While there are a lot of habits that will help to bring happiness into your life, there are also plenty of practices that will chase happiness away.
Goodness knows I can get caught up in them! Knowing what habits are working for you and which are working against you can help you get to your happy place much faster.
Here are 6 of the top habits that can rob you of happiness. You’re probably doing at least a couple of these things and never realized the negative impact they could be having on your life.
1. Unnecessary spending. One of the most significant stressors in life is financial issues. Happiness is harder to find when you’re in debt. Spending can give you an immediate boost to your happiness though often it’s short-lived. General financial pressure is shown to be one of the biggest causes of unhappiness and divorce.
Clutter is another barrier to happiness. When you spend too much, you have too much stuff. It’s always in the way and serves as a constant reminder that you spent more than you wanted to.
Think about the reward you gain by spending and find a more helpful way to accomplish the same thing.
2. Postponing your life. We’re always waiting for something to happen before taking action. We don’t have to try hard to find an excuse to wait. For example, waiting for the first of the month to start a diet, or waiting for the kids to leave home before starting an online business, we always have an excuse to wait.
There will never be a perfect time to take that big step. Manage your circumstances as well as possible and get started today. Time is the one thing none of us can ever get back.
3. Blaming others for your challenges. When you blame others, you lose control. It’s not easy to accept responsibility for all of the unpleasant things in your life, yet we can choose how we react to them.
Even if someone has treated you poorly, you have the choice to see what you can do with the situation. Feeling defeated will do just that, defeat you. Choose to accept the challenge and move forward.
Remembering that you have control over how you respond to situations can be a powerful confidence builder!
4. Not staying grounded in the present. Most people have a bad habit of dwelling on past mistakes and tragedies and worrying about the future. It’s good to look back and see what you can learn from something, just try not to dwell on it. Good choices today eliminate most future challenges. Focus on making the most of today, and the future will take care of itself.
Pay attention to your thoughts for an entire day. Notice how much time you spend thinking about the past or the future. Think about how that impacts your effectiveness and your happiness.
Know that you will make the best decision you can at that moment. You got this!
5. Holding a grudge. If someone has wronged you, you might be making a good decision by not trusting that person again. However, holding on to the hatred is pointless. You just make yourself unhappy and less effective. Once it’s over, learn what you can from it and forge ahead.
6. Focusing on challenges instead of solutions. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you focus on the unpleasant things in your life. Rather than do that, spend your time, energy, and focus on finding a way to make things better. You’ll feel better and be much more successful.
It’s easier to be happy if you stop doing the things that prevent happiness. We all pick up some bad habits along the way. The important thing is to recognize them and eliminate them.
Allow yourself to be happy by letting go of your anti-happiness habits. You’ll find that happiness isn’t as challenging to achieve as you may have thought!
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