Bad habits keep you miserable, restrict you from moving forward, and force you to do things you would rather not do. Begin eradicating them from your life starting today, right this very second. If you do this, you’ll make room in your life for brand-new, more beneficial behaviors to take their place.
Nobody enjoys being in the company of miserable individuals. Unhappiness causes people to withdraw, which is something that no one desires. Our routines frequently contribute to our miserable way of living.
We all have a lot of poor behaviors, such as giving in to late-night desires for pizza and cupcakes, sleeping for fewer than six hours per day, not exercising, and so on.
These behaviors may not only hurt your health in the near term but also your health in the long run if you continue to engage in them. Here are eight behaviors that contribute to sadness in one’s life.
1. Looking Back On Things With Regret
“Looking back, I have this to regret, that too often when I loved, I did not say so.” ~ Ray Stannard Baker
Even though we are all aware that life is short, many among us continue to squander it by dwelling on the mistakes of the past.
The most pointless thing a person can do is dwell on their past regrets. Blaming yourself for mistakes you’ve done in the past, whether they were decisions or choices, can lead to terrible outcomes.
Put less emphasis on the failures and more on the learnings.
When it comes to achieving happiness, many people in the world make a lot of assurances to others.
They guarantee that not only will they make us happy, but they will also explain to us what true happiness is.
However, only we know what it is like to experience genuine happiness, and only we have the power to bring it about for ourselves.
The first step in this process is to acknowledge the behaviors that are limiting us and remove the obstacles that we have placed in our way. After that comes taking purposeful action while keeping in mind that we have earned the right to flourish.
2. Attempting To Exert Dominion Over Everything
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The perception of control is an illusion. You are setting yourself up for a lot of frustration and anger if you attempt to manage everything.
Instead, keep in mind that the only thing you reliably have control over is how you respond to the things that are occurring both outside of you and within you.
It is much more likely to result in happiness if you are in command of yourself than making an effort to control everything else in your environment.
Are you engaged in a never-ending struggle to maintain control over the environment around you? Do you make minute plans and invest a lot of time and effort into going the extra mile to ensure that everything is “just right”? The nature of life is to be disorderly and utterly unpredictable.
Your reaction to it is the only aspect of it that you have any say in controlling. You can reclaim your power by deciding not to waste it on a pointless power struggle for control.
Both good and evil can be found in life. We have to be able to adapt to whatever comes our way and occasionally take a break for ourselves.
3. Striving For Absolute Excellence
“The pursuit of excellence with unrestrained passion can lead to the accomplishment of wonders with unsurpassed joy.” ― LittleSira
What kind of expectations do you have or requirements do you place on yourself? Do you set ambitious goals for yourself and work hard to become a more developed version of the person you want to be? Or do you allow yourself to become disheartened, lowering both your head and your expectations? If we want to be happy, we have to demand more from ourselves and live up to higher standards.
We have to have the same level of expectations for ourselves that we have for any other leader or loved one. If you train yourself to have high aspirations, you will train yourself to construct a larger vision of happiness.
People who want things to be so flawless frequently establish highly erroneous expectations for them, which ultimately leads to misery for them later on.
People who strive for perfection often have the mistaken belief that they can exert control over every aspect of their lives, even if this is not the case. There is no way to know what will happen in life.
In life, certain things are just beyond your control. Your imagination is the only place where perfection may be found. Therefore, the pursuit of progress rather than perfection should be the goal.
4. Excessive Ruminating And Unending Comparisons
“One of the most difficult things to remember is to remember to remember. We forget that we live in a body with senses and feelings and thoughts and emotions and ideas. We get caught up in rumination and fantasy, isolating us from the world of colors, shapes, sounds, smells, tastes, and sensations constantly bombarding our input sensors. To stop and pay attention to the moment is one way of snapping out of these mindscapes, and is a definition of meditation. This awareness is a process of deepening self-acceptance. Whatever it observes, it embraces. There is nothing unworthy of acceptance.”
~ Stephen Batchelor
One of the most typical behaviors associated with unhappiness is this one. When they see someone with a nice physique, an expensive automobile, a huge house, or whatever else that they don’t have, they begin to compare themselves and their lives to the lives of others.
This can be detrimental to their mental health. Miserable people tend to fixate primarily on the things they lack, which is detrimental to their sense of self-worth.
Never stop appreciating the things you have to be thankful for, and never fall into this unhealthy routine.
You can determine how much you’ve improved by comparing yourself to earlier versions of yourself.
