Habits or behaviors define who we are, and nothing destroys our inherent creativity like bad habits.
Living a balanced, productive, and joyful life requires avoiding certain behaviors or habits that hold you back instead of helping you progress.
It’s time to be cautious if any of the habits we are about to mention characterize you, as they might be the reason you are not advancing in life.
Stop Making Excuses!
Have you ever given yourself or others reasons why you didn’t do things as they should have been done?
“I’m tired, I don’t have time, I can’t do it, someone else is doing it. I procrastinated, I’ll do it later, I’m afraid, I’m not ready….”
These are common phrases when someone gives themselves or others reasons for not doing something. The more you delay and say these things, the less time you have to start doing them.
Expert Belfort Jordan once said, “The barrier between where you are and where you want to be is the baseless excuses you give yourself for not achieving what you want.”
Doing Many Things at Once
Many people believe that multitasking speeds up work rather than doing one thing at a time. This is not true! Research shows that only 2% of people can multitask effectively.
Multitasking is exhausting, causes constant pressure, and prevents you from finishing any task well, resulting in wasted time compared to focusing on one task at a time.
Accepting Everything
What do you do when a friend invites you to a birthday party, but you also have an assignment to complete? Is it hard for you to say no because you won’t be able to make it?
‘No’ is often seen as an impolite word, and it hurts our friends and relatives because we are often not taught to say ‘No’ in our upbringing.
You should learn to say ‘No’ when what is asked of you interferes with other important plans you have.
Wealthy Warren Buffet once said, “Don’t let people dictate what you do in your life.”
Thinking You’re Not Capable
Many people are always anxious and think about what they cannot do well, but this thinking adds nothing to their abilities.
Do you ever think about how things would be if you stopped wasting time thinking about what you can’t do and instead focused on what you can do well? Sometimes, it may not be possible to overcome your weaknesses, but giving time to your strengths can significantly change your life.
Striving for Perfection
What matters is not the number of mistakes you make while trying to do something or how slowly things are progressing because you are still better off than the one who chose not to try.
Stop valuing what you see and what others think of you; it’s natural for people to seek approval from others, which makes us pretend to be what we are not.
Sometimes, it seems difficult to stop this habit, but it is possible, just as one can train themselves to quit any other harmful habit.
Avoid putting effort into chasing what seems impossible because it only damages your mindset.
Not Doing Anything While Capable
Theodore Roosevelt, a former President of the United States, once said, “Failure hurts, but not trying to succeed hurts even more.”
Research shows that in life, when we look back, we regret the decisions we didn’t make more than the ones we did.
Being a Slave to Technology
You might be using some social media platforms like email, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. Be careful; ensure they are not consuming too much of your time, distracting you from your goals.
In the book “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains,” author Nicholas Carr stated, “The Internet offers us ample time to use for our thinking, but when we start replacing our thinking with it, we strip our brain of its tremendous capacity.”
For instance, your phone could be your biggest enemy. Many people cannot spend a moment without their phones, yet the more time you spend on the internet and your phone, the more your curiosity to know everything increases.
If you can turn off or put away your phone and focus on your projects, you will see the results.
Don’t Be a Follower
The first mistake we make in life is trying to be like others. When you choose to live as yourself rather than living as others do or want you to, that’s when you’ll see its value.
Many people say, ‘So-and-so has a nice car, a good job, bought a nice house; I want to have those too.’ Valuing such thoughts is misleading; focusing on what the world wants you to be will ruin your life rather than guide you.
The day you stop caring about what people say, that’s the day your confidence will rise in a way you won’t even understand, and you’ll start doing amazing things you never thought you could.
