success has many fathers, failure is an orphan
every man is the architect of his own fortune
go nowhere
drop the ball
sticks in a bundle are unbreakable
God hates a coward
underachieve
go over like a lead balloon
miscarry
don't hate the player, hate the game
fail at life
miss
corncob
one strike and you're out
live by the sword, die by the sword
nonstarter
you win some, you lose some
break down
be riding for a fall
easy for you to say
sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you
plaster saint
faultable
scapegoat
fall back
pons asinorum
love the sinner, hate the sin
calculated risk
have nothing on someone
unhopeful
unfulfillment
take
backfire
law of diminishing returns
underprivileged
impostor syndrome
born loser
draw a blank
shitlist
miss the mark
blacklist
you have to be good to be lucky
black book
underwhelm
bail
throw stones in a glass house
to little avail
fighting chance
Little Red Hen syndrome
even chance
moocher
welch
come a gutser
kyoodle
unfavorable
disadvantageous
go down in flames
default
doomedness
nonperseverance
blame game
unfavourable
failingness
miss the boat
the grass is always greener on the other side
flat out
nonfulfillment
thumbscrew
the cure is worse than the disease
blow one's chance
push one's luck
bystander effect
in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
you can't win them all
mismeet
give something up as a bad job
I got mine
the jug goes to the well until it breaks
in spite of oneself
leave a lot to be desired
nonfeasance
die on the vine
sink or swim
placebo effect
you're only as good as your last shift
hit the skids
opportunity makes a thief
disconsider
defensive attribition
cream-skim
futile
mis-
muddle through
Buridan's ass
short end of the stick
beneffectance
misfire