5 Bad Habits to Cut Out of Your Life

A bad habit is considered a pattern of behavior that is negative. Everyone has bad habits, some are more common than others. Here’s a list of five bad habits and how to combat them.

Excessive Negative Self Talk

We’ve all been there, having those hurtful thoughts that enter our minds only to lead us to feeling insecure or inadequate. This bad habit can create added stress into our daily lives and lead to feelings of depression. I’m not saying all negative self talk is bad. It’s when it’s in excess or extremely self critical that can be harmful.

Exercise for More Positive Self Talk

Interestingly there has been data showing how negative self talk can keep an individual on task towards completing a goal. So it’s okay if your inner critic is only occasionally popping up to keep you on the right track. If this is a bad habit you possess try positive affirmations in the mirror. Everyday look at yourself and tell yourself three things you like about yourself. Practice mindfulness. Acknowledge the negative thoughts, question if they are beneficial and then let them go. Remind yourself that you are worthy.

Phone Attachment

The world we live in makes it really easy to become overly attached to your phone. We need it for work, for staying in touch, to answer a question, give us a quick laugh, entertainment, emergencies and the list goes on. What do you do if you forget your phone at home and you’re already in your car? Is your initial reaction panic, does it make you anxious to be without your device? Do you carry your phone from room to room with you? Do you reach for your phone when you have a quiet moment or feel boredom creeping in? These can be signs of an attachment to your phone.

Limiting a Phone Attachment Bad Habit

Dopamine is the reason for a phone attachment. It’s a chemical reaction in our brains that activates happiness. It can occur when you receive a text message or when someone likes your post on social media. If you feel like you have a phone attachment or that you’d just like to limit your usage of it try a phone detox. A phone detox would consist of only using your phone for pure business, communications, and to keep your household running.

Check out my other post Screen Detox to find out more.

Sugar

I’m guilty of this one, I love sugar. It’s hard to imagine a person who doesn’t love its sweet goodness. After aging into my thirties and wanting to live a longer life I’ve started doing more research about health. I already knew that sugar leads to cavities and weight gain resulting in health problems, but did you know that sugar is also linked to mood disorders?

Kicking the Sugar Bad Habit

So how do we kick this bad habit? We need self control. How do you develop self control when sugar can literally be addicting? Try limiting your sugary sweets to maybe one special day of the week or month. There are also various diets that can help kick a sugar habit so do your research and talk to your doctor about what might be right for you.  For me I’ve tried the Ketogenic diet. It’s not for everyone so like I said do your own research but in my experience it has helped me gain the control I’ve needed.

Drinking too Much Caffeine

Hello. Here I am again, another caffeine lover. It’s the thing I look forward to in the morning, but my love of caffeine has led me down a path of panic attacks, feeling anxious and just plain sick. If you weren’t already aware too much caffeine causes… you guessed it, panic attacks, anxiety, shakiness, headaches, fast heart rate and more.

How to Lower Your Bad Habit of too Much Caffeine

Surprisingly according to the mayoclinic.org website, for the majority of healthy adults about 400 mg of caffeine per day seems to be safe. For me I like to air on the side of caution anymore when dealing with caffeine. Just by knowing the facts and listening to my body I know that I should stop at one cup of coffee per day. If you’re like me and want to lower your caffeine habit try replacing your second cup with flavored water.

Dwelling on the Past

What is dwelling? Dwelling occurs when you obsessively think about something. When you dwell on the past it can lead to worry. Dwelling on the past inhibits your ability to live in the present. This habit creates unhappiness, unnecessary worry, chronic stress, and mood disorders such as anxiety or depression. It can also lead to sleep disorders like insomnia.

Combating the Bad Habit of Dwelling on the Past

If you find yourself dwelling try to bring yourself back to the present. This takes practicing mindfulness and being aware of your thoughts. Why do you think you dwell on this particular thing? Here is an exercise that I love that helps bring me to the present, it doesn’t have to just be used when you are dwelling. It also helps if you are feeling anxious. This is what you are going to do. Name three things you can see, three things you can hear and three things you can smell. It’s a great way to calm anxiety and bring you into the now.

What do you think about this list of five bad habits to cut out of your life? Could you relate? Are there any other bad habits you’d like to eliminate from your life? Feel free to share anything you’ve practiced to help cut out your bad habits.