Out of 8 billion people around the globe, minus the squalling babies who have yet to make sense of the world and the very old who have lived their best lives, it would be quite difficult to find a single man or woman who does not wish to be successful. While everyone is looking to emulate go-getters and adopt their habits, it is equally important to know which behaviours to dodge, so as to evade the lifestyle of the unsuccessful. Here are 5 overarching habits that unsuccessful people live by, for you to sidestep, or get out of.

Giving in to distraction

If every ping on the phone makes you itch to check your notifications, and you find yourself taking frequent breaks for water or food, you may have a distraction problem. Not being able to focus on the task at hand or sit still for a good chunk of time to finish something important can lead to procrastination and laziness, even worse habits than a distraction. Often, nurturing a habit of distraction can make people forgetful and make them look irresponsible, not very good traits if they wish to rise to the top.

Procrastination

If distraction was unintentional, procrastination is worse, simply because it is intentionally cultured. Procrastination means intentionally delaying a task until it is entirely too late. It leads to hurriedly, and often sloppily done jobs and whatever the advocates of stalling have to say, the rush of adrenaline that comes with an impending deadline is not necessarily the best feeling all the time. Therefore, unless a task can be done significantly better with the extra time, putting it off until the eleventh hour is never a good idea.

Being rude

 Kindness pays. Being compassionate with everyone regardless of how they can help you is a skill that needs to be nurtured and polished relentlessly. How one feels about people privately is an entirely different matter and choosing to make friends is no doubt a personal choice. Kindness, however, should be non-negotiable. People remember you by your attitude, so it's best to have an attitude they want to remember.

Making excuses

 Taking responsibility seems like a shiny badge of honour when you think about it. Walking the talk is a difficult thing to do, however. While taking responsibility for a task means you will most likely be walking away with all the credit, it may sometimes also mean having to shoulder the entire blame for the task.  Making excuses for one's substandard performance or trying to shift the blame onto someone else may seem like the easier thing to do but it shows poor strength of character and never helps matters in the long run.

Cutting corners

There is no shortcut to hard work. If this seems like a cliché, gulp it down and then read it again. It's that important. There is no substitute for honest, diligent work, even when you feel it is not being noticed. Someone is always watching and cutting corners or offering less than what was promised will eat away at your reputation.