How to Break Habits Limiting Your Success

As humans, we live in a constant state of routine. Though other days may look different, or things do not always go as planned, there is always a routine we create for our lives. For example, getting up, making the bed, grabbing a cup of coffee, and heading to work. Sometimes living in a monotonous routine can seem tiresome…

But what happens when it wears you out so much, you want more to life?

Identifying Bad Habits

The first step to getting back the energy and knowing what is fueling your fire of life or not is identifying. Identify what habits are limiting you from getting you to your best potential. Are you spending too much time on social media? Are you eating foods that drain your energy, and do not give you energy? Is your job leaving you so drained you do not spend self-care time on you?

If you are waking up, and going to bed scrolling endlessly on your phone? Most Americans spend more than 8 hours on their phone daily scrolling, and mindlessly watching videos. They consume themselves in so many other peoples’ lives that they take the focus off their own. It is easy to get caught up with keeping up with the Jones. Instead of putting the focus on areas and aspects of your own life, you are watching someone else’s life wanting what you don’t have.

Making sure that you fuel your body will help create balance. The saying ‘You are what you eat’ is such an accurate phrase. Life can get so busy you run from fast food to fast food fueling your body with poor nutrition that you feel sluggish and tired instead of energized. Starting the morning without breakfast, and just drinking coffee thinking you will get the energy you need, doesn’t help either.

Going to a job that requires so much of your energy that you are constantly working, barely taking breaks, and pouring so much of your energy into a job you have nothing left for yourself. Corporate America spends so many resources on underpaying their employees and overworking them to get their corporate ahead they just look at their employees as numbers. So, by the time you leave your job, you are so spent, enjoying things you like is impossible.

Taking Small Actions

Changing your routine all at once can feel more overwhelming, and uncomfortable. People do not like to feel uncomfortable, especially when the change can feel too much too fast. Taking small, aligned actions to make you feel better throughout your day is what can create consistent momentum in getting to the life you want. Also, do not do it too fast, take one area and change it wait a few weeks until it becomes a habit, then take another small area and change that.

If you find yourself spending too much time on your phone, take action to decrease the number of average hours a week you spend on it. If your weekly report states you spent 8 or more hours on your phone, make a goal for the next week to decrease it by an hour. Maybe, it means setting a time on how long you scroll. Or maybe instead of waking up in the morning and scrolling first thing, spend time writing down all the things you are grateful for. Slowly you will replace scrolling on your phone with activities that will fill your life with joy, and less of what others are doing.

Fueling your body with the right nutrition. I discuss with my clients on a monthly basis small changes to make, in order to slowly replace bad habits with better options. Small actions to make you feel more energized are starting your morning with a glass of water instead of coffee. Eating within one hour of waking up, instead of waiting for midday when you crash. Limiting caffeine to 300mg a day and making sure to cut it off before 12-1 pm a day. Slowly backing off how often you go through a drive-thru and making more meals at home. Hiring someone to help you identify the key nutrients you need to feel better is another huge step to getting your energy back. Hiring someone also helps you stay accountable, so when you have a moment of weakness or fall off the train an expert can provide resources to regain your momentum back.

Having a job that drains your energy and needing it to live your life can be hard to balance when you need a break, or when to create boundaries that protect yourself without getting fired. Small steps to help you be able to focus on what is important can be taken. Reminding yourself a 5–10-minute break will not hurt your success in your work. Taking lunch and disconnecting from all aspects of work. Whether you take 30-60 minutes to eat, read your favorite book, or just chat with a co-worker about non-related work situations. Allowing your mind to step away from what you are working on will allow you to go back into the environment stronger than when you took the break. If your superior wants, you to stay late or take work home with you. Creating boundaries of your worth are small steps you can create to make sure you are not draining yourself from what you need to feel good.

Bettering Yourself Continually

The above paragraphs are just small steps in areas to better your life. The big part of creating the life you want is making sure you keep taking the steps to better your life. Replacing your bad habits with better ones is a great start. Then take more aligned actions to get the life you dream of is setting yourself up for being that person you are watching on social media that has everything. The only person that can create a dream is yourself. Breaking the monotonous routine of what is no longer bringing you the success and happiness you want is a huge step forward toward the life you imagine.