3 Habits We Should All Leave In 2020

We often set a list of goals and projects we would like to work on, but how often do we focus on working on ourselves? The way we think and view life affects the results we get in the long run. Throughout our lives, we develop a set of habits that sometimes we are not even aware of, but that can really take a toll on our perspective of life in general. It is important to become aware of these habits so we can stop doing them and allow ourselves to change the way we think and view ourselves, and develop our full potential as a result.

Here’s a list of 3 habits I believe we should all leave in 2020 and make it a goal to stop doing this year:

1. Trying to be perfect. This is one I take very personally. I, myself, am a perfectionist, but my perfectionism, far from making me excellent, has made me a procrastinator in the past. Now hear me out. It is amazing to have the desire to do things perfectly, have things work out the way we want them to and to have everything under control. However, this is far from realistic. Perfection does not exist, and as perfectionists, we find it hard to wrap this idea around our heads. The issue with this is, when we realize what we’re working on will never be perfect, this can stop us from even attempting to get things done. When we think of the mere possibility that the idea we have in our heads won’t translate as perfect as we wish it would on paper, we find ourselves discouraged and it stops us from developing our full potential. Now let’s be honest here, our real fear is to look foolish if things don’t go the way we want them to. That is why it’s important to understand that nobody is expecting us to be perfect, but ourselves. The sooner we understand we live in a real world, that is far from perfect, we will lose the fear of looking foolish, as we are the only ones that expect ourselves to be perfect. This is a perfect segway into the next habit.
2. Comparing our lives to other people’s. It is no secret that every single one of us spend more than we would like to admit scrolling through the different social media platforms that exist today. The real question is how long do we spend comparing our lives to other people’s lives? Let’s not forget that social media is a highlight reel of people’s lives, it only really shows what people want to show, which is usually the good. Very few people post the bad, hard and ugly times on social media. The problem is we seem to forget that and think there are people out there living a picture perfect life and compare our real life to theirs. Life is not a few seconds of an instagram story or a picture in our feed. Real life has the good and the bad, the imperfect, the laughter and the tears. I have yet to meet one person whose life is perfect, because perfect does not exist. Comparison is the death of confidence and living in a society that is almost entirely dependent on social media, it is truly easy to fall into the bad habit of comparing our lives to other people’s highlight reels. Stop comparing your real life to someone else’s life, because you truly don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes of theirs.
3. Talking ourselves down. This is a habit that sometimes we are not even aware of. We often believe that we are not good enough, we have nothing to offer and we do not deserve anything, even if we worked hard for it. Talking ourselves down might be a shot-term coping mechanism when we are feeling insecure or anxious, however, it’s not a good habit to get used to. The problem is, the more you tell yourself you’re not enough, the more you will believe it and it will stop you from truly developing your full potential. Not only will it take a toll on your confidence, but it will cause you to miss out on great opportunities that might be presented to you. The worst part is, in the future, you’ll be more likely to regret all of the opportunities you said “no” to because you felt like you didn’t deserve them. The sooner you stop believing you’re not worthy, the better. Go on that date, accept that raise, get involved in that activity you’ve always wanted to be involved in, realize you’re worthy and perfectly capable.

These are just a few habits I’ve found that stop people from reaching their goals in life. It’s not lack of talent or resources, it’s mostly a matter of habits that stop us from developing our potential and believing we are capable of doing anything we set our minds to.

If you’ve reached this point into the article, you’ve already taken a first step: Becoming aware of bad habits that are stopping you from living your best life. Once we are aware of what’s affecting us, we can make decisions and start a real change in perspective.

What are other bad habits that have been stopping you from developing your full potential?