11 Toxic Habits You Need To Discard Right Now

Ready to finally put your toxic habits to rest?

You might want to start by taking a close look at your routine, and then uprooting everything that’s messing with your life.

Here is a list of seemingly normal, but harmful habits that you need to quit for a healthy lifestyle. 

Toxic habits can be stubborn and hard to detect, but getting rid of them is an absolute necessity. 

You could be indulging in a number of harmful daily activities, not even realizing that you’re being robbed of contentment.

Toxic habits drain your energy, leaving zero space or time to focus on the bigger picture in life.

Moreover, they make you forget that life is all about seeking joy from little things, which leads to dissatisfaction.

These habits are detrimental to your mental health and seriously obstructive to your self-growth tendencies.

Nothing in life is stronger than your quest for wellness. You don’t have to live with anything that’s sabotaging your happiness.

Now, listen, I am your well-wisher, and I know what it’s like to deal with toxicity that’s hard to even spot in the first place.

So, if you are ready to stomp all over your unhealthy habits, I would love to point you in the right direction (based on my past experience with the same issues.)

Before moving on, you might want to pin this post for safekeeping.

This post is all about toxic habits that drain your energy, with some super-effective strategies to help you get rid of them.

Let’s dive in.

11 TOXIC HABITS THAT DRAIN YOUR ENERGY

1. Spending All Your Free Time On Social Media

There might be some perks to being on social media, like staying in touch with friends, getting your daily dose of entertainment, and having some good-natured fun.

But let’s face it – if given too much time and attention, all of this can have exhausting effects.

Has your love for social media grown to the point of obsession?

Or let me put that in simpler words – Are most of your hours consumed by scrolling through your Instagram feed?

If yes, then realize that it is one of the toxic habits you need to swipe left to right now.

These sites are handled by giant business tycoons who earn by keeping you hooked.

Even their pop-up notifications have been designed in a manner meant to entice the users.

And we’re not in this life to be a pawn in someone’s big games, are we?

So, put yourself out there on social media, but do so sparingly. Your time is precious, and so is your energy.

Develop other hobbies and be comfortable with lying in bed listening to music instead of subjecting your eyes to online glamour.

A Post I Highly Recommend: 10 Girl Boss Habits For A Classy And Successful Life

2. Overthinking

I was plagued by this one for a long time before putting my foot down, and I thank myself every day for it.

Overthinking has become such a routine part of people’s lives that they don’t even question its presence.

You might not even realize it, but you could be overthinking stuff right at this second.

A project’s deadline, analyzing an event that’s yet to happen, or something as simple as boarding a bus the next morning.

Housing these thoughts in your brain gives you nothing except distress and the unwelcome habit of living in your past and future.

Also, have you ever realized that overthinking is a seemingly harmless word we use for worrying?

Now I don’t know about you, but I am so not comfortable with worrying 24/7, and you don’t have to be either.

So the next time you get stuck overthinking, call yourself out on it to break the cycle and get rid of this toxic habit.

Related Post: 11 Amazing Habits Of People Who Never Get Stressed

3. Giving Up Before Getting Started

Don’t give up before you get started. It’s a senseless habit to encourage and it will harm you more than you can imagine.

In my understanding, it’s the fear of failure that causes people to indulge in this habit.

It’s normal to be scared of something you don’t fully understand yet, but every expert was once a novice.

You can’t get to the finish line without taking that first step.

Accept your chances of failing, be comfortable with it, then put it out of your head and take a leap of faith.

Always, always remember that you are stronger than you seem, and your problems are littler than they appear.

So, relax, and just get started. You’ve got this. 👍

Must Read: 10 Insanely Simple Daily Habits To Improve Your Life

4. Procrastinating

Procrastination is a pretty common phenomenon among humans, but if this has become a regular habit for you, know that you’re not alone.

There are many factors that make us put off our tasks, like fear of failing, not being fond of the activity, laziness, and work anxiety.

Your reasons for procrastination are not invalid, but they don’t have to rule your life.

Instead of beating yourself up over not getting things done, ask yourself what’s stopping you from getting to the end line.

DIssect your behavior and come up with personalized ideas to break your old patterns, because nobody knows you better than yourself.

Be kind to yourself throughout the process of breaking this toxic habit, because harshness will only fuel your procrastination, not help you overcome it.

Related Post: 5 Unproductive Habits That Are The Worst (And How To Ditch Them)

5. Comparing Yourself To Others

The world as we know it today is full of comparisons.

We grow up watching our elders compare their lives to others, sometimes to boost their own worth, other times to display a lack of satisfaction with their current situations.

Naturally, we end up falling into the same trap.

But as a grown-up looking to build a meaningful life, it’s your duty to step outside this circle of comparisons.

Don’t measure your worth through someone else’s life. It’s self-demeaning and disrespectful to your existence.

Stop longing for things you don’t even need, just because someone you know owns them.

Your body, wealth, and relationships belong to you and nobody else, and that’s a big enough reason to cherish them.

Highly recommended: 10 Self-Love Habits Every Woman Needs For A Strong Life

6. Mindless Eating

It’s true that food is an integral part of our lives.

We need it to stay alive and nourish our bodies. Your choice of food matters, just like your meal timings and the way you eat them.

One of the unhealthy eating habits you could be indulging in is mindless eating. It means to eat at any time without even being hungry.

Eating junk food often, constantly feeling the need to chew on something, and reaching for food out of boredom are some of the signs of mindless eating.

This could lead to weight gain, eating disorders, gut issues, emotional eating, and food dependence for comfort.

It’s also a super toxic habit that takes away the importance to rely on self-care and hobbies to deal with your emotions and to kill boredom.

I have done this in the past, so I know how bad it can be for your lifestyle.

Check out the 13 strategies I used to master mindful eating. They are easy to execute and will help you put a lid on this habit.

7. Sabotaging Your Own Progress

It’s funny how many ways we sabotage our own progress, without even being aware of housing these toxic behaviors.

The most common one is criticizing yourself every step of the way, a habit that leads to low confidence and bruised pride.

You might argue that you’re just being a self-critic to better yourself as a person.

But if it’s stopping you from moving forward in life, your mind is the one controlling you, not the other way around.

Negative self-talk will give you just what it’s meant to – negativity. It won’t add to your life and surely won’t make you richer.

So, please, recognize signs of self-sabotaging, and never ever encourage negative self-talk.

It won’t hurt your life, I can promise you that much.

You Might Like: 7 Smart Monday Habits To Start Your Week Right

8. The All-Or-Nothing Mindset

I know it’s appealing to run after perfection.

You know you can do the best, so that’s why you try to get everything done to the best of your abilities.

But all of this means nothing if you’re getting 0 work done.

Take me for an example. After I set up this blog, I put off writing my first article for a month and a half.

This was because I wanted to gather every bit of information I could before putting myself out there as a blogger.

It made sense back then, but now I see it was a flawed mindset.

No matter how much you hustle for perfection, there will always be something new to learn.

And precisely for this reason, running after perfection in the beginning stage would only lead to disappointment and self-doubts.

So aim for consistency, and let go of your all-or-nothing mindset.

You Might Like: 7 Morning Habits Of Successful People That Set Them Apart

9. Low Water Intake

Are you sure you drink enough water in a day? And no, I don’t mean just 4-5 glasses.

To keep your body and mind active, you should be aiming for at least 10 glasses of water a day.

Anything less than that is just not good enough.

Not drinking enough water causes dehydration, which might lead to health issues in the future.

You are also missing out on the positive vibes that only water can fill your body with.

Water is your one-stop solution to deal with anxious thoughts, stress, and overwhelming moments.

So, don’t wait to be thirsty before reaching for your water bottle. Take regular sips throughout the day, and use them to keep yourself calm.

10. Negative Body Image

I know you’ve probably been talked down to, made to feel like you don’t look a certain way or try hard enough to get to your ideal body stage.

But, no, no, no to all of that. This is such a toxic mindset to hold, and it weighs you down as nothing else does.

It gives you confidence issues, robs you of your self-esteem, and makes you question your worthiness of being loved.

You don’t have to attach your identity to your body.

But if you feel the need to do so, it doesn’t have to result in something negative.

You are one of a kind, full of potential waiting to be unlocked, and it will happen only through self-kindness.

So, make sure to give yourself plenty of that.

Bookmark for later: 101 Beautiful Affirmations For Self-Love And Healing

11. Waiting For Certain Moments To Make You Happy

See if you can relate to any of the following lines of thought:

• I will be happy when I achieve ____.
• I know I’ll be happy when I go to ____.
• I’ll do what makes me happy after I finish doing ___.

When you wait for certain moments to give you joy, you erase the possibility of being happy in the present moment.

I know the pursuit of happiness might seem like a profound and hard journey to take.

But the truth is you don’t need to wait for the future to make you happy.

You can unlock your access to joy right this second, by making the decision to live in the present.

I mean, why wait for tomorrow when we can be happy today? It’s a question worth pondering over.

Related Post: 21 Habits Of People Who Are Always Happy

Quit These Toxic Habits Today

Stop indulging in mindless scrolling through social media; it doesn’t add any value to your life.

Put your foot down with your habits of overthinking, quitting before getting started, and procrastinating on a daily basis.

Say no to comparing yourself with others, and don’t eat at random times.

Negative self-talk is a big no, and you might want to reconsider your dire need to be a perfectionist.

Step out of your comfort zone, don’t be negative about your body, and lastly, stop waiting for the future to make you happy.

Know that you are worthy of being loved, and you deserve to fill your life with pleasant habits. 🙂

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