Are you an exceptionally smart, well-rounded individual? Do you work hard and treat people well? With all that going for you, does it still seem like there’s something holding you back from success? If you’re looking for something to blame, look no further than these 7 common culprits that live right in your own house:

#1 Refrigerator
This big old beast is functionally designed to keep food cold/fresh and shoot ice cubes out at your command. But is it friend or foe? It seems like every half hour it calls to you from it’s well-stocked shelves to come on by and have another treat. Unless you’re Moby, it’s things like ice cream, soda, leftover pizza, and microwavable foods that beckon you to have another go round at the ‘frige.

Problem: Too many stops at the refrigerator leads to eating too much food (usually unhealthy food). Eating too much and eating unhealthily leaves you out of shape, less attractive, and less energetic to achieve your goals. Success downturn.

#2 Television
We’ve all seen the headlines about “Quit TV for 2 Years and Never Went Back” or “Looking for More Free Time, Turn Off the TV”. Yeah, we all know that plopping down on the sofa for a good 5 hour session of sporting events, sitcoms, reality shows, and Oprah (ladies) does just about nothing towards making us more intelligent, more fulfilled individuals.

Doesn’t seem to stop us. The thought of even having one room, let alone an entire house, without a television would make most downright uneasy. TV’s are a security blanket, a best friend, and an addictive drug all rolled into one.

Problem: Spending an average of 1,460 hours a year in front of a television set won’t help you get that job promotion or reel in a cute husband or wife. Well, unless you utilize those 900 numbers. Seriously though, got anything else you could do with even 10% (146 hours) of that boob tube time?

#3 Toothbrush
Brush twice a day. Maintain shiny teeth and overall dental health. But the old school manual toothbrush is only one of the tools needed to truly keep up with this daily need. Plus, chances are it has been sitting on your bathroom counter for 8 months. The thing can’t be that clean.

Problem: You can’t just brush twice a day and leave it at that, especially not with your grandpa’s toothbrush (figuratively, or literally speaking). Those industrial strength toothbrushes with the vibrating heads are one step up.

Flossing, mouthwash, and regular dental appointments are also a requirement. If you slack on any of these things you will undoubtedly have bad teeth and ancillary health complications. Not many of us will toast to our success and then flash a smile of yellow-brown nubs with a few empty slots. This isn’t England.

#4 Furniture Arrangement
Couch, chair, bed, check. Table and chairs, check. Can I see the TV from all of them? Double check.

Problem: Arranging your furniture around the television just increases the likelihood that it will always be on, and you’ll always be watching it. Plus, it won’t be too easy to carry on a conversation with your family or friends when you’re all angled at the TV.

I don’t subscribe to Feng Shui just yet, but the way furniture is arranged dictates the activities you’re more likely to engage in. Limiting real-life interactions and making it that much easier to get caught up in the TV isn’t helping.

#5 Lighting
Letting natural lighting into your home is a generally accepted way of adding “life” and energy to your day. Open up those window shades. And if mother nature is frowning that day (or you live in your parents’ basement), at least turn on some indirect lighting to brighten things up a bit.

Problem: You can’t read in dim light, nor can you do your ab crunches adequately in the dark. Basically the only things you can do in a dark room are counterproductive, except maybe sex. Open the blinds. Life awaits you.

#6 Fitness Relics
When you bought that treadmill, you promised yourself you’d use it 4 times a week. Now it’s a great way to stack wrapping paper and old boxes in the basement isn’t it? Nordic tracks, Bowflex, dusty dumbells, an ab roller . . . collect the whole set. Hey, at least you tried.

Problem: It’s not much of a mystery what the problem is with unused fitness equipment sitting in your basement. People buy these things in a fit frenzy (usually, say, around January 1st), use them for 2 weeks, and then let them be. Then it is decided that both you and the apparatus need a much-deserved rest. It was all in good fun right?

The sad thing is it usually takes a near-dealth experience or some health crisis to get you to break them back out again. An unused treadmill in the house only reminds us how we have failed to follow through on a promise to make ourselves more healthy.

#7 Computer
As much as it pains me to say this, your computer can be doing as much harm as good. People spend an increasing amount of time gazing at the computer screen during their “off” time, making it just another contributor in the long line of electronic gadgets that include the TV, DVD players, and video games.

Shopping online, watching videos on YouTube, and scouring the social networking sites (MySpace and Facebook in particular) - we love it. And don’t forget those fantasy leagues, online gambling, music downloading and porn (not you, everyone else). It never ends.

Problem: Hey, I believe the computer / net offer unlimited potential to actually improve your life and become successful, but there’s no denying the uselessness of hours spent playing in the world of Web 2.0. The computer can be just as inviting as the remote control for most of us, and the hours lost as easily incomprehendible.

After all that, I think it’s clear we all just need to stay away from our houses. There’s just too much temptation for a man to live erroneously, grabbing something from the frige, walking past that old treadmill on the way to the couch to sit down and check the fantasy stats before the most recent episode of Lost comes on.

It’s dark in here. Don’t forget to brush and floss before bed :-).