don's report archive

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

Improve Your Chances of "Doing It" By Understanding Why The Reality For Most Is "icantdoit"
Monday August 21, 2006

For several months at this website and in lectures throughout the US, Canada and Australia, my partner Grant Donovan and I have described why most people can't do it, that is, can't sustain lifestyles consistent with wellness principles. Living healthfully is too demanding; most are not prepared for the obstacles that stand in the way.

We first made the case for icantdoit in an essay at this site in June 2005. Counting the current essay, fourteen articles are now available at SeekWellness describing why icantdoit applies for almost everyone. Think of it -- If you COULD choose, put into practice and sustain healthy choices, you would. You would accept responsibility for the quality of your life and exercise vigorously on a regular basis, eat well, manage stress, think critically and do all the rest. Who wouldn't? After all, wellness is fun, romantic and hip, sexy and free. It's a richer way to be alive. You'd be a little crazy not to live this way--IF YOU COULD. However, the sorry situation for most is they cant. Varied barriers block thinking and behaving in ways consistent with sound lifestyle practices. Nearly everyone would be better off accepting an icantdoit credo.

Napoleon Hill, author of the famous Andrew Carnegie formula for money-making entitled Think and Grow Rich: The Andrew Carnegie formula for money making, studied several thousand people -- and concluded 98 percent of them were failures. This might be a little harsh and an overestimate. Still, it was interesting to think about the thirty major reasons he thought accounted for why so many fail.

When Grant and I looked at Hill's explanations for explaining failure at making money, we concluded that twenty of Hills reasons might apply as well to attempts to live healthfully, along the advanced lines of wellness lifestyles.

Here are the twenty factors selected from Hill's list, as summarized primarily by Dr. Donovan:

Unfavorable Hereditary Background -- Many people are born with a deficiency in brainpower or lack of physical capacity -- and there is nothing they candoaboutit.
Lack of Ambition to Aim Above Mediocrity -- icantdoit people lack ambition and are not willing to put in the considerable effort required for success.
Insufficient Education -- Hill argues that the "the best-educated people are often those who are self-educated and get whatever they want in life without violating the rights of others." Many cantdoit people have school-based knowledge but lack the capacity to effectively and persistently apply their knowledge. As Hill notes, "men are paid, not merely for what they know, but more particularly for what they do with that which they know."
Lack of Self-discipline -- Most people cantdoit because they lack the discipline required for self-control. Hill argues, "if you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by it. You may see at one and the same time both your best friend and your greatest enemy, by stepping in front of a mirror."
Ill Health -- Hill postulates, "No person may enjoy outstanding success without good health." Most of those Hill studied overate foods not conducive to such favored health status, lacked sufficient physical exercise, rarely breathed fresh air and generally had poor habits of thought. Sound familiar?
Unfavorable Environmental Influences During Childhood -- Most people acquire bad habits from poor environments and improper associates during childhood. They spend the rest of their impoverished lives blaming others because they cantdoit.
Procrastination -- Hill's research led him to conclude that icantdoit people are always waiting for the 'time to be just right' to start doing something worthwhile. And, of course, the time is never just right.
Lack of Persistence -- Most people start well but finish poorly. They are icantdoit people because they are prone to giving up at the first signs of defeat.
Negative Personality -- Most people don't like each other and cantdoit because they repel each other. Hill argues that "success comes through the application of power, and power is attained through the cooperative efforts of other people. A negative personality will not induce cooperation."
Uncontrolled Desired for Something for Nothing -- Most icantdoit people have a gambling instinct and a desire to be rich without effort, hence the worldwide success of casinos and lottery groups.
Lack of a Well-Defined Power of Decision -- Hill believed "successful people reach decisions promptly and change them, if at all, very slowly." icantdoit people reach decisions very slowly and change them frequently.
Wrong Selection of a Mate in Marriage -- Poor mate selection aids and abets icantdoit because such relationships are energy-sapping and destroy most ambitions.
Superstition -- Superstition is a sign of ignorance. Most people cantdoit because they believe many foolish things unsupported by evidence or reason.
Wrong Selection of a Vocation -- The chances of success are not good in work environments that are disliked.
Lack of Concentration of Effort -- Most people cantdoit because they are easily distracted. They fail to focus efforts on one definite aim.
The Habit of Indiscriminate Spending -- This is the big one in Western society. Most people cantdoit because they are forever standing on the precipice of poverty by spending (not investing) more than they earn.
Intolerance -- The icantdoit person is normally close-minded, acquires little knowledge and easily becomes religiously, racially and politically intolerant.
Inability to Cooperate with Others -- More icantdoit people lose opportunities in life because they lack the capacity to work effectively with others.
Guessing Instead of Thinking -- Hill suggests, "most people are too indifferent or lazy to acquire facts with which to think accurately. They prefer to act on opinions created by guesswork or snap-judgments."
Lack of Capital -- Most people start out and travel through life without sufficient capital to absorb the shock of mistakes.

Donovan and I do not hold that these twenty factors are THE most critical variables for everyone. Yet, these twenty do explain why so many find it so hard to sustain good intentions to live healthfully. By familiarizing yourself with this list, you may develop a greater appreciation of the seriousness of the barriers or obstacles to wellness, and thereby increase the extent of your commitment. It takes a great deal of devotion and intention to continue over time to invest the required energy to sustain your wellness lifestyles.

Best of luck. Always look on the bright side of life.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MENTAL DOMAIN under the skill area of factual knowledge. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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