Get Rid Of Toxic A.F Habits

 Hi everyone!

Welcome to HAPPY DAYS Podcast!

I am Kelly Ward- Your host 

I hope everyone is having a beautiful week, I am super keen as always for this week's episode.

* Firstly if you are listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify *

So today's topic is all about how to get rid of toxic habits that are negative in your life and also hold you back.

For example when you tell yourself  'someday' I am going to start my own business, start exercising, stop smoking, begin that course or be happy.

I am pretty sure that sounds really familiar right? Well habits like these only hold you back from all of the amazing opportunities that life has to offer. 

How about when you doubt yourself and constantly make yourself feel not good enough, or worthy enough, not smart enough, not skilled enough or not mentally strong enough to achieve something. These are all bad habits that we need to become aware of, in order to actively change them in our lives. Self doubt tends to come from our own limiting beliefs that we have learned from our past experiences. Those negative though patterns that we have learned and are now conditioned in our minds tends to stay with us unless we actually make a conscious decision to change them. 

Another thing we do to self sabotage ourselves is when we stand in our way, sometimes we are the toxic people in our own lives because we hold ourselves back from achieving the life we want. For example if you want to lose weight for a very long time and you find yourself constantly making excuses or talking yourself out of making the change in your lifestyle- you need to get support and also stop holding yourself back because it seems hard. Nothing worth having every came easy. 

Good habits for success include:

- Create a schedule for yourself where you have structure and a routine.

- Ensure you are eating good, healthy food because your brain needs that to function and perform at it's best.

- Exercise

- Something I always advocate for is practicing gratitude in your life because there is so much to be grateful for. 

- Never give up when things get hard - keep going - if something is not working, try a different strategy. Don't give up on your goals and dreams. They give you life. 

- Practice self care because it really is the key to connecting with yourself on a deeper level. 

- Change your environment because sometimes we are in toxic environments and it is important to protect your mental health and inner peace and to be surrounded by positive things.

I want to speak about the factors that play a role in actually changing those negative habits in our lives. 

Stop wanting someone else's life because we are all guilty of comparison and let's be real, it can be very easy to compare our lives to someone else's 'perfect' life and emphasis on 'perfect' because no one has a perfect life, we all have challenges and struggles and we are on our own unique time line and journey so learn to value your journey more. Social media is a major component when it comes to comparison because we are constantly inviting that into our lives and it is important to remember that everything on social media is thought out, planned and scheduled, so it can be very hard to differentiate what is real and what isn't. So if social media is becoming a negative environment for you - become aware of that and rather remove it from your life. 

Procrastination is another really bad habit because when we should be completing our tasks that we set out to do - we become distracted and lazy and we end up not doing what we set out to do. We choose to rather make an excuse. This is something we are also all guilty of and it definitely holds us back. When you hold yourself accountable for what you want to achieve and you actually achieve it - you start to build self confidence because you now believe you can do it. 

Stop caring about what other people think. I am so happy that my dad taught me this because it is so important on your journey towards success. Sometimes we become consumed over what other people think of us and it is important to not live your life focusing on pleasing others or trying to impress others or what someone may think of you because it is not worth it. 

Why not DO instead of THINKING ABOUT IT? 

A question that we all should ask ourselves because sometimes we spend all of our time thinking of completing a task for example but never actually end up doing it. This is where we hold ourselves back again because we make up excuses on why we can't do something. In the end, let's face it, it won't get done if you never start.

Okay, so for a very long time, I was guilty of this - which is perfectionism and also pleasing others. Trying to be perfect and to please other people is a total waste of time and in my case, people tend to walk all over you - so l highly recommend that you stop obsessing over being perfect, liked and accepted by people who don't deserve your good energy, you could literally be the most 'perfect' person ever and someone would still point out what you may lack. So instead of trying to live up to perfectionism- rather focus on doing your absolute best. Don't give in to impossible standards. 

Never let go of focusing on your mental health and also developing good emotional health because it can be very easy to do that because we are so busy or focused on other things and we end up neglecting our mental health. So try and be aware of how you are feeling and how you can focus on taking care of yourself. Never be afraid to ask for help either because it is perfectly fine to reach out and ask for help. 

Something that also holds us back is trying to multitask and in the end you can become less productive, de motived and mentally drained, so rather focus on one thing at a time. 

Do you allow your past experiences to hold you back? Well...don't. 

Our past shapes us in many ways but holding onto the past only holds you back. When you allow the past to consume you, it takes away the beauty of the present moment. So rather find the lessons the past has taught you, learn from them and grow and become stronger. Don't allow your past to take the joy out of the present moment and what life has to offer you. 

Alright so this is definitely something that I have implemented in my daily affirmations, which is telling myself that 'I am not stuck.' Something you need to realize is that telling ourselves we are stuck is just a story that we constantly tell ourselves and in the end we believe it and it holds us back right? You are never stuck - there is always a way, even if it takes time to find it. I believe you will.

So lastly - something that I learnt growing up is to not play the victim in your own life. Life owes you absolutely nothing. It is also so important to take responsibility instead of placing blame because it can be so easy to blame others for our mistakes, circumstances and for our experiences however you need to realize that you can't change the past, however you do have the power to write your own narrative. You have the power to move forward from this moment and let go of your old self, the old habits you don't want, the self sabotaging behavior that holds you back and you can step forward towards a brighter future. No one is perfect, but when you consciously make small changes everyday and work on improving yourself- that is positive change right there. That is a healthy mindset right there. You have the power once you heal. Allow your past experiences to shape you, take ownership of your mistakes, of your life and use the lessons you have learnt to become stronger.

Are you scared? Well...GOOD!

We don't grow when we stay inside our comfort zone. 

I believe in you. Thank you so much for hanging out with me this week! Thank you for supporting the show every week- I really appreciate it and love all of you listening. 

I wish you an amazing week ahead! Love you all

Goodbye :)