5 Toxic Habits That Rob Us Of Happiness

The habits we have define us, whether in a good or bad way, as they can not only exert strategies to help us overcome obstacles, but they can also be like a poisoned apple, which despite looking wonderful, holds a trap in your insides.

Therefore,  although many of our habits allow us to optimize our efforts and be considered healthy, there are others that end up being toxic  to our health and our lives, preventing us from being happy.

It may even be that some habits that you considered relatively “good” aren’t all that good, or that you aren’t even aware of the consequences your habits have on your life. Here today we present 5 toxic habits that could be undermining your happiness. Let’s think about it.

think negatively

Unfortunately, we are in the habit of thinking negatively.  We are experts in what we don’t want, don’t have, don’t deserve or aren’t capable of, focusing all our attention on it. Cultivating negative thinking can be a bad habit that can end up limiting us, both socially and individually. Because if you think you can’t… will you really try?

Negative thinking can establish itself as a great enemy that traps us, little by little, in its spider’s web, turning everything around us into a gray fog. In the most extreme cases, such a way of thinking can lead to depression, along with other variables.

The difficulty is in the habit, because we get used to living with it and unlearning a habit is not that simple. For this, it  is necessary to start paying attention to our way of thinking, which is inevitably linked to the way we speak and judge things. In addition, directing your attention to the people you love can also be a tool to help you see light where everything was gray before.

blame others for everything

Blaming people for what happened to you is evading responsibility  for your own actions and even your own feelings. In this way, you will be demonstrating that you are not the owner of your own life, but that others and circumstances are.

You have to remember that  you have control over yourself and only you have the answers to what happens to you.  Renowned air forces pilot and religious leader Dieter Uchtdorf once said:  “The more we grow, the more we look back and realize that external circumstances don’t matter, because they don’t determine our happiness. We determine our happiness ourselves”.

Trying to be someone you’re not

You can live trying to be yourself, or otherwise trying to be the person others want you to be. It’s up to you, but evidently  transforming yourself into the character others want will be a betrayal of your way of being.  Think… how can you be happy if you’re not yourself?

Putting on a  mask  is a double-edged sword, a trap that stretches through time and will take you away from yourself and who you believe you are. So discover yourself, learn to accept yourself, to love yourself, and show yourself exactly as you are: only then will the relationship with yourself and with others be authentic.

compare yourself with others

Comparing with others will not help at all, as each one of us is unique and unrepeatable, in addition to having already lived different experiences. Your story and mine have nothing to do with it. Why compare us? To console ourselves or feel superior? What is the purpose we pursue?

My happiness can be very different from my friend’s, so will doing what he does make me happy? Ask yourself: What is happiness for you? And then you will know how to act. Gratitude is the antidote to comparison  and is also the best method for finding happiness. Write down daily the things that make your life wonderful, however small they may be… it will make you happy!

not learn from mistakes

Mistakes can be our best teachers if we learn from them.  If we make a mistake, but let it go by without pausing to reflect on what happened and what lesson we can take from it, something similar will likely happen again.

To understand this kind of thinking, you just have to follow the words that Thomas Edison told a reporter one day when she asked him about the invention of the light bulb:  “There failed not once, just found out ten other ways that do not work “ . So you can see that,  with persistence and goodwill, error and failure are only part of the path to success.

Thinking negatively, blaming others, wearing a mask, making comparisons or not learning from our mistakes are just 5 of the habits that may be manifesting in you without your being aware of them in your emotional state. These habits may be keeping you from being happy.

Happiness is within us and we are the ones who can create it and contribute to its development, don’t forget that. Pay attention to your habits and change them if necessary.