20 Toxic Habits To Quit For A Happier Life
Do you want to live a happier life, reach your goals, and improve your lifestyle? Then, it’s time to get rid of toxic habits that may be preventing you from reaching your potential. Often times we hinder our success by holding on to habits that are harmful to our well-being! So, whether you’re guilty of practicing toxic habits or want to be aware of which habits to avoid, today I want to share 20 toxic habits to quit for a happier life.
📌 SAVE THESE 20 TOXIC HABITS TO QUIT FOR A HAPPIER LIFE FOR LATER!
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20 Self-Sabotaging Toxic Habits To Quit Now
1. SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME ON YOUR PHONE
What to do instead:
Replace your screen time with other activities.
Instead of scrolling on social media you can:
- pick up a book,
- open up a journal,
- write a blog post,
- go for a walk,
- workout, or
- listen to a podcast
2. HOLDING GRUDGES
What to do instead:
Choose your happiness over history.
The thing about grudges is that even if you’re right and have a good reason to hold a grudge, the only person you hurt by holding a grudge is yourself. So, don’t sabotage your own happiness by clinging on to grudges. The only thing better than being right is being happy!
3. FOCUSING ON THINGS YOU CAN’T CONTROL
What to do instead:
Focus on what you can control.
There is no point in spending energy and time on things that are out of your control. So, focus on things you can control.
Here are things you can control:
- Your habits
- The people you surround yourself with
- Your emotions
- Your thoughts
- What you do with your time
4. NOT HAVING A SOLID MORNING ROUTINE ESTABLISHED
What to do instead:
Create a morning routine suited for you
If you don’t know where to begin, click here to create an effective morning routine from scratch! Or if you need new morning habits to add to your routine, click here for 30 incredible morning rituals!
5. NEGLECTING YOUR MENTAL HEALTH
What to do instead:
Adapt habits that will help improve your mental health.
Don’t know what habits you should be practicing? Click here for 10 daily habits that helped me improve my mental health.
6. NOT TAKING CARE OF YOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH
What to do instead:
Invest in your health – health is wealth!
Some easy ways to improve your physical health:
- Exercise 3-5x a week
- Drink enough water
- Replace sweets with natural ingredients
- Add more fruits and greens to your diet
- Walk 20 minutes daily
- Sleep earlier
7. SKIPPING YOUR WORKOUTS
What to do instead:
Establish a sustainable workout routine.
Don’t know how to create a good workout plan? Click here to design an effective at-home workout plan.
Need motivation to workout? Click here for 20 motivational workout quotes that will get you to workout.
Don’t know how to keep up with your workout routine? Click here to get tips and inspiration from fitness influencers.
8. SKIPPING MEALS
What to do instead:
Include your breakfast, lunch, and dinner time in your schedule.
Since quarantine started, I have been consistently eating breakfast at 7:30am, lunch at 1:00pm, and dinner at 7:00pm! But if I wouldn’t include my meals in my schedule, I would probably skip them all! So, I definitely recommend blocking time for your meals daily and sticking to these times!
9. NOT DRINKING ENOUGH WATER
What to do instead:
Drink enough water daily.
I would recommend buying yourself a 2L water bottle so that you can hold yourself accountable and keep track of how much water you drink!
10. GOSSIPING
What to do instead:
Mind your own business and focus on YOURSELF.
I know that sounds harsh, but there’s no better way to put it. You see, the more you focus on others, the less time you have to improve yourself, grow, and live a happy life. So, make sure that when you’re investing time in someone else’s business it’s only to HELP them not to gossip.
11. DOUBTING YOURSELF
What do instead:
Believe in the person God created you to be.
Self-doubt is one of the most toxic habits to have. Not only does self-doubt harm your self-esteem, but it sabotages your opportunities, goals, and dreams. So, stop doubting yourself, and start believing that you’re capable of reaching your biggest goals.
12. LIVING IN THE PAST
What to do instead:
Live in the present.
The past should not have a place in your life in the present. There’s a reason the past is in the PAST! So, don’t let the pain of the past ruin the opportunities you have in the present.
13. COMPETING WITH OTHERS
What to do instead:
Compete with yourself.
