[success]Man is not the creature of circumstances, circumstances are the creatures of men. We are free agents and man is more powerful than matter. ~ Benjamin Disraeli[/success]
Today, someone, somewhere is going to wake up to the idea that it’s not good enough to settle for less than they can achieve. You may feel that life isn’t too brilliant right now, yet you too were born with the potential to live an incredibly fulfilling and successful life.
Your future is always wide open and here’s eight bad habits that many of us consistently struggle with that stop us getting the most out of ourselves and our life and our future.
1. Stop hoping for things to change
If hope is your one and only answer, you’re in serious trouble. For things to change you have to change. Tomorrow is going to be like yesterday. Next year is going to be like it’s always been. Your life can only change when you change. It’s the only way. To have different life experiences you have to be different.
2. Stop falling asleep in all that’s wrong
Whatever you’re feeling when you drop off to sleep sets the tone for the next day. One certain and beautiful thing about life is that we reap what we sow. Falling asleep in a feeling of contentment or success, or in loving and valuing yourself, is an easy way to sow seeds of confidence and feel good about yourself.
Switch or ditch falling asleep focused on the miseries of the day…it sets you up to experience more of the same tomorrow.
3. Learn to accept uncomfortable feelings
An amazingly powerful technique is simply to sit with feeling uncomfortable about something. Recognize it, acknowledge it, accept it, don’t push it aside. Tackle those feelings, don’t hide from them. They’re a signal that new opportunities await and you won’t have the chance to experience them from your old comfort zone. Decide to accept the challenge and expand your life.
4. Stop wishing your life away
When life is hard don’t wish it were easier, decide to be stronger. You are a being of unlimited power. You might not be able to change the things that have happened but you can change your reactions. Instead of wishing for things to be different accept the responsibility to make them better. Begin to count your blessings instead of your troubles. Life will respond with more things for you to be grateful for.
5. Stop the excuses
It’s easy to argue for limitations. It’s easy to find an excuse not to do something. Problem is, your excuses stand between you and living the life you truly want. Remember successes don’t necessarily come all at once, but in little pieces every day because of what you did and who you are. Any time your day is filled with excuses, is a day that you’re leaking success. Make better use of your time and energy.
6. Stop making small plans
Because you’re afraid of bigger ones. Small plans have no magic in them to stir your heart and soul into action. Everyone knows fear. The only difference between you and the incredibly successful is that they never let fear stop them, or influence how large a dream they can conjure up. You have within you all the mental, spiritual and creative power to do all that you can imagine. Put it to work for you.
7. Stop ignoring new ideas
Write them down, even though they might not seem relevant, or doable right now. The fact that you had them is important. New ideas change the world but if you don’t value them, they slip right away and the brilliance that you might have shared with the world is lost.
“A pile of rocks ceases to be a rock when somebody contemplates it with the idea of a cathedral in mind.” If you’re not putting your ideas into play, who will? You’ll never know what you’re missing until you begin to keep tabs on your ideas.
8. Stop hanging on to things well past their sell by date
Stop hanging on to things that poison you. Don’t hang on to someone who isn’t supportive, who takes more than they give, or who actively prevents your growth.
We’ve all tried to fix relationships well beyond the time to let them go. People tell you who they are by the actions they take. When someone lets you know they’re a snake…believe them. Love yourself enough to acknowledge that you deserve better. And most of all, don’t let the negativity of one relationship bleed into the next one.
Have you ever struggled with these bad habits…or others? And did you manage to crack them? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
Thank you so very much for reading and for sharing your feedback. Every week I’m inspired by both your brilliance and your encouragement for others.
Please share this article on your favorite social network. Each share or like helps to reach more people who need a little more practical and positive encouragement in their life.
Encourage one another.
Love Elle
16 Comments
Hi Elle- I always resonate with your articles! Of course I have bad habits, many of them as described above. I am aware of them, and work on them. Somehow they show up from time to time. Thank you for this timely reminder, I needed it!
Hi Kathleen, thanks for stopping by. I think we’re all in the same boat, our bad habits still show up every now and then…until they don’t! 🙂
I think the biggest ones I dealt/deal with are 1, 3, and 8. I think expecting things to change without taking any action is something passive people tend to do. I know that I use to do that. It is miserable.
I think learning to accept uncomfortable feelings is so important to success in life. It increases your emotional intelligence, which is vital in taking care of yourself and of interacting with others. Once I learned how to sit with uncomfortable feelings in therapy, my life changed.
Hanging on to things or past wrongs is so easy. It isn’t worth it though. Once I got busy with my life, it was easier to let those wrongs go.
Hi Sebastian, it’s interesting to hear that once you got busy it was easier to let past wrongs go. It’s all about where our attention is really. Funny how our thoughts tend to bring their brothers and sisters along. So thoughts of where you’re going as opposed to where you’ve been tend to carry more thoughts along the same lines with them. Don’t you just love this adventure called Life? 🙂
This is such a great post! I especially love number 3. I think so many of us live life comfortably so as to avoid the uncomfortable parts. I’ve learned, however, that it’s in the valleys of discomfort that opportunities for growth abound.
Sorry for the late reply Jessica – my comments have been acting a little screwy lately. You’re so right about the valleys of discomfort (love that phrase by the way, can I steal it?) being the place for growth opportunities. It’s all about standing there, heart beating like crazy and doing it anyway. Tough stuff. 🙂
I hate confrontation, but without confronting what needs to be confronted, you really don’t accomplish anything.
It’s easy for us to get complacent in life isn’t it Linda? I’m not a huge lover of some things in life that scare the heck out of me. I prefer to work from behind the scenes, so naturally things come to me that leave me having to decide whether it get out there or sit quietly (and securely) in my own little comfort zone. And you’re so right, without taking these things head on, we stay exactly where we were. Not cool. 🙂
Learning to accept uncomfortable feelings is really hard… I’m a “homebody” type of person and forced myself to join a yoga class (where I didn’t know anyone else) which I love!
I hear you Cher. Funny how when we push ourselves into a new’ zone’ before too long it becomes comfortable and look at you girl. You’re now in a new class loving zone! 🙂
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