Do you find yourself comparing yourself to others all the time? How about the place you are in your life right now? Your profession? Your interpersonal connections? When it comes to being truly content with life, this is one of the worst behaviors that you can get into as a habit.
When you allow yourself to become mired in the cycle of comparison, you give in to the delusion that you will never be good enough and that you will never have enough.
There is nothing about your life that can be compared to another person’s life. If you feel like you have no other choice, look to them for advice, but keep in mind that everyone’s path is different.
5. Putting Off Achieving Your Goals
“You should set goals beyond your reach so you always have something to live for.” ~ Ted Turner.
It is more likely that your procrastination will prevent you from achieving your objectives than any other external barrier. Begin working toward a target by making a modest step forward today.
Repeat what you did the previous day. Do something every day, even if it’s nothing major or time-consuming. The trick is to exert consistent effort.
Many people shuffle around unhappy with their lives because they can’t seem to find the things that bring them joy. However, if you ask them what would make them happiest in life, they will tell you.
They rarely provide anything more specific than a hazy response. The reason for this is that the majority of us simply wait around for happy things to occur without ever giving any thought to what the concept of happiness means to us.
To realize your goals, you must have a clear understanding of (exactly) what it is that brings you joy. To accomplish this, you must have a crystal clear idea of what it is that you want.
What do you hope to accomplish with your life? What must you accomplish before you can say that you can look back on your life and say that it was worthwhile? Do you wish to be in a committed relationship? A multi-million dollar career? There are no good or bad things to want for oneself since there are no absolutes.
Until you get a handle on those things, however, you won’t be able to find your bearings.
Always try to be truthful with yourself and about yourself.
Don’t get your hopes up about things that you have little chance of accomplishing. Do not plunge headfirst into a challenging situation without first having a crystal clear idea of the path that needs to be taken.
You are not required to pursue goals that other people have already pursued. You don’t have to live up to their expectations or conform to their conceptions of life and love to experience the feeling of having “made it.” Spend some time thinking about what happiness truly means to you, and be as honest as possible with yourself during this process.
6. Associating Oneself With Unsuitable Individuals
“Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company” ~ Avaara
The more pessimistic you are as a person, the more pessimistic you draw to yourself. Negative people indeed attract other negative people, and this makes those negative people even more miserable.
Being in the company of negative people might make you feel like you have no value. They are the ones who drain your energy. They sap your energy and instill a negative outlook on life in you.
Consequently, you should surround yourself with optimistic people who will admire you.
If you consume uplifting media like movies and television shows, as well as read books on personal development, you will undoubtedly experience a surge of positive energy in your life.
7. Constant Complaining
“What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.” ~ Maya Angelou
Did you wake up in a bed? Do you have a place to sleep and food to eat? It is important to not take the basics of life for granted.
Be thankful for the many gifts that life has bestowed upon you, including your health, your relationships, your mind, and your heart.
If you find yourself whining, stop for a second to acknowledge everything you have to be thankful for and look around you.
Find the activities that will make you happier and healthier in mind, body, and heart, and then give up the routines that do not serve you and that do not bring you joy.
At the end of the day, this is what matters.
Although life is not easy, it is also not particularly difficult.
Negative people make their problems ten times more complicated by overthinking them and moaning about them. While everyone has problems in their lives, some people make these problems 10 times more complicated.
They haven’t yet realized that griping about something and dwelling on it too much won’t help them solve their issue.
Perpetually negative people never take responsibility for their actions and instead always point the finger at others.
Stay away from these two practices, as they both contribute to an unhappier life for the individual who engages in them.
A positive existence can be created via the cultivation of positive behaviors and positive attitudes.
Therefore, work on increasing your emotional quotient and make it a priority to break free of these undesirable patterns in your daily life.
You should also talk about this post with the people you care about, and provide your thoughts about happiness in the space for reader comments.
When our thoughts, words, and actions are all in sync with one another, we might call it happiness. — Mahatma Gandhi
8. Putting Your Own Needs And Wants Last
Where do you fall on the Tower of Power when it comes to your relationship or the structure of your family?
Do your requirements receive the same level of priority as those of your partner or your children?
Do you constantly check to see that you have a full charge before extending a helping hand to others?
This is a prevalent factor that can lead to utter sorrow (as well as a loss of one’s sense of self) in one’s life.
However, this can be readily remedied by taking charge of attending to your requirements and making a commitment to maintaining personal space.
“You always have to remember to take care of yourself first and foremost, because when you stop taking care of yourself, you get out of balance and you really forget how to take care of others.” ~ Jada Pinkett