Life is not a competition, it’s a gift. So, why spend it competing with everyone? However, if you feel like you most compete with someone, compete with the version of yourself you were yesterday, the day before that, etc! At the end of the day, you are your biggest competition.
14. NOT FORGIVING
What to do instead:
Forgive and forget.
Like I said earlier, even if you were wronged and have a solid reason to resent someone, don’t. You’ve probably heard this before but, not forgiving yourself is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. DON’T DO IT.
15. SETTLING FOR LESS
What to do instead:
Aspire for more
One of the worst things you can do is settle. Not just in relationships, but in general. If you’re feeling unhappy, unsatisfied, and unfulfilled, give yourself the opportunity to achieve more, accomplish more, and live more.
16. WASTING YOUR TIME
What to do instead:
Use your time wisely.
Wasting your time doing things like scrolling on social media, playing video games for hours, watching TV for countless hours, gossiping, or engaging in activities that have no reward is toxic and harmful. Why spend time that you’ll never get back (every minute that passes is a minute that you can’t get back) on things that have no reward or benefit in the long run?
Sure watching TV is fun, but will the TV shows you watch, produce any benefit in your life in 1,2, 5 or 10 years? It’s definitely okay to rest and take breaks. However, it’s not okay to let unproductive activities rob your time, purpose, and dreams. So, if you want to invest your time wisely, here are 50 simple ways to invest in yourself like a boss babe!
17. NOT BEING GRATEFUL
What to do instead:
Be grateful for everything you have.
Instead of focusing on what you don’t have and what you want, focus on what you have right now. Whether you have health, a job, family, love, a career, money, or a place to call your home, you have something to be grateful for. If you’re alive, you have something to be grateful for. So, start focusing on your blessings.
18. BEING INCREDIBLY UNORGANIZED
What to do instead:
Organize your life step by step.
It’s very difficult to be productive and lead a happy life when you’re very unorganized. I’m not talking about the occasional messy office or messy room. I’m talking about being unorganized in every aspect of your life. When you’re unorganized, you miss deadlines, work harder not smarter, and waste time (remember toxic habit #16?)
So, it’s important that you find a healthy balance and organize your life to live a more productive and intentional life. If you need a calendar or planning sheets to help you organize different areas in your life, check out the Magical Life Calendar here!
19. STAYING IN YOUR COMFORT ZONE
What to do instead:
Step out of your comfort zone.
I have struggled with this toxic habit myself for years and can confirm that it is TOXIC. Comfort limits you, blinds you, and keeps you the same. There is no growth in your comfort zone and that’s something I refuse to accept. I’ve come to the realization that in order to grow as an individual and business owner, you have to fearlessly step out of your comfort zone. So, here’s to conquering fears and living life fearlessly!
20. GIVING UP QUICKLY
What to do instead:
Be persistent.
It’s easy to give up when things don’t go as planned and results don’t come quickly. However, nothing worth having comes easy. So, keep going, keep working, and keep fighting for your dreams. Sooner or later, you will reap what you sow! (:
FINAL THOUGHTS
Although there are hundreds of toxic habits to quit, these 20 toxic habits are habits that I have either personally dealt with or have seen many others deal with quite too frequently. So, if you’re practicing any of these habits right now, I encourage you to get rid of them. You deserve to live your best life and you deserve to live a life free of toxic habits. Let me know in the comments below which toxic habits you can relate to the most!
Until next time,
Gabby Abigail
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Totally agree with you on the points in this blog post. Reducing screen time is really important, so is looking after your mental and physical health. Also, establishing a good morning routine is so important for success and motivation throughout the day. Love this post and all of the tips you’ve shared! x
Thank you so much for reading, Sarah! 🙂
I’m so guilty of being on my phone too much – working in marketing it is really difficult to avoid screen time because I can never commit to a total social media detox. However, I do think that if I worked on bettering my morning / afternoon routines, I’d feel much more full-filled and benefit from the structure. As always, really love how well-rounded this post is in terms of including both mindsets and actual habits.
Girl SAME here! It’s so hard to stay away from my phone when I need it for work. I find that spending a few hours away from your phone on the weekends helps. Thank you for reading! x