HappyLifestyleJournal
They say you make your habits. Then your habits make you.
People dream of success in different ways. For some, it comes in the form of a wonderful beachfront property and a Ferrari. Others may equate it to being promoted to the top of the company hierarchy. Still, to others it may mean being able to finish school or simply finding a job.
However you view success, it comes with a certain amount of effort and productivity. It entails hard work and improving day after day. And that means developing good habits and getting rid of the bad ones.
You may think you’re already doing your best. But to be truly productive and therefore, successful you need to identify which of your habits are actually sabotaging your chances of success.
Here are 5 habits that definitely won’t be helping you get ahead, and how you can remove them.
1. Oversleeping
People are always complaining about lack of sleep. These same people, ironically enough, eventually develop a habit of oversleeping. That is equally damaging as not getting enough sleep.
When you oversleep, you have less time to be productive. And to add more damage, studies show that oversleeping is linked to higher risks of getting diabetes and heart disease.
So don’t limit your chances of being successful. Just get enough rest, not too much. If you find yourself getting more and more slumber than is usual, fix it immediately. Set your alarm to signal it’s time to wake up. Make it the same time every day so your body can adjust and start to recognize the hours when it should be awake. That’s like reconditioning your body clock. If you feel too sleepy still, get moving. Squeeze in a half an hour or so of exercise. Or if you’re really too lazy for that, get your smartphone out and start texting a loved one or friend. That should wake you up.
Remember the saying, “If you want your dreams to come true, wake up.”
2. Not Exercising
Here’s a fact: more than 65% of Americans are overweight. Here’s another fact: only 14% of the population belongs to a gym.
Notice your gut? When was the last time you took the stairs and didn’t end up huffing and puffing and sweating up a storm? Getting sick more often lately? These may be signs that you’re letting your body go and you need to start shaping up.
Daily exercise doesn’t only benefit you physically. It’s also known to boost creativity and sharpen memory. Needless to say, that can really help further your plans of becoming a success.
So enroll in a gym if you have time to spare. If you’re not a gym person, then just try to set aside half an hour daily and just jog or run around the neighborhood. If you’re really pressed for time, you can also find many exercises that you can do while sitting at your office desk.
3. Having a Bad Diet
What did you eat today? Was it healthy? Did you manage to drink any water at all or did you fill your body with juice, soda and caffeine?
Many people are in a constant state of dehydration and malnutrition and they don’t even realize it. But here’s the thing. Not eating right and not consuming enough water will reduce your mental performance. So make sure that you eat right to keep your mental faculties sharp.
4. Trying to Doing Too Much
How many items are on your to-do list today? Lists are important, they help you itemize and prioritize tasks. Except sometimes, you have too many tasks on the list to the point of paralysis.
How many classes, trainings, and upskilling sessions do you have scheduled? Continued learning is good for your career, that’s also true. But with all those scheduled, when do you actually have time to be productive?
Trying to do too much will not help you and will just be a factor in derailing your success. Instead, learn to prioritize and delegate the rest.
5. Getting Caught Up in Drama
Sometimes, there are so many things going on in your personal life that everything else takes the back seat. For some people, it’s not even about their own life. They can also get caught up in other people’s issues.
All the negativity, unfortunately, will impact how you do your job. If you want success, you have to find a way to separate yourself from issues not concerning you.
If you have identified any of these as something you do, then you know you have potentially success-killing habits. Don’t stress too much though, habits can be changed. Work on one habit at a time, step by step, day by day. If you’re committed to changing from bad to good, there’s really no reason why you can’t do it.
