A change in bad habits leads to a change in life. – Unknown

What is it that we normally do during the day that steals our valuable time, vital energy and peace? What is it that we do automatically without giving it a second thought? What is it that drags us down holding us from growing to our full potential?

There are things we do that turn into habits eventually. We do hem every day 24/7. Some of those patterns have been around us for years, some of them we borrowed recently.

What are the toxic habits that poison our daily life and how to diffuse them?

The only proper way to eliminate bad habits is to replace them with good ones. – Jerome Hines 

How to Overcome 5 Toxic Habits So They Don’t Poison Your Life

1. Saying YES When You Feel Like Saying NO

I know It must be difficult to say NO to your colleague, friend or any other person who asked you to do something. And you don’t feel like doing it for whatever reason you have. It’s understandable. Especially when you are not used to saying NO you might feel terribly guilty and as if you let someone down.

The truth is – you feel the discomfort of saying NO to something for a short while. It’s better to say NO and feel pain for a short while than to say YES and to get you into a bigger resistance situation while doing the thing you didn’t feel like doing in the first place.

Learn to say NO without feeling guilty.

When you say ‘Yes’ to others, make sure you are not saying ‘No’ to yourself. – Paulo Coelho

2. Gossips and Negative Self-Talk

There is another draining experience: when we gossip about something or are busy engaging with a never ending negative self-talk.

One friend reminded me recently about one peculiar thing. She said:  Now imagine all of those horrible things you told yourself over the years. And then she added: Would you still be friends with a person like that? With a person who would say even half of those things, you tell yourself every day?! I doubt it.

Being self-critical is good; being self-hating is destructive. There’s a very fine line there somewhere, and I walk it carefully. – Daniel Radcliffe

Whenever you catch your mind going into the negative self-talk routine out of mere boredom, change the pattern. Think of something you did great today and what it taught you. And remember self-criticism DOESN’T WORK.

3. Waiting for the Blue Moon to Rising Over Your Confidence to Do Something

There will never be a PERFECT moment to jump on the train of opportunity. I disagree with the notion to sit patiently and gaze into the ocean waiting for your ship of success to sail to you while you are busy taking NO ACTION whatsoever. There is a fine line between patience and procrastination and only successful people know the difference between these two.

Start small today. Think of the plan and something you can do today to inch you closer to the place you see yourself and want to be in. Improve your life one step at a time.

There is no progress in stillness. Take action. – Lesya Li

4. Seeking Future in The Past

There is no future in the past. We cannot change it; we need to accept it. Learn its lesson and move on with a lighter heart.

I know some things happened in the past that we wish to go back and change… but the more we spend our time thinking what went wrong and how we would have turned things around – the more vital energy we burn taking ourselves further from the moment of NOW to the Neverland.

We need to stay present. We need to let go of that wish for the things to be better in the past and ignite our life with a focus… focusing on the present.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present. – Bil Keane

5. Thinking About People Who Have Nothing to Do With Your Life

I catch myself once in a while thinking about some people who are long gone from my life or those who had nothing to do with it ever. I think about people from my past and wonder how they are, what they do and if they are ok. I used to spend a considerable amount of time on this pointless exercise. On some level, it was my way of escaping from the reality I wasn’t able to face… or change.

I was ignorant about many things… and I still am. But when I realized one day how many hours I’ve spent thinking and wondering about people who have nothing to do with my life I was astonished.

Don’t let people live rent-free in your mind shifting your attention from your life. 

And then I decided to do a major mind cleaning like when you rid your house of clutter. Whenever a person from my past comes up in my soul, I thank that person for the valuable lesson I’ve learned in this life, and then I let this person go. If someone pops up in my mind more often, then I ask myself what my subconscious is trying to say or remind me about. And then I shift my focus there, not the person itself. Nothing is what it seems, and our thoughts have different disguises to draw our attention.

Focus on your life and the ways you wish to improve it.