We all have that one toxic habit we battle with. These habits are in most times our major hindrances to a happy life because it is quite impossible to maintain a positive mindset, if for instance we are constantly nagging and complaining about our situations in life.
Once in a while, it is possible to portray some negative characters that we don’t feel good about, however, when actions like these becomes a norm, often unconsciously or sometimes consciously, it ends up draining our chances of living a happy and positive life.
Irrespective of how much we sometimes try to justify some of these bad habits, it is undeniable that they are always unpleasant and it disrupt our mental, physical and psychological wellbeing.
So, what habits are bad? Even though sometimes we don’t really want to accept that some habits are bad, bad habits are the negative, most times harmful routine we do that makes it quite impossible to live feeling optimistic and also enjoyably.
They are characters we portray regularly which ends up hindering our productivity level and may also end up hurting us.
They are the habits we must continuously work effortlessly to break. Although, breaking a bad habit can be very challenging at times.
In fact, it is quite easier to learn or pick a new character than it is to unlearn especially when we are already accustomed to it.
However, grooming and encouraging it deprives one from focusing and achieving set goals. It zaps ones energy against productivity.
So, in order live and appreciate your life fully, here is a list of bad habit you need to eliminate if you want to live happier.
10 Bad Habits You Must Quite If You Want A Happier Life
1. Procrastination
Procrastination they say is the thief of time, even though this saying might be cliché, it has since been very much useful in our present lives.
Some of the reasons why many of us find our self constantly postponing tasks and hoping to do them later is because we sometimes have; the fear of criticism and a low self-esteem.
We tend to create one excuse or the other and we end up delaying or convincing ourselves that the task can be done better when delayed.
Tips for breaking this habit: Always create a routine and to-do list for your daily activities.
Make sure your plans are realistic, broken down into smaller chunks and aligned with your time and availability.
Also, make sure you constantly reward yourself for every effort you make.
2. Not forgiving yourself
Beating yourself too hard over your past mistakes is a bad habit that won’t allow you do your best, utilize your full capacity and can also paralyze your ability to make good decisions in life.
This is because when you carry the burdens and negativity from the past, you will constantly see reasons why you shouldn’t make moves or try harder.
Not forgiving yourself can also lead to stress, developing a low self-esteem or even mental illness.
Tips for breaking this habit: acknowledge that you are a flawed being, just like every other person, and accept that every mistake you make is just a learning experience that is meant to build you.
Try as much as possible to always control and filter your thoughts.
3. Comparison
According to research, it has been proven that the higher people compare their lives with others they assume are doing better than them, the higher they breed resentment, envy, low self-esteem and depression.
Looking at our present lifestyle where everyone tries to paint a picture perfect life on social media, it’s quite easier to develop the bad habit of constantly hating our present situations which deprives us from living a meaningful life.
Tips for breaking this habit; learn contentment and gratitude. Count your small and big blessings. Instead of comparing your life with others, place your focus on your strengths and how to get better.
4. Unhealthy routine practices:
There are several unhealthy routines you need to break from if you want to live a satisfactory lifestyle.
Some of them are eating too much junk food or too late at night, smoking or drinking alcohol, not having sufficient sleep or spending too much time on your phone.
Once in a while, we all fall victims of any of this practices. These habit doesn’t only eliminate our chances of having a happy life but also puts us in the risk of developing serious health conditions.
Tips for breaking this habit: learn and practice mindfulness. In order to break a bad habit, one needs to be conscious and deliberate with every action.
Focus on the main aim and reason for wanting to stop these unhealthy practices, create reminders because this will make you stay more aware of your current developmental progress.
5. Quest for perfection
Sometimes we struggle so hard to attain a flawless result that when we see any form of mistakes or shortcomings in our lives, work, relationship, or we get a result less than our normal expectations we tend break down and assume we are failures.
This habit sometimes becomes a regular part of us if we keep allowing the society, friends or others define what’s an ideal success or what isn’t.
When you constantly seek perfection in things you do, you will be unnecessarily stressed, also depriving yourself of a well-balanced mental health, which results to a low self-esteem because you are always bothered about what others think of you.
Tips for breaking this habit: understand that as human we are imperfect creatures and can never attain perfection.
Make failure a learning process not a determinant of your happiness or zeal to try again. Never stop making move, even if you fear failure, just keep moving.
6. Hanging out with toxic people
Friends are meant to serve as a support system and are also very important part of our lives.
However, when they start making us doubt our self-worth or they constantly make us feel unhappy, then, it actually mean we are with toxic people.
Toxic friends are those who tends to be imposing, they constantly compete and feel jealous about your progress and can sometime be full of drama.
Friends are supposed to comfort and be there for you, however, toxic friends never play this role instead the make you feel the other way round.
It’s very important to break a habit of building and encouraging toxic people to shape your decision to live a happy life.
Tips for breaking this habit: understand that no matter what, you come first and you can’t keep giving love when you are lacking it yourself, so prioritize you peace of mind also filter your circle.
Yes, I mean literally deleting toxic friends out of your life and making effort to build new, meaningful relationships.
7. Addiction
A lot of people don’t know how to change bad habits into daily productive routines because of how difficult it takes to drop a character the body is already used to.
One of the bad habits people find so difficult to break is addiction. A person can get used to anything, it could be the smart phone, TV, alcohol or smoking, gambling, sugar or just anything that tampers with the smooth flow of living a balanced and healthy life.
If for example a person get addicted to consuming alcohol or smoking, studies have shown that they open themselves to the risk of developing complicated health situation, also affecting the mental balance which may hinder the chances of living a responsible or a fulfilled life.
Tips for breaking this habit: although these might seem very difficult, it is very possible. A person battling with this bad habit can overcome this by being mindful about making changes.
Then they can seek professional help, get an accountability buddy, change influence circle, and constantly encourage themselves through the process.
8. Always seeking external validation
Welcome to our present world, where our lives start and end on social media. Trust me, this isn’t an overstatement.
Due to the reason that most of the activities in our lives are often posted on our social media platforms, people now endlessly crave for the interaction and validation from such platform, that when a post doesn’t get enough likes, shares or comment, we end up losing our self-esteem or we even start comparing our lives to others.
Other times, we kick start a task or project, not because they align with our core values as a person, but because of the external glorification that comes with it.
To always seek people’s approval and acceptance before feeling good about yourself is one bad habit that hinder self-satisfaction and self-love.
Tips for breaking this habit: it is necessary to learn and practice self-love and self- worth. Trust your process towards growth, and let go of the mindset that people have to remind you of how well you are moving.
Instead, you should constantly keep appreciating your every positive moves, with or without anyone’s validation.
9. Encouraging negative thought
Another bad habit that requires urgent attention is constantly letting fear or worry consume our minds.
A lot of people battle with the fear of the unknown, fear of how bad things could get, or how much they are not good enough.
Most times, this fear we worry about are actually baseless and not are not always the real picture.
Although, at some point in our lives, we all experience thinking about negative things, well, it is actually normal but will become abnormal if it becomes a regular part of us.
Grooming negative thoughts causes feeling anxious, depressed or being pessimistic. Most people stop trying and give up just because this negativity has clouded their minds.
Tips for breaking this habit: stop assuming how things should turn out, instead embrace change, adapt and seek self-improvement.
You don’t have to be too hard on yourself, negative thoughts will still pop up once in a while, practice positive affirmation and mindfulness.
Get yourself more engaged in things that helps you get distracted, like playing sport or writing.
10. Pushing blames
This is another bad habit a large number of us exhibit. There is one saying in the business world, about the mirror and window.
As human when things we love happens, we tend to look into the mirror and give ourselves a tap in the back for a job well done.
However, when errors or mistakes occur, we look through the window seeking who should take the blames.
Living a life on this basis and regular pushing blames is one major hindrances of self-improvement.
Constantly looking for someone to blame when things go wrong does not let us accept and acknowledge our flaws and also seek a better way out next time.
When all we do is continuously blaming others and playing victim, we tends to feel helpless, this in turns builds in us a pessimistic mindset.
Tips for breaking this habit: become more mindful and recognize when you are about to blame others. Be sincere with yourself and accept your blames too.
Taking ownership of the errors or mistakes that happen makes you more powerful. Also, instead of being unnecessarily judgmental, learn empathy and put yourself in other people’s situations.
Final thoughts
what is most important is that you are staying true to yourself in acknowledging any of these 10 bad habits or even others you might have noticed and you are trying to break.
Now that you want to start making efforts towards having a better life, you might be bothered about this question; how long does it take break a bad habit?
There are several numbers out there on how long it takes. Well, according to a research, it takes quite a long time, that is, between 18 – 254 days.
However, no matter how short and long these days maybe, what really changes a habit is being mindful, deliberate and consistent.
Then, always have it in mind that any meaningful break through towards a happy life lies in your hands. I wish you the best through this journey.