Do you know anyone that’s perfect? Everyone has toxic habits to give up in their lives; some of us, more than others.
What toxic behaviors or poor lifestyle choices do you need to get rid of?
It’s important to reflect on areas of your life in need of improvement. Your personality traits, attitude, and poverty mindset may need to change.
Yes, some things are beyond our control, but we pick up bad habits from the environments we grow up in and the people we’re in proximity to.
Poor habits, such as overeating, smoking, drinking, and promiscuity, are learned from their environment.
When we don’t address toxic behaviors early on, they continue to grow and become harder to get rid of.
Effective strategies such as reciting personal affirmations, goal setting, productive routines and having self-discipline.
How to get rid of toxic habits?
Many people develop toxic habits without realizing it until it’s too late. Too much caffeine, over sharing, lateness, and procrastinating are toxic habits..
Wouldn’t you prefer for someone close to you to address your toxic traits? At the very least, it shows that they care about your well-being.
However, in order to rid your character of toxic traits, you have to be open and willing to identify what’s holding you back.
Check out five actionable steps you can take to get rid of your toxic habits today:
- Identify toxic habits you’d like to give up
- List actions and activities you can practice replacing the bad habits instead
- Write ten good habits you’d like to develop over the next 90-days
- Choose an accountability partner to keep you on track
- Imagine your life without the bad habits holding you back
What is your most unhealthy habit?
Unhealthy habits can be detrimental to a person’s physical, emotional, and mental health.
However, unhealthy habits may vary for everyone.
Some of the most unhealthy habits include poor diets; addiction to drugs, sex, and alcohol; selfishness; self-deprecation; and causing harm to yourself and/or others.
One of the most significant unhealthy habits is a lack of confidence. Without confidence, you’re unable to progress in life. The worst thing you can do is hold yourself back from your goals and dreams.
If you don’t believe in yourself, who else will?
You are the master of your own destiny. A lack of self-confidence will keep you in the shadows and tethered to your past.
You need confidence in yourself to move on from mistakes. Self-confidence reminds you that you’re worthy and deserve the best out of life. Confidence is a great marker of emotional health.
Better Health states that a lack of self-confidence results in consistent feelings of anger, sadness, anxiety, shame, guilt, or depression.
Believing that you’re unworthy of love, respect, and success can create a domino effect. Poor habits don’t develop overnight.
You should recite daily affirmations and engage in activities that will build your self-esteem.
Surround yourself with positive people and avoid those who encourage negative behaviors.
Stop complaining.
Stop comparing yourself to others.
And don’t be so critical of your appearance or abilities. Set some goals and take a few classes instead.
There are plenty of bad habits to break; some we may not consciously be aware of.
This ultimate list of toxic habits to give up makes it easy to identify areas that will improve in your daily life.
Toxic habits to give up in daily routines
- Overbooking appointments, events, and taking on too many responsibilities
- People pleasing and not setting boundaries around your schedule
- Omitting time management in your daily routine
- Chronic procrastination; delaying the completion of projects or tasks
- Allowing distractions to zap up your time and energy (talking on the phone, internet browsing, streaming for hours, playing video games, etc.)
- Not setting monthly goals
- Not delegating chores to other members of your household
- Refusing to set boundaries between your work and home schedule
- Not prioritizing your wants and needs; skipping self-care, putting in extra time at work with no reward
- Lack of rest – getting in bed late, not enough hours of sleep, not scheduling self-care breaks or midday naps, skipping lunch
Toxic habits to give up in public
- Speaking too loudly
- Inciting confrontations with others
- Disobeying set rules of institutions, retail establishments, laws, etc.
- Being rude and discourteous to strangers
- Not giving to the needy
- Loitering on sidewalks, roads, etc.
- Not respecting the personal space of others
- Exhibiting poor manners – not saying ‘thank you’, walking too slow, chewing with your mouth open, talking on speaker phone
- Refusing to share
- Vocalizing biases, unsolicited opinions, and exhibiting stubbornness in your point of view
Toxic habits to give up in social settings
- Interrupting and talking over others
- Holding onto grudges
- Engaging in disorderly behavior
- Jeopardizing your safety and the safety of others
- Drinking irresponsibly
- Bullying
- Trying to please others
- Inability to remain present in the moment – scrolling on social media, texting on the phone, preoccupied with other things
- The need to be the center of attention or “main character” among friends and family
- Lack of support for friends and family
- Not listening and poor communication skills
Toxic habits to give up in lifestyle choices
- Smoking and excessive drinking
- Promiscuity
- Engaging in illegal activities
- Bad eating habits – eating too much, not cooking healthy meals, and choosing processed and sugary foods over fruits and veggies
- Removing exercise from your daily routine
- Possessing a negative attitude – approaching life with a glass ‘half-full’ mentality
- No moral compass – a lack of values and belief system, neglecting your spirituality
- Lack of intentional goals – dropping out of school, and not being disciplined at work
- Manipulating others to use their resources – money, housing, transportation, etc.
- Inability to grow personally and professionally
- Comfortable with complacency and averse to change
Toxic habits to give up in relationships
- A lack of emotional maturity
- Unable to solve issues without arguing, breaking things, hurting someone mentally, emotionally, or physically.
- Having a spiteful attitude
- Unfaithfulness and engaging in inappropriate behavior outside of the relationship
- Unwillingness to compromise
- Refusal to reciprocate support, motivation to achieve goals, or random acts of kindness
- Not open to trying new things
- Narrow-mindedness and the inability to view issues from a different perspective
- Not sharing an equal load of responsibilities
- Lying
- Lack of reliability and accountability
Toxic habits to give up that impact your productivity
- Avoiding hard work and responsibility
- A lack of persistence and consistency
- Not resilient to adversity
- A pessimistic attitude
- Failure to focus on priorities
- Unwilling to develop and follow a daily or weekly plan
- Competing with others
- Dwelling on the past
- No accountability
- Making the same mistakes repeatedly
- Too easily distracted
- Not blocking out your schedule
Toxic habits to give up that affect your mindset
- Overly fearful of the unknown; not taking risks
- Internalizing disparaging beliefs about money, relationships, education, etc.
- Paying attention to what other people think about you
- Using social media as a measurement tool for success
- Reacting to “triggers” instead of managing your emotions
- Living in clutter and hoarding meaningless items
- Worrying too much
- Attempting to control the behavior of those around you
- Not “unplugging” – tune out the outside world and senseless chatter; limit the use of technology and opt for more mind stimulating activities
- Refusing to address issues in the moment and letting them bottle up later
- Reluctance to talk about your personal problems with family, friends, or a therapist
- Not journaling to reflect on your actions and decisions
Toxic habits to give up that affect your health
- Skipping out on regular visits to the doctor and dentist
- Neglecting your personal hygiene
- Consuming a poor diet
- Ignoring doctor recommendations
- No physical movement or daily exercise
- A lack of boundaries with sexual partners
- Using drugs
- Refusing medication or natural remedies for treatment
- Diagnosing yourself
- Over indulging in recreational drinking
- Stressing over work and problems beyond your control
Toxic habits to give up when setting goals
- No vision or record of milestones
- Not creating a thorough plan of action
- Breaking down goals into 30 to 90 day increments
- Sharing your goals with people who aren’t trustworthy
- Not defining a deadline
- Not assessing areas of your life that need improvement
- Not setting SMART goals
- Not reaching out for help or advice from a mentor
- A lack of resourcefulness
- Not surrounding yourself with highly successful people
Want to know how to get rid of toxic habits? The best way to avoid bad habits is to never develop them in the first place. Some of the hardest habits to break are the ones we blatantly ignore. Bad habits stem from the poor decisions we make. All you need to do is wake up and make better choices. Yes, it’s as simple as that.
For a softer, simpler life try the ‘simple living’ challenge for the next 31 days. Download your free copy here. Start transforming your lifestyle by developing healthier habits today!
I teach entrepreneurs how to simplify their life and business with less + own their time and maximize productivity towards their personal and monetary goals.
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