Choosing Positivity: Improve Your Personal Life By Avoiding These Bad Habits
Growing up, it’s common to accumulate poor habits that inhibit our ability to form healthy, lasting relationships. Often, it’s in our interests (and those around us) to identify and address these. In this article, we’ll look at cluttering, comparing, career, and more, as we work to be more well-rounded, healthy, and happy people.
Comparing
It’s common within our community to compare ourselves to others, sometimes to an unhealthy degree. If you find that constant comparison is affecting your mental health, it’s time to take a break from self-critique and move towards self-compassion. To help with this, try taking a break from social media and spending more time with people who you feel you can be at ease with.
Seeking Validation
When we find ourselves in a place of low self-esteem, we might need (or regularly seek) validation from others. This can make us intense and sometimes irritating to be around! A good way to escape this pitfall is to treat the symptoms - this means trying not to show off as much, posting online less frequently, and giving ourselves time alone so that we’re not as reliant on the words and intimacy of our friends/partners.
Hoarding
Space in the home is space in the mind. If you’re guilty of leaving too much mess out or hoarding possessions, consider taking some time over the weekend to clean, organize and declutter, leaving your living space immaculate. This can do wonders for your mental health and give you room to double down on mental wellness with activities such as yoga, meditation, or pilates.
Working Dead-End Jobs
Whilst you can’t prevent yourself from getting overly stressed out at work, you can take steps to change the nature of your employment. Our professional lives are often integral to who we are and how we behave - finding work that fulfills you is a key step towards attaining confidence and a sense of purpose.
If you’re ready to find a more rewarding job, take the time to put together a resume that will impress hiring managers. You can create a professional resume with an online resume builder. Choose from a variety of templates and then edit to include your latest skills, experience, and accomplishments.
Alternatively, if you feel confident in your expertise, you could look into forming a business of your own. Given the availability of free, online work tools, it’s easier and cheaper than ever to build a brand from scratch and operate this from the digital space.
Catering
Selflessness is a positive character trait but, in the wrong company, we can sometimes find ourselves over-catering for others. If we want happy, equal relationships, it’s sometimes necessary to draw a few hard limits and exercise healthy selfishness. To help with this, think consciously about the people in your life, whether their involvement is romantic or platonic, and decide whether you need to ask for more or distance yourself entirely.
Catastrophizing
Given the chaos of our current news feeds, it’s no wonder that so many of us are struggling with anxiety or nervousness. The truth is, however, that (usually) our lives and the people in them are not in immediate danger, and catastrophizing creates unnecessary stress. To help deal with this, it can be worth trying meditation or even seeking professional help - many of these issues are more deep-seated than we realize.
As we grow older, we often have a choice whether to take on more baggage or shrug off that which is already on our shoulders. Take the time to think about how you’d like to think and feel and remove anything that will prevent you from doing so. Make healthier choices, prioritize your well-being, and find a new job that gives you a sense of purpose.
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