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Daily, people make decisions regarding their lives, and this translates into habits. While everyone is constantly pursuing happiness by reaching a state of well-being, some decisions invoke seemingly innocent habits. These choices end up wreaking havoc on your life, causing despair and lack of contentment. Here are some of the daily habits that are seemingly innocent but can ruin your life.
Constant comparison
It’s almost impossible to avoid comparing yourself to others, especially with the new age of social media. When you swipe through your phone and see how other people are leaving their life, it’s easy to feel inadequate and dissatisfied with your life. You may look at someone else and assume they have the best career, relationship, appear more attractive and living their best life. However, you never see what goes on beyond social media. Instead of comparing yourself, work on your goals and remember that no one is perfect.
Disobeying traffic rules
When you’ve been driving for many years, it’s easy to think that you’re a pro and can navigate the road without observing all traffic rules. However, traffic rules protect every road user, including other drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. Despite being in a hurry to reach your workplace, drop your child off at school, or catch a plane to your travel destination, it’s vital to obey traffic rules to keep everyone around you safe. The majority of the life-threatening road accidents occur due to reckless driving, DUI, overspeeding, ignoring traffic signs, and distracted driving.
Procrastinating
For some people, the phrase “someday” is common. It’s always about doing what they could do today at a later date. Procrastination may provide some form of comfort, but it can rob you of a good life. It is a bad habit that is seemingly innocent but probably the biggest source of self-sabotage. If you keep waiting for that day when you stop smoking, start your business, begin exercising, or be happy, you’ll keep waiting for a day that might never come. The time is now; if you find yourself thinking, “someday I’ll…” stop and take action.
Living in fear and spite
The brain is conditioned to keep you safe by warning you whenever there’s danger, but fear can cause paralysis. Fear also acts as a barrier to achieving your dreams. It influences the decisions you make in life, and most times, fear makes you settle for less than you deserve. The same goes for the spider; it takes away your ability to focus on the things that matter. When you live basing your actions on challenging and painful experiences, you can’t achieve the best of what life has to offer. Let go of fear and spite through practices like journaling, meditation, and therapy to live your best life.
Living a sedentary lifestyle
Being stuck at home, especially during a period like the COVID-19 pandemic, shouldn’t be an excuse to live a sedentary lifestyle. After a whole day of sitting at your desk, in the evening, you go home by vehicle, sit and watch TV, chat with people online, then sleep. By staying inactive, the level of endorphins that are responsible for happiness reduce.
Living a sedentary life is one of the causes of stress, anxiety, and depression. It also leads to obesity and exposes you to diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Daily, take about 30 minutes to exercise, run or walk to keep you moving.
Over-spending
Money management is a problem many people find problematic. With the digital marketing that exposes individuals to many products, it’s easy to experience the urge to consume things from ads mindlessly. Impulse buying at the mall may seem innocent, but it is an addictive habit that adversely affects your bank account and credit score. Having an income streaming monthly shouldn’t be a cue to overspend on things you don’t need. Remember, money comes and goes; learn to save and invest and grow your finances. Even with kids, be firm when saying NO to unnecessary spending to enhance financial security.
Self-medicating
Prescribing medicine for oneself is a common occurrence that has been normalized. While it may work most times, it’s a habit that can have severe consequences on your health. Sometimes, the symptoms you experience may indicate a disease that needs attention. Failure to seek professional help, and instead, self-medicating with over-the-counter drugs can worsen the problem. It may also create another problem or trigger a disease you didn’t have. Another problem with self-medicating is possible resistance to drugs or addiction.
Getting fewer hours of sleep
Sleep is an essential part of your daily routine; it allows the body and mind to rest. Skimping on sleep affects your immune system and your mood. With a low immune system, your body’s ability to fight pathogens and germs reduces, ultimately exposing you to diseases, allergies, and infections. Lack of enough sleep also leads to an increase in the release of cortisol hormone that causes stress, triggering stress eating, and consequently weight gain. If you’re struggling with this habit, work towards breaking it by getting at least seven to eight hours of sleep and practice good sleep hygiene.
Spending too much time on the internet
Although the internet is an ideal source of information, it can cause you to lose touch with reality. With the numerous technological advancements and internet connectivity, more people have access to the web. With access to gadgets such as phones and tablets, many people spend a lot of time on the internet, especially social media.
If you spend too much time scrolling through your phone on social sites and watching news feeds, you might miss many things happening around you. It takes away time you could have spent doing something constructive, increases stress levels, and affects your sleep.
Almost everything you do in life is controlled by the decisions you make and the habits you form. However, you can only live life to its fullest if you learn to control and eliminate habits that derail you. Stop procrastinating, overspending, living in fear, and comparing yourself to others. Avoid habits that make stress worse, such as living a sedentary life, skimping on sleep, and spending too much time on the screen.
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