3 Draining Habits That Prevent You From Being Happy
Toxic habits to avoid at all costs

W e all have habits that are good for us and bad for us. But, it’s important to know which ones are worth keeping and which ones should be cut out of your life as soon as possible! In this blog post, we will talk about four draining habits you should start getting rid of today.
Most people know that they should be cutting out bad habits from their life. But what are the bad habits? There are many, but here are three of the worst:
“The best cure for one’s bad tendencies is to see them in action in another person.” - Alain de Botton
1) Harmful Consumption Intake
Harmful consumption intake could be consuming anything that isn’t beneficial, both mentally and physically. The most common ones physically are:
- Alcohol
- Drugs
- Tobacco
- Cigarettes
- Junk Food
These things are obviously harmful to the body and mind. They can cause serious health problems, both short-term and long-term.
But what about other types of consumption? How about watching too much television or spending excessive amounts of time on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter? Watching TV is very damaging psychologically in multiple ways: it makes people lazy, unmotivated, less intelligent (in most cases), more likely to gain weight due to lack of activity while they watch their favorite shows, etc.
Social media has many benefits but also many downfalls when used excessively — one major downfall being that users tend to compare themselves with others’ lives online which creates feelings of depression sadness because everyone else always seems to have a more exciting, interesting life than the viewer.
It can affect not only you but your family as well
Harmful consumption intake is also harmful to others — for example, if one has an addiction to drugs or alcohol they are less likely to be able to hold down their job and will most likely lose it which can cause them financial problems as well as strain on relationships with friends/family who help financially support them while unemployed.
This makes their habit even harder to kick because now there’s another reason why they should continue doing what they are addicted to money!
Another way this bad habit takes over your life is that being constantly intoxicated means you’re not really present in everyday events, conversations, etc. Being intoxicated all of the time leads people astray from how things actually happen vs how they “happened” in their minds because the alcohol distorted how they remember it.
By cutting these habits out of your life is admitting that they aren’t beneficial and do damage not only yourself but also other people, especially if there are addictions involved — some drugs and cigarettes cause cancer which spreads like wildfire once contracted by one person. It’s important to cut them all out ASAP!
What are the alternatives?
A dopamine detox can help curb cravings by removing things from your diet that cause a release of dopamine. For example, sugar and caffeine both spike adrenaline levels which make you feel good — but too much is not healthy for the body!
Exercising regularly is also a great way to stop yourself from being lazy and unmotivated. This is a great alternative to watching TV or spending excessive amounts of time on social media because it gets the body going, makes you more active/energetic which means less lethargy throughout the day vs when people don’t exercise at all!
We know it’s hard at first but soon enough your body will start feeling the benefits and any bad effects these habits have had on your health will go away. Soon enough, you’ll find yourself in a happier place without having to use something dangerous to get there.
It’s important to note that cutting this bad habit out doesn’t have to take too long — a few weeks or even months for some depending on how intense your addiction is. It can be difficult but remember why you’re doing it: harm not only yourself with these habits but also others as well (family). If you have a dependency on drugs or alcohol, seek help immediately before it gets worse and more difficult to cut back/stop completely.
“You are what you consume. Not just physically, but mentally too” — Beenish Najam
2) Procrastination
Procrastination is the act of putting things off that really need to be done now. Almost everyone procrastinates at some point in their lives, but it’s important not to do so all the time because then you are no longer living up to your full potential and life becomes more stressful than necessary.
A few characteristics of a procrastinator include:
- Procrastinators put things off that they should be doing right away because it’s going to take a lot of hard work or responsibility.
- The typical “I’ll do it tomorrow” excuse.
- Procrastinators are also more likely than non-procrastinators to engage in maladaptive coping strategies such as drug/alcohol abuse, self-harm, etc.
Procrastination isn’t always bad when used sparingly — sometimes distractions are nice and can actually lead you into working harder than ever before. However, too much distraction leads towards laziness which ultimately hurts your performance at whatever activity you’re putting off completing! This habit will drain both energy and time since we all know-how
The best solution personally to combat procrastination
The easiest way to beat this habit is by developing a schedule for yourself with everything planned out — work projects, social events, personal errands/chores, etc.
Then once you have written down everything you want or must accomplish during an average day (not including sleep!) place them into appropriate time slots throughout your day like using Microsoft Outlook calendar which has different colors representing each activity according to its importance:
- green = very important
- yellow = important
- red = not very important
A colorblind person can also use different symbols for this same purpose.
Once completed, you can see what each task will look like and how much time is needed for it. This way you know if something else needs to be rescheduled or moved around to make room for other tasks that are more important, but were unexpectedly added during the day (like a phone call from your boss). It also helps organize your daily activities which could lead to improved concentration as well as an ability to accomplish many things at once!
If people would stop putting things off and start working now instead of later, they would find themselves in a much better position than if they had started today. Procrastinating is second nature to some people but it doesn’t have to be that way for everyone — take control!
“Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well.”
- Mark Twain
3) Negative Self-Talk
Negative self-talk is when you constantly put yourself down and bring yourself down with negative thoughts. Everyone does this to a certain extent but it’s important not really since
A few examples are:
- Picking apart your appearance every time you walk past a mirror
- Criticizing everything from nose size/shape to thighs/hips could lead to an eating disorder such as bulimia nervosa.
- Constantly telling yourself how stupid something was after doing it, preventing any learning experience from taking place.
These forms of thinking make people feel bad about who they are and lead to depression. To avoid falling into this trap, it’s important to start taking away the power of these thoughts by understanding that you are more than what you tell yourself on a daily basis.
It’s ok, nobody in this world is perfect
Everyone makes mistakes and everyone does something stupid at least once in their lives — now is your chance to change all that! Make sure not to let negative self-talk take over or else it will become impossible to accomplish anything because no one wants constant negativity floating around them like an aura; especially if they’re trying hard every day just be happy with themselves for who they are as people. It has been said before but bears repeating: “the worst days of our lives can turn out to be the best days when we look back upon them”.
Once you are able to stop negative self-talk, it will give way for more positive thinking. This is because the mind does not know the difference between what’s real or imagined — if you think something about yourself negatively enough times, your brain begins to believe that it must be true since it’s being presented with evidence over and over again! So instead of living in a world where everything wrong with us is exposed by our inner thoughts every day, we can finally live free from this mental prison.
“Turn down the volume of your negative inner voice and create a nurturing inner voice to take its place. When you make a mistake, forgive yourself, learn from it, and move on instead of obsessing about it. Equally important, don’t allow anyone else to dwell on your mistakes or shortcomings or to expect perfection from you.” - Beverly Engel
Final Thoughts
All these habits lead towards negativity which affects both physical health as well as emotional/mental wellbeing so try stopping them today before they become too hard to deal with tomorrow! Just imagine how much happier life would be without all this baggage weighing down on you all the time.
We should not put off things for tomorrow because today could be our last day alive and we would have wasted it on something trivial instead of seizing every opportunity that comes along which might not come again. Don’t let negative thinking take over; there’s enough negativity in this world already, don’t contribute to it by being your own worst enemy!
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