Toxic habits which you are practising will have a negative and harmful effect on both your mental and physical health. You can have positive and toxic habits that can impact your life and stop you from succeeding. There are ways that you can track these habits with habit trackers which will help you to identify and work through the toxic mind sets and habits that are holding you back.
Toxic habits can not only affect your mental health, but can bring so much negativity into your life. Removing this negativity can improve both your self-esteem and your confidence. Are you guilty of these toxic habits? I am going to share 15 of these habits which are holding you back from becoming your best self and improving the quality of your life.
1. Comparing Yourself To Others
It is only natural to look at others in similar situations and compare. However, there will be someone who could be comparing themselves to you! Comparison can create a negative mind set which can affect your thought processes.
Whenever you feel the urge to make comparisons, you should reflect on what you have achieved. The other way to deal with this is to use that energy to motivate you and be inspired by that person instead.
2. Not Believing In Yourself
If you do not believe in yourself, how do you expect anyone else to? Believing in yourself and your abilities will boost your self-confidence and motivation to be successful. It can be hard to believe in yourself, but you can start small.
3. Ignoring Your Self-Care
We can all be so good at looking after our loved ones, but not so good at looking after ourselves. Not taking time out to relax can cause problems, both mentally and physically. In order to be successful, you need to look after yourself, so that you can stay focused and productive. Scheduling some time for yourself and your self-care can help you to relax and limit your stress levels.
4. Dwelling On Past Mistakes
This can stop you from moving forward. Unfortunately, the past has happened and you cannot change that although you can change both the present and the future. Wasting time on things that you cannot change or undo, means that you are not only taking precious time from today, but you are also wasting your energy, increasing your stress and your anxiety levels. Mistakes are a part of life and the most successful people learn from those mistakes and use them to motivate them to do better in the future.
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5. Surrounding Yourself With Negative And Unsupportive People
Spending time with negative people can be taxing to your mental health and can cause stress and anxiety. Having unsupportive people in your life can affect your confidence and your self-worth. Where it is possible, try to eliminate these negative influences from your life. Having people around you who support you and who want to share in and celebrate your success is far more motivating!
6. Not Eating Well Or Eating Enough
Not eating well or eating enough can cause a lack of concentration as well as fatigue. This leads to muscle aches and pains and a whole host of other problems including being either under or overweight or anaemic. You only have one body and it is important to look after it. I am guilty of this; I will either skip a meal or eat junk food when I’m busy. I am trying to make a conscious effort to make healthy choices and eat on a regular basis.
7. Not Forgiving Yourself
We can all be guilty of giving ourselves a hard time when we didn’t achieve a goal, or we didn’t finish our ‘To Do’ List. I am so guilty of doing this myself. Having had to alter my life, due to poor health, I have had to change my mind set when I wasn’t able to do everything that I had planned or wanted to do. I am learning to focus on what I have achieved during the day instead and be happy with that.
It is important to take every day as it comes; it is vital to focus on the positive and your achievements, even when they are seemingly small wins. Punishing yourself takes energy and creates an unhealthy mind set.
8. Getting Little Or No Sleep
Sleep is a priority and it is so vital to a healthy lifestyle. Having a regular routine is so important for both your mental and physical health. After doing some research, I didn’t realise that there were so many benefits! Here are just a few…
- Reduces stress and improves mood
- Lowers your risk of anxiety and depression
- Can improve your concentration and productivity
- Lowers your risk of serious health problems e.g. heart disease
If you have trouble sleeping, start by reducing your screen time i.e. don’t use your technology after 8pm and try to avoid caffeinated drinks after 6pm.
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9. Stop Starting Your Day Reactively
Are you guilty of reaching for your phone first thing in the morning? From the moment that you wake up if you are starting with technology, it can suck out your energy and control your focus before you have even woken up!
Taking the time to wake up, journal, exercise, reflect on what you are grateful for, or eat your breakfast, means that you can plan your day and be proactive rather than reactive. Start your day in a healthier, positive and mindful way by creating a morning routine.
10. Putting Yourself Down In Front Of Others
Self-sabotage and self-doubt is damaging and can stop you from succeeding. Putting yourself down in front of others shows them that you have little self-respect and not worthy of receiving any either. This can then lead to surrounding yourself with negative people and will undoubtedly hinder your success.
11. Stressing Yourself About Things That Are Out Of Your Control
Unfortunately, we stress about things that actually weren’t as bad as we thought, or worry about the future. If you spend most of your time with this negative energy, you will be missing out on the present. This is something that I have been so guilty of, but I am trying to change this mind set and working on this one day at a time.
12. Not Listening To Your Body
You only have one body and when your body needs something, it will tell you. If your body needs to rest, you should rest – you cannot run on empty. Nourishing your body with the right foods and sleep will help you have the energy to be productive and be able to focus. Not listening to your body can cause burnout, which is exactly what you want to avoid happening as it can lead to problems in relationships and poor performance at work.
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13. Not Letting Go
There comes a point in our lives when we need to let go. You need to let go of the past, the hurt you experienced, loss or even unmet expectations; it is a healthy way to move on. You cannot continue to move forward if we constantly holding on to the past.
14. Unhealthy Habits
Unhealthy habits can create routines that get you stuck in a rut and can hinder you from moving forward to achieve your goals. Unhealthy sleeping patterns can affect how you feel and how productive you can be. Waking up and reaching straight for your phone is an unhealthy routine because you are overloading your mind with information that you are trying to process, having just woken up.
15. Procrastination
How many times have you put off starting or finishing something? Stop procrastinating! It is said that people will often procrastinate because they may be afraid of failing. If you are guilty of this, you could find that you are less productive, leading to missing deadlines. If procrastination occurs over long periods of time, it can lead to complete demotivation.
To help you stop procrastinating, you can start by eliminating distractions in your workspace. This will help to keep your mind focused on the tasks at hand. You can try promising yourself a reward for completing your tasks; this will as a motivator, so that you use your time productively.
Are you guilty of any of these habits? Can relate to any of these habits? I’d love to hear in the comments.
Great post! I am guilty of many of these things but this post has helped to recognise what I am doing and I’m going to try and stop doing them so thank you for sharing this post!
I’m guilty of a lot of this. Awesome post! Very helpful!
I’ve felt much better when I let go of my past. Because it was a big issue for me holding me back.
That’s great you have moved forward x