Open Mind

There is a little bit of these traits in many of us but reading this brought a young person to mind that I care about and would like to see do well in life but sadly checks all of these boxes. Numerous psychological studies support the idea that traits like chronic complaining, procrastination, giving up, ignoring feedback, and indecision are rooted in emotional factors: especially fear, avoidance, and low resilience. 

Research shows these habits are often manifestations of difficulties with mood regulation, self-esteem, and a tendency to avoid uncomfortable feelings or personal responsibility. When you see someone manifest a lot of patterns of behavior this article describes you have to wonder if there was ever a time in the person's life when they were not set in this mode of functioning. What makes them so terminally fearful to the point that they will avoid just about everything to avoid failure and when despite those efforts they do indeed fail they will claim they were not in the running at all, did not even try so it does not count. 

From my observation the most fatal flaw of all is the unwillingness to listen to other:

They plug their ears to well-intentioned advice, convinced that their way is the only way.

This closed-minded approach stunts personal growth and limits opportunities for improvement. By dismissing outside perspectives, they deprive themselves of valuable insights that could help them course-correct and avoid potential pitfalls. Moreover, this behavior often alienates colleagues, mentors, and friends who might otherwise be inclined to offer support.

Anyone who is willing to be somewhat open-minded and listen to those who mean well can overcome a lot. There was a time in my life when I simply refused to do anything other than what I had decided that I would. Nothing would make me reconsider. The results were remarkably bad and it took a decade to recover. Thankfully that was an isolated area of my life so the entire structure did not fall apart. When I did return to my senses, I was able to build back up. Just giving up on the idea that I was definitely right and no other inputs were relevant made all the difference in the world.