10 Toxic Habits That Are Ruining Your Life
We all have little habits that might not be the best way to do things, but some bad habits can hurt your life if you don’t stop them.
Maybe not in a way you realize at the moment, but I’m sure we can all look back on our lives and see how bad habits have held us back.
Habit #1: Seeking External Approval
It’s not always a good habit to always be looking for other people’s approval.
We are always looking for acceptance and appreciation from other people.
But our worth shouldn’t be based on what other people think or say about us and what we do.
Even independent people need validation in some parts of their lives, but they are also happy to get it from themselves if they can’t get it from somewhere else.
The social network also plays a big role in our need to be accepted, since we tend to base our sense of self-worth on how many likes and shares we get.
Recognition isn’t bad in and of itself, but it can be dangerous if it’s the only thing you do.
Habit #2: Delaying Things (Procrastinating)
You can put off a lot of things, and you probably will. For example, you can put off that project you need to do until the last minute.
Benjamin Franklin said, “You can put things off, but time won’t, and time lost can never be found again.”
People tend to put things off and put them off because of things that make them not want to do them (anxiety, fear of failure, stress, or even laziness).
But the longer we wait to do something, the more anxious it makes us.
So it’s kind of like a dead end. Putting off our work also makes us less efficient because we have less time to do it.
Read more: Top 10 Ways to Stop Putting Things Off and Get Things Done
Habit #3: Keeping negative people in your life
I think we all know that bad vibes bring more bad vibes and good vibes bring more good vibes.
If you’re constantly around negative people, it can be hard to stay positive.
When you spend a lot of time with negative people, you can become more negative yourself.
Put yourself around people who make you happy and add value to your life.
It may sound like a cliche, but if you only have one life, you should make the most of it.
Putting yourself around positive people makes you want to go further and work harder.
Habit #4: Spending too much time on social networks
It goes without saying that checking your phone first thing in the morning and mindlessly scrolling through your phone when you’re bored are both bad habits you should stop.
Social media has a lot of good points, but it can also make us feel bad about ourselves and lower our self-esteem and self-confidence.
Further Reading: How To Stop Social Media Addiction
Habit #5: Eating fast food
In our society today, unhealthy foods are everywhere.
From McDonald’s to KFC to Burger King to 24-hour takeout, fast food like fries, highly processed burgers, and sodas have become commonplace.
If you’re thinking, “But this junk food is so good!” think again:
A study by Paul Johnson and Paul Kenny shows that eating junk food changes the way the brain works in a way that is similar to how drugs like heroin and drugs change brain activity.
Habit #6: Watching too much TV i
I stopped watching TV eight years ago and never looked back.
Every once in a while, I’ll turn on the TV to see what’s on, but then I’ll turn it off because it’s always the same old boring show.
Watching TV, especially dramas that are well-written, can be a great way to wind down. Still, don’t forget that TV isn’t your whole life.
You won’t change your life for the better if you watch TV for three hours every night. Instead, use that time to think about your life and take steps toward your goals.
Habit #7: Living in your comfort zone is the seventh habit.
Effective people didn’t get to where they were because they sat around and waited for things to be given to them.
Stop being so hard on yourself. Ask that co-worker you’ve been thinking about for a while.
Quit that “steady” job you’ve been keeping because it pays well and goes after what you really want to do. “Destiny is for losers,” Blair Waldorf once said.
It’s a stupid reason to wait on things to take place rather than making them happen.”
People often say that it takes 21 days to break a habit, but new studies show that “there’s no typical amount of time for breaking a habit, and the best recipe will be a mix of the person’s personality, motivation, situations, and the habit in question.”
People who want to break a habit for their own good can change their behavior much faster than those who are only doing it because someone else told them to.
Further Reading: 7 Small Things To Do To Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone
Habit #8: Not making personal limits.
Another bad habit that will keep you from succeeding in life is not setting clear, non-negotiable limits for yourself.
Setting personal boundaries means putting limits on how other people can treat you. This helps you figure out which of their actions are okay and which are not.
It looks like a guard that protects our self-respect, our rights, and our ability to change. It also helps us make good decisions in our lives.
Setting and dealing with personal limits is a form of self-care that everyone needs to do.
Some things you should never feel bad about doing are learning to say “no,” ignoring other people’s opinions to follow your own, not putting up with lies, and staying away from toxic people.
In the long run, these borders will save you time and effort, and keep others from using you too much.
9. Saying “yes” when you really want to say “no.”
Learn how to say “No” to things you don’t want to do.
“Yes Man” was a great movie, but it wasn’t real life; it was a movie.
You can’t say “Yes” to everything and still have enough time to do everything you want to do in your life.
You don’t have to spend 4 hours listening to your friend complain about his marriage.
There is a difference between being kind and being there for someone you care about and letting other people walk all over you.
People who are very successful always say no to deadlines, projects, and meetings that aren’t in line with their goals.
Habit#10: Not being responsible with money
To be financially disciplined, you have to be able to take responsibility for every dollar you spend and make.
On the other hand, financial indiscipline is when a person doesn’t make choices that are good for their money.
Having bad habits like gambling, spending too much, spending money on whim, living in luxury, etc.
In general, one of the habits that can ruin your life, in the long run, is not being able to account for “per dollar count.”
Further Reading: How to Live a Disciplined Life in 4 Easy Steps
