How Can You Break Bad Habits and Get Things Done?

 Habits are the small decisions you make and actions you perform every day. According Duke University researchers, habits account for about 40% of our behaviors on any given day.

Your life as you know it is essentially the sum of your habits--or at least a reflection of them. How in shape or out of shape you are is a result of your habits. How happy or unhappy you are is a result of your habits. How successful or unsuccessful you are is a result of your habits.

What you repeatedly do (your thoughts, actions and behaviors) ultimately forms the person you are, the things you believe and the identity you portray. Everything from procrastination to productivity to looking better to eating better and beyond all starts with better habits. When you learn to transform your habits, you can transform your life.

A big part of the habit-change game is paying attention to the habits that could be hindering your progress when it comes to health, fitness, career, relationships and life, in general. Here are some bad habits that can be holding you back…

Hitting the Snooze Button. You know what hitting the snooze button tells the world (and your subconscious)? According to Bedros Keullian, “It tells everyone that you value 10 minutes of extra sleep--poor-quality sleep, at that--over pursuing your passion and accomplishing your deepest desires.” But when you wake up and don’t snooze, you start your day with a big win, ready to dominate your day.

Making Excuses. If you’re being honest, do you ever make excuses when things don’t turn out as expected? Have you ever tried to explain away why you didn’t, couldn’t, shouldn’t or simply wouldn’t do something? It’s easy to come up with excuses and justify not getting started (or finished). The longer you fill your head with rationalizations and empty excuses, the less time you have to take action. According to Jordan Belfort, “The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullsh*t story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.”

Blaming other people. Sometimes it really is someone else’s fault that something bad happened. But what can you do? Blaming other people is a futile exercise that doesn’t solve anything. Instead, it creates anger and resentment, and it does nothing to push you forward. If someone wronged you, work on letting go of those bitter feelings. Forgive. Move on. Focus on your actions instead. When you start taking action, you take more responsibility for what happens in your life.

Multitasking. Research has shown that only 2% of us can really multitask efficiently. So, give up the lie already. Stop multitasking. Seriously. The cost of switching from one thing to another is extraordinary. You’re wasting time and raising the risk of making mistakes. Instead of trying to get multiple things done in a frantic, distracted manner, focus on doing one thing savagely well.

Worrying about things you can’t control. Stress, worry and anxiousness are especially prevalent today, with all the event happening in our lives and beyond (and the constant reminders in the news, social media feeds, etc.). When persistent, these can manifest as physical symptoms, many of which can be quite dangerous. While there’s an infinite number of things you can worry about, there are only a handful of things you can control, starting with your attitude, actions and behaviors. You can’t change what others say or think, and you can’t decide the actions other people take. What you can do is decide what your next step is.

Giving empty promises. There are few things more disappointing than when someone makes a promise and never delivers. Eventually, the person’s words lose their meaning, and the person himself becomes devoid of trust. If you want to help someone, think carefully about what that entails before offering to do so. Interestingly, the people that speak the loudest often end up doing the least. The next time you want to do something, take initiative and help out. Let the results speak for themselves.