HOW TO PREVENT DOING MORE HARM THAN GOOD TO YOUR PSYCHE

8 Mental and Emotional Habits to Stop Doing NOW!!!

Being passionate about supporting others on their mental and emotional healing journey, I believe that there are times when we could use a ‘tough-love’ reminder about some of the pitfalls we can get ourselves in.

The aim is not only to survive but also to grow and thrive in this complex world. Habit-breaking is difficult at the best of times. There are many tips and tricks you hear time and time again on the topic. Yet, too many of us are still struggling to understand and integrate those strategies fully. Myself included!

Below is a list I’ve put together for what I believe are 8 of the most important habits we need to stop doing now to prevent further damage to your mental and emotional wellbeing. They’re outdated, meaningless to your existence, and keep you in a destructive feedback loop, all of which are detrimental to your healing and recovery efforts.

This advice is straight-forward, no-nonsense, in your face value, so buckle-up your seatbelts because we’re going for a ride!

HABIT #1 Stop Surrounding Yourself with People Who Don’t Appreciate You • Surround yourself with those who are encouraging, full of energy, uplifting, and flat out love you for being YOU! • Not the opposite. Those who are uncomfortable with who you are will have a lot to say about who you should be, and it’s hardly ever positively influenced. • Also, it’s highly beneficial for you to get to know the difference between being appreciated vs. being tolerated. The latter is devaluing your worth as a human being and is toxic to your mental and emotional wellbeing.

HABIT #2 Stop Consuming Too Much Media or Negative Media • Media may be something you feel you can’t get away from, however, you do have the ability to control what and how it appears in your life. Just because it’s everywhere doesn’t mean you have to take it all in. • Be very mindful and bring conscious awareness to what and how much you absorb through your social media channels and TV. The endless streams of information do impact how you act and react to situations and how you respond to your life as a whole. • So, make sure to consume healthy, motiving, inspiring, empowering, forward-looking content.

HABIT #3 Stop Focusing Your Time, Energy, and Everything in Between on Negative Things and Negative People • Negative thinking = Negative consumption = Negative energy flow (what you give off). • Being in this space will change the way you see yourself, others, and your environment. • Naysayers, haters, etc. can not only interrupt your flow but also will have you seeing and feeling more negative vibes around you. • As they say, like attracts like! Stay away from the defeatists. Speak positivity out into the universe and stay on top of things that make you happy to ensure that your surrounding yourself with as much optimism as possible!

HABIT #4 Stop Comparing Yourself to Others Whether or Not They Exist • Constantly comparing yourself to everything you look at, surround yourself with, and everyone you see in life only serves to make you feel less than or inferior. • Be aware that what they have, what they project, or what you think they have, you don’t have a clue whether or not it’s real. Or even if it’s something you want. • Engaging in this habit means setting yourself up for failure and confusion. It will interrupt knowing who you are and figuring out what you value and what makes you happy. • Readjust your mindset to focus on YOU, and the rest will fall into place naturally.

HABIT #5 Stop Putting Off What You Can Do Today (Procrastination) • Do you ever wonder what if there were no tomorrow? This thought, in and of itself, can propel you to take on those tasks that wait for you to arrive. • You need to figure out what’s causing the delay vs. applying band-aid solutions to your problem. Mental and emotional stress may be a factor in not wanting to get things done. • Also, remembering your WHY is helpful towards doing what needs removal from your to-do list. The original reason for why you began healing and recovery journey is not to avoid those intolerable feelings of frustration, boredom, and annoyance but to lessen their occurrence or reoccurrence.

HABIT #6 Stop Beating Yourself Up When You Make Mistakes • Last I checked, we were not infallible human beings. Failures are successes if you learn the lesson necessary from that experience. • We all take part in this habit at some point, but the trick is to learn from it and not hold onto the mistakes. Ruminating and replaying the scenario over and over again will not change the outcome. • It will push you back even further than where you were at that moment vs. facing it and applying what’s learned. The only thing left to do is to take the next step towards acceptance and move on. • Corrections are always needed for you to improve and grow for the next time. It allows you to be discerning because, for the most part, there will be a next time.

HABIT #7 Stop Quitting When the Going Gets Rough • There is nothing wrong with wanting to achieve difficult goals but you must be ready, willing, and able to put forth the effort to obtain them. • The difference between ‘giving up’ and ‘quitting’ is giving up happens after you’ve tried all you can to make it happen. Quitting, on the other hand, is letting it go with little to no effort executed. It usually takes place in your mind first before any physical manifestations take place. • Figure out why it’s tough and focus on solutions to those hurdles and how to overcome them. • Obstacles may be related to past life trauma, not letting go of hurts (holding grudges), and clouded judgments (believing your truth is the only truth).

HABIT #8 Stop Seeking, Waiting or Wanting Approval • If you need the ok or thumbs up from someone to do what you want to do, what you know or feel is right for you, or to go after a goal or dream, here’s a newsflash: You’ll be waiting for quite some time. • As the old saying goes, ‘misery loves company.’ • You don’t need others’ approval to be you, to stay true to you, and it’s definitely not a requirement to be happy or do what makes you happy. • Instead, start taking action and make sure you’re doing what makes YOU joyful, peaceful, and content in your life.

There you have it! 8 of the most important habits we need to stop doing now for the sake of mental and emotional healing and recovery. At first glance, your thought might be ‘easier said than done.’ I definitely won’t dispute that revelation, but if it were easy, then wouldn’t everyone be able to do it?