You’ve heard it time and time again, but it remains true; your bad habits are holding you back from living your best life. The misconception here is that breaking them, or ridding yourself of whatever is dragging you down, is more daunting than actually taking action is. Think about it this way: If you can get rid of the routines that keep you stuck in a rut, you’ll make more room for the good stuff and, ultimately, find you’re a lot happier once you decide to part ways. It’s a lot easier than you think. Inc. recently reviewed the 10 bad habits that are destroying your happiness, and we’re revealing why you need to let them go below.
- Sticking to your comfort zone: It’s easy to do because it feels safe and you’re not risking anything, but how will you ever move forward? Most of the time risk leads to reward, and in this case, that’s your happiness. You’ll never know if you can achieve the good things in life if you don’t go after them at some point. Don’t trick yourself into believing this is a huge undertaking, but start little by little, progressing until you get there.
- Not supporting yourself: You have to be your biggest fan. If you self-sabotage by doubting your every move, you’ll never progress; it’s simple math. You’re the only one who truly knows what is holding you back, so identify it and do your best to eliminate it from your life.
- Putting emphasis on the past: If you let your past mistakes hold you back from your future goals, where will that get you? Nowhere. Don’t view your former issues as something to be ashamed of (everyone has made their own mistakes), but instead let them be your motivation and the fuel you need to find change.
- Refusing to take responsibility: If you blame every misstep on others, you’ll never be able to see the root of your problems. Take the blame and hold yourself responsible for what’s going wrong in your own life. By doing so, you can identify what you need to change and hold yourself accountable to doing so.
- Forcing yourself to be someone else: If you constantly compare yourself to everyone else (who, by the way, are not without their own issues), you’ll never be able to appreciate yourself or the things that make you the person that you are. Try as you might, you’ll never magically turn into someone else, so take ownership of being (the best version of) you.
- Living outside of the present: You can’t change yesterday and you have no control over what will happen tomorrow, but you can have power over the present moment, which is one way to make change happen. What can you do today, right now, to make things better?
- Avoiding an attitude adjustment: The one thing you can actually control is your attitude, or the way you choose to perceive things. If you choose to paint things in a negative light, they will continue to appear that way. If you find the positive, you’ll see a brighter picture. Life is going to happen to you, and the way you react, either positive or negative, will determine what you get out of it.
Original article here