Learn to Let Go of 13 Unhealthy Habits That Steal Your Joy

What unhealthy habits do you allow to steal your joy? What thoughts or actions do you do everyday that keep you from creating a positive flow in your life? It is important to look inside and understand when you feel the shift. Only when you acknowledge the change, then you can make a conscious decision to move forward. Learn to let go!

1. Comparing yourself to others.

Comparison or envy of others leaves you consistently unhappy and unsatisfied. You are always trying to keep up with where others are traveling, buying, along with the magnificent social media highlight reel others show to the world. Adding a gratitude journal to my daily practices has helped me overcome the act of comparison. You must be grateful and faithful in the small things. Then, God knows He can trust you to be faithful with the big blessings in life as well.

2. Negative thinking.

It is hard to live a positive life with a mind that is filled with negative thoughts. Personally, I notice a positive difference in my emotional state at work if I listen to Joel Osteen or Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday. However, talking about work politics or other life troubles claim my spirit. All other issues that arise at work seem significantly more daunting because your spirit is lacking positivity and joy. It is so easy to let work steal your joy if you allow it to.

3. Gossiping about others.

Your focus is best placed on yourself! How you can become better and thrive on a daily basis. Speaking negative words about others only spreads that infection. Gossiping eats at everything it touches. In the health world, my thoughts go straight to necrotizing fasciitis! The people you gossip with are sadly gossiping about you when you are out of sight. Be careful who you surround yourself with. Maya Angelou said “if someone shows you who they are, believe them.”

4. Holding a grudge.

The anger and bitterness you hold on to keeps you from thriving in your life. What’s funny is that my dad always says, you’re thinking about how they did you wrong. The other person isn’t taking a minute of their time to think about you.” They have let it go and have moved on with their life.

5. Making up negative situations or responses in your head that may never happen in real life.

You need to let go of the what ifs and the maybes. After the conversation or situation ends, keep yourself from rehearsing how it should have gone in your head. I do this all the time and I hold on to the debilitating emotion the circumstance carries. You feel frozen in time and more than likely the situation will never happen in real life. Let it all go!

6. Never asking for help or delegating tasks when needed.

Many of us believe the job will get done if we just do it ourselves. We never ask for help or berate others when the job is not completed to our satisfaction. This action leaves us exhausted because we do everything. You have not because you ask not. You need to ask for help before you get to the point of being overwhelmed. You cannot let the thoughts of being superwoman, in my case, steal your joy. Learn to let go a little, so you can have a bit more peace.

7. Perfectionism.

You are not perfect and no human person is. If you spend a lifetime trying to be perfect, it is accepting a lifetime of disappointment. In your mind you are never satisfied or good enough. You can strive to learn from your mistakes and others’ mistakes. Otherwise, how do you grow and continue to learn if you are perfect?

8. People pleasing your way through life.

No is a complete sentence. I ask myself all the time, “why are you saying yes?” Is it because you want them to like you or because you actually benefit in some way from their request? Will you regret saying yes later and be resentful because of it?

For me, people pleasing because I want to be liked has been one of the big whoppers with cheese that steal your joy. I have experienced how people pleasing steals your joy. Immediately after saying yes to someone’s request when I really mean no, I am easily irritated and passive aggressive. I usually beat myself up over why I did not think about my answer overnight. Also, how well their request actually fits in my schedule.

9. Regret.

We could spend a lifetime thinking about the things we wish we did. Regret is a powerful emotion. I read articles all the time about the regrets of people on their death bed. Create experiences, take some risks, and create a life worth living. Create a life filled with love and family and friends because those are what matter.

10. Not taking the time to fill your cup.

You cannot give what you do not have. If your cup is empty, you cannot share.

Methods to fill your cup

A. Enjoying a bubble bath

B. Sitting quietly with a cup of tea

C. Reading a book in the park

D. Getting pampered at the spa

E. Taking a nap in the middle of the day

11. Blaming others.

Are you quick to blame others to take the heat off of you? It is important to take responsibility for your actions and your life. It takes self-reflection and introspective thinking to understand why you blame others. Why are you not holding yourself accountable?

12. Acting and responding before you think.

Sometimes we act and respond before taking a deep breath to think about how to appropriately respond. You have to think about how you want what you say or do to be perceived by the other person. When you act and respond quickly with no thought, it could come across rash or rude. The negative connotation could be far from how you wanted to be perceived.

13. Overthinking instead of acting.

Many of us, including myself are very calculated. We spend years and years thinking and planning to make a change or trying something new like this blog for instance, instead of just doing it. A blog allows people to see me when I usually quietly fly under the radar. It is a blessing to have a plan of course, a guide down the path, but you must act on that plan as well. Nothing changes until you do. At some point, you put down the computer and stop researching and start doing. If you are interested in starting a blog and tired of overthinking it, just start! Check out Siteground for your domain hosting. Their 24/7 customer service is unmatched.

Realize what steals your joy, what changes your mood, what creates a negative shift in who you are. Learn to let go of what no longer serves you. Learn to walk away and to walk in your truth.

What unhealthy habits did you allow to steal your joy? How did you learn to walk away?

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