5 Habits You Must Give Up to Become Successful

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Happiness, success, and fulfillment have different interpretations around the world, yet they are all labels we wish to claim. When it comes to achieving our dreams, we’re our best friend and biggest critic.

Goals are naturally challenging; the last thing we want to do is hinder our efforts with harmful habits. Each time we starve off a negative habit, we allow more room to feed a positive one. Good or bad, habits are all around us. Habits influence our days, which then shape how we live our life.

Below, are 5 of the most common destructive habits and what you can do to reclaim your success once and for all:

1. Using electronics in bed

Problem: Using electronics in bed can be the most deceiving habit of all. It’s fun, addictive, and seems harmless. After all, we are all guilty of this from time to time. We should just consider this reasonable and brush it off, right? While this excuse feels good right now, the habit will make us feel worse in the long run. Our phones steal our rest at night, and attention in the morning.

Solution: Make your phone stay on the other side of the room. It’ll tempt you with notifications and endless entertainment, but you’re better than that. Declare your bed as a phone-free zone. Not only will this make you victorious, but you’ll reclaim time and energy as a result. By the time you greet your phone to mute the alarm, you’ll be up and ready to conquer the day.

2. Procrastinating

Problem: Everyone has a few dreadful tasks on their to-do list. We all have things we know must be done, but we don’t like to do them. When we put these tasks off, we’re letting fear and anxiety win the battle. In the meantime, our dreams, hopes, and ambitions are held hostage.

Solution: Isn’t life complicated enough without additional setbacks? Life is too short to procrastinate; get to work and make things happen. Start off small and build your way up. The first step is often the most intimidating. Get past step one, and the world is yours!

3. Eating junk food

Problem: Our body needs food to nourish our cells and get the energy we need. When we think about how food helps compose our muscles and bones over time, the adage, “you are what you eat” doesn’t fall far from the truth. Junk food is convenient, but it’s ultimately junk. The only thing junk food gives us are problems down the road.

Solution: Do yourself a favor and eat healthy food to get the energy and vitamins you need. There are thousands of recipes online, so find recipes with healthy food you enjoy and start cooking. Start off with one healthy meal per day and go from there.

4. Thinking negative thoughts

Problem: Food fuels our body and thoughts fuel our mind. The mind is our control center for life. If we feed ourselves negative thoughts, we’ll create negative beliefs as a result.

Solution: To be successful, we must believe in ourselves. We need to change the way we think. If you wouldn’t mistreat a friend, why would you mistreat treat yourself that way? We are not our thoughts or our past. The future is a blank slate. Fill your mind with positive moments in the present moment to give yourself the best chance to lead a bright future.

5. Staying In our comfort zone

Problem: As infants, we always try new things and explore the world around us. Once we get older, our willingness to try new things and take new adventures begins to shrink. The fear of failure looms like a dark cloud, and we retreat to our comfort zones. Our comfort zone is safe, familiar, and where we feel best.

Solution: To become our best, we must be willing to grow and try new things. We may embrace failure, but no one is born as an expert at anything. Even the best had to start off from scratch, just like you.

Over time, things that were once outside our comfort zone will become comfortable. This is a sign we are expanding our comfort zone, but we must do this repeatedly to grow.

We don’t have to do anything extreme to step outside our comfort zone. We hear stories about people making radical changes, like quitting their job or moving overseas. We can still step outside of our comfort zone by taking small steps forward. Talk to someone new. Take a new route to the store. Try new food. See how this feels and imagine what other possibilities are out there.

Advice on your habit journey

As Elon Musk once said, “Constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.” When we apply this idea to every area of our lives, the possibilities are endless. These habits are a great way to reduce the chaos and self-sabotage in life, but it is by no means an exhaustive list.

We always need to determine what works, what doesn’t, and toss out the rest. Everyone is going to be different, so don’t be afraid to try different things and see what works best for you. Habits are powerful, use them wisely.

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Written by Andrew Rocha