Most people confess that what they desire most in life is to be happy but the search for happiness seems to elude many of us. People blame external circumstances in their lives for the lack of happiness and fail to realize how they view and act upon those circumstances determines their plight.
Human beings were given the gift of self-awareness yet many of us do not know how to handle our consciousness in a way that’s healthy to our well-being. We let emotions get the better of us in situations where being level headed and weighing our options could have saved us a lot of heartache.
Most of us learn how to control our emotions and make the right decisions in our lives after many years of disappointments, pain, and hardships. We can avoid the pain and hardship for we all have the capacity to manage difficult situations. Certain behaviors and attitudes increase the chances of living an unhappy life.
Most people do not realize when they destroy their chances for happiness. For that reason, below are six common ways people sabotage their happiness.
1 – Procrastinating Constantly
As the adage goes, procrastination is the natural assassin of opportunity. Many people who have a habit of putting things off eventually become unhappy about how their lives turn out. The reason for this is largely due to regret.
Procrastinating things you want to do may not seem like a big deal in the short term, but in the long run, the regret of not having pursued something that is now out of your reach often leads to a state of feeling discontent.
2 – Blaming Others for Personal Circumstances
A lot of people blame others about their circumstances. The blame could be directed at parents, maybe your spouse, or a loved one. People who blame others for situations they find themselves in get trapped in the “I wish things were different” cycle. All that does, however, is keep them stuck and feeling unfulfilled.
The truth is we have the ability to turn bad or difficult situations around in our favor no matter who is at fault. By taking responsibility of our own actions, we can navigate our way to the happy and satisfying life we are looking for.
3 – Not Getting Over Past Mistakes
We all make mistakes. It’