Last week I had a conversation with a gentleman who has spent the last 8 years, at least, building what he has called a potential multi-billion dollar business. He is about as driven an individual as you are ever going to meet. He is determined to achieve success in business, to turn the “potential” into the billion-dollar business; and I am tempted to believe that from sheer will and determination he will accomplish his goal one way or another.

This individual, amazingly, lacks all but 2 of the detriments listed by Napoleon Hill as being the major causes of failure. He possesses a well-defined purpose in life. He is full of ambition to aim above mediocrity. He is educated in many areas and always seeks to fill any deficit if doing so will enable him to accomplish a goal more efficiently. He is one of the most self-disciplined persons I have ever encountered. He looks after his health, does not procrastinate, is persistent to a fault, avoids negativity, controls his urges, is not the type to want something for nothing. He is virtually fearless, is decisive, will take chances within reason, is careful about selecting business associates; and he is always enthusiastic about his ambition and his plans. One would expect that after 8 years such an individual will have already succeeded at his ambition. So why is he not yet the multi-billionaire that he is determined to become?

In my estimation of his situation, I would look to the number 30 on Napoleon Hill’s list of the 31 major causes of failure: Lack of capital.

But it could be that #15 is both directly and indirectly the real cause of his failure. According to Hill #15 is one of the most common causes of failure; and based on my conversations with this gentleman, I would conclude that one of the main reasons he has been unable to make any major strides is that he does not have the support of his spouse.

The fifteenth major cause of failure: Wrong selection of a mate in marriage.

From Napoleon Hill’s “Think And Grow Rich”:
“The relationship of marriage brings people intimately into contact. Unless this relationship is harmonious, failure is likely to follow. Moreover, it will be a form of failure that is marked by misery, and unhappiness, destroying all signs of ambition.”

In the case of the aforementioned gentleman, there is no sign that his ambition has been destroyed by the lack of harmony in his marriage, though the marital discord does appear to be draining on many levels; and I have on one or more occasion heard this individual complain of sometimes feeling like calling it quits, abandoning everything.

So what does one do who is striving to achieve success in business but is thwarted by having an unsupportive spouse and struggling with marital discord on a daily basis? Given a choice between enjoying success in business and holding on to a bad marriage, getting rid of the bad marriage seems to be the obvious choice; but few of us could make such a choice as simply as that.

This gentleman, for example, has children to think about. He is pretty clear in his own mind that he will not terminate his marriage while his children are still young; so he has at least another decade, barring unforeseen disasters, to either continue to struggle in his marriage and suffer in business as a result; or find a way to make his marriage an asset that contributes to his chances of succeeding in his goal of achieving success in business.