Nine reasons why you fail in life: Manu Chandaria, Bill Gates, Vimal Shah and Jack Ma speak

1. You love shortcuts

People fail in life because they want to achieve results without hard work, sincerity and integrity. I am who I am today because of those values, which were instilled in me by my parents.

When I look back at my past and the progress I have made, I see that there are areas where I could have moved faster, but I am satisfied with what I have achieved.

However, have I achieved the maximum that I could have? No, because the day you feel that you have achieved everything, will be the beginning of your downfall.

2. You do not have a plan

People fail in life because they do not want to live their dream. If you have a vision, there are several known ways of achieving that dream.

However, if you just say, “I have a dream of having a big home,” and you do nothing towards achieving it, you will never get it. You will be a frustrated person. People fail to achieve their dreams because they fail to set objectives, and when you are focused and you have solid objectives, chances are you will achieve what you are going after.

But if you just want to succeed and you do not know what you want to succeed in, you will fail.

3. You have not clearly defined what success means to you

You need to have a target that you are working towards. You need to decide what success would mean for you as opposed to what other people say it is. Have a target in terms of what you personally think success is, then work towards it.

Success for you could be in academic achievement, business achievement, in family accomplishment or comfort, in making money - have a specific, well-defined target.

4. You are in the wrong environment

One reason people fail is because of their environment. If you want to learn how to fly, then you should go and hang around the birds and study their wings.

That is how man was able to design the plane. However, if you hang around flightless birds like ostriches, you will never learn how to fly. They will keep telling you that it is not possible.

You might be thinking, “By the end of 2018, I should have taken part in a big Kenyan film that will make a million dollars at the box office,” but people around you say, “No, does not happen with African productions. Only happens in America.” That is why people fail.

Get yourself out of such an environment. Seek one that inspires you.

5. Your vision is not clear

Don’t pursue success. Pursue your goal. The biggest mistake people make is not having a goal. Not knowing where they are going. Many people don’t know where they want to go, so they do not have smart goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound. They just say, “I want to do something.”

They come to me and say, “Give me a job, I will do anything for you.” I tell them to first find out what they want to do, then come back. Begin with the end in mind. Define success. If you have a dart board, you aim for the bull’s eye.

Don’t throw a dart in any direction and expect it to land on the bull’s eye. A lot of people are like that. Achievement is 80 per cent planning and 20 per cent execution.

6. You don’t realise that time waits for no man

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.

Because almost everything- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

7. You waste your mistakes

In the corporate world, when someone makes a mistake, everyone runs for cover. At Microsoft, I try to put an end to that kind of thinking. It’s fine to celebrate success, but it’s more important to heed the lessons of failure.

If you don’t learn from your errors, you have missed an opportunity to learn. How a company deals with mistakes suggests how well it will bring out the best ideas and talents of its people, and how effectively it will respond to change.

8. You let fear win

Many people fail because they’re too afraid of failure to begin with. Embrace fear, learn from it and move on to your next business venture with courage and the knowledge that if you don’t hit upon a success, you’ll have the will to do it again and take on the next challenge.

My son, Sam, says that if you’re learning from mistakes, then you can never really fail- you’re just on a constant journey to success. Never give up. Even if it sounds slightly corny. Fight, fight, fight to survive.

9. You give up too fast

People fail simply because they give up too soon. I failed a key primary school test two times, I failed the middle school test three times, I failed the college entrance exam two times.

I was rejected for all the 30 jobs I applied for after college, was rejected by Harvard University 10 times and even KFC rejected me - the only one out of 24 applicants who was rejected then. It really stung, but I didn’t give up at any point.

If you don’t give up, you still have a chance. Giving up is the greatest failure. Also, the lessons I learned from the dark days at Alibaba are that you’ve got to make your team have value, innovation, and vision.