Hi! Thank you so much for your insightful comment! I really appreciate your perspective as a mindful educator and meditation…
Most Frecvent Harmful Habits And How To Really Change Them For Good
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” – Aristotle
We all have bad habits that we know are bad for us. It affects our health, robs us of energy, and more than that, it makes us not be the person we want to be or not live the life we want. However, giving them up is a real challenge, even when we know it is necessary for our health or well-being. But what are the most frequent harmful habits and how to really change them for good?
What Is A Bad Habit?
“The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.” – Warren Buffett
Who we are and what we become is a direct result of our habits. Our character is born, nurtured, and outwardly expressed in patterns. Unfortunately, when it comes to habits, it’s much easier to form bad habits than it is good habits because bad habits are usually easy and take little effort. On the other hand, good habit requires effort and self-discipline, and they are much more challenging to acquire. Negative habits are time wasting, character eroding, and health destruction. Once developed, a bad habit is difficult to overcome. Once overcome, one must constantly guard against slipping back into it.
What Are The Most Frecvent Bad Habits?
“One bad habit often spoils a dozen good ones.” – Napoleon Hill
Your bad habits limit your success in life. Below are six of the worst, with suggestions on how to break them.
Waiting for an opportunity. Waiting doesn’t invite prospects; begin searching out opportunities and creating opportunities.
Short-term thinking. Consider the long-term consequences of your actions, and write them down whenever you decide.
Impulsive actions. Wait a day before taking action; you’ll usually change your mind about hasty decisions by then.
Blaming. Giving “reasons” for our troubles is often just a form of blaming. Do you want to point at problems or deal with them?
Procrastination. We know that often, “later” becomes “never.” So get into the habit of looking for and doing the easiest first step.
Indulging one’s laziness. Do something easy first, and if low energy is part of the problem, start learning a few techniques for boosting it, like deep breathing.
It is excellent if you can retrain your mind and develop good habits, but just getting rid of bad habits is a perfect start to a better life.
Steps To Change Habits!
“You can’t break a bad habit by throwing it out the window. You’ve got to walk it slowly down the stairs.” – Mark Twain
People of character are the ones who have built good habits into their lives and have eliminated the bad ones. The road to self-discipline must begin with a deep sense of conviction. Here are some of the steps that can help you change your bad habits for good.
Start with a life vision. If you are still determining what you want your future to look like, how can you decide what areas of your life need improvement? Spend some quiet time reflecting on (and writing down) what is good, inadequate, or incomplete.
Get organized. Clear away clutter. Review paperwork, files, old bills and receipts, closets, drawers, and storage containers. Decide what you need and will use; throw out or give away all the rest. Keep ONE calendar to record all appointments, events, etc. Write down everything- don’t rely on memory.
Expand your horizons and commit to learning something new. Challenging yourself will infuse you with more incredible energy and a sense of purpose, and it will help build your self-esteem to realize you are capable of more than you had previously believed.
Set challenging but realistic resolutions. Choose goals that stretch your ability muscles yet are realistic and, therefore, less vulnerable to failure. Please don’t respond to that negative inner voice that says; oh, I’m not capable of that. Instead, focus on what you truly desire for your life and relationships, and let this be your guide. Write them down and stick them on your bathroom mirror, fridge, car dashboard, desk, or wherever you know will be an excellent place to see them.
Take care of yourself. Eat well, exercise regularly, and learn to control and eliminate unhealthy stress. It is evident, so why is it often ignored or overlooked when attempting to make significant life changes? Not caring for yourself will guarantee failure.
Work to eliminate bad habits by changing them with a good habit or routine. Bad habits will sabotage your efforts and use up your resources of time, energy, and focus. For each bad habit you decide to eliminate, have an excellent routine to replace it. Bringing out your best qualities will help attract good-quality people into your life.
Set appropriate and healthy limits in all areas of your life. Knowing and enforcing your limits with yourself and others is essential to a healthy life and relationship. Learn to say no and enough and be firm in your resolve that this is a good thing to do. Otherwise, you will also undermine your determination to care for yourself.
Why Is It Hard To Break Bad Habits?
“It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.” ― Benjamin Franklin
Breaking free from these deeply-embedded habits is a tall order, mainly if acquired over a long period. The longer it takes to develop certain habits, the more difficult it is to break them. Just as it took time to acquire these mental patterns of failure, it will take time to release them and replace them with ‘mental patterns of success.’ The battle to discipline ourselves is undoubtedly one of the most challenging battles that we face. It would be much easier not to have formed the bad habit in the first place, but unfortunately, they are often created in youth, when one lacks the foresight to see ahead the consequences of their actions.
Your Way – Always The Best Way To Do It!
“Bad habits are our enemies because they hinder us from being the person we want to be.” – Joyce Meyer
Don’t be discouraged if you slip up by neglecting a good habit or falling back into a bad one. Just pick yourself up and get back on the right track. Admonish yourself to show more resolve but don’t torture yourself and fall into a hopeless depression. You will quickly realize that the battle for self-discipline is complex and lengthy. You will also realize, however, that the struggle is well worth the fight.
Please feel free to leave a comment about how you changed your bad habits and the efforts you overcame in doing so.
Or if you have more questions or need help, I am always happy to help.
Hi,
Thank you for this inspiring write-up on habits. I was particularly struck by the quote by Aristotle – “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
As you said, we often know the habits we have that are bad for us. This is so true and we struggle to break those habits. What hit me however is the fact that we don’t often recognize or appreciate the good habits we have developed. We tend to focus on the bad. If we paid more attention to the habits that help us, perhaps they would make us more confident and more capable of confronting the bad habits.
Thanks again. Nice one.
Hi Oluseyi
I am grateful for your kind words and for sharing your thoughts on the topic.
I am glad that you found the quote by Aristotle thought-provoking, and you’re observation that we often overlook our good habits and focus too much on the bad ones is so true. Your comment offers a good reminder for us to prioritize and regularly practice our good habits.
I’m glad you found the post inspiring, and I hope it has motivated you to continue developing positive habits for a better future.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me, and I hope to hear from you again soon.
Miki
One of the reasons we have bad habits and do them is that we cannot recognize bad habits. The recognition of bad habits and good is not separated. Reading your post is so useful and brings so many informative details. We have to change our bad habits as soon as we can. It may be a little hard, but it is worth trying because it helps us to improve our life quality.
Hi!
I wanted to thank you for your interesting remark on my post about recognizing and changing bad habits. I appreciate you taking the time to offer your viewpoint.
I fully agree that identifying and breaking bad habits might be challenging, but the rewards are well worth the effort.
Your reply points out the importance of acting and aspiring for personal development, which is an important reminder for all of us.
Again, thank you for your nice thoughts.
Miki