitled to anything in life. The world owes us nothing. We deserve nothing. The world will go on with or without us. We can only control our own actions. Everything else happens with or without our consent. And that is precisely why we should all count our blessings in life, no matter what our situation is. The reality is that all of our situations could be far worse than what they are today.

Luckily, there is an antidote to the poison of entitlement. It is called gratitude. I really believe it is one of the greatest secrets to happiness and success in life. When we genuinely feel lucky and blessed for everything in our lives, happiness becomes the essence of everything we do. Happiness begets happiness. Positive energy attracts positive energy. When you spend your positive energy on finding solutions to your problems (instead of expending negative energy on blaming others for your problems), the world will open its doors. Eliminate negative energy, negative thoughts, negative actions, and negative people from your life. Count your blessings. Fix yourself and everything else will fall into place. Whatever your dreams are, you can achieve them. We all have the power within us to do extraordinary things in life, but it requires intellectual honesty and courage to conquer our weaknesses, flaws, doubts, fears, and insecurities.

Everything begins and ends with what is in your soul.

Chatri Sityodtong is a self-made entrepreneur and lifelong martial artist from Thailand. His rags-to-riches life story has inspired millions around the world on BBC News, CNN, Financial Times, Bloomberg TV, CNBC, Channel NewsAsia, and other major media. He is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of ONE Championship, Asia's largest global sports media property in history with a global broadcast to over 1.7 billion potential viewers across 136 countries around the world. Forbes most recently selected Sityodtong as one of Asia's next generation tycoons. He was also named "Asia's King of Martial Arts" by the Financial Times and the “3rd Most Powerful Person in Sports in Asia” by FOX Sports. He is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at INSEAD, Europe's top business school. Sityodtong holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Tufts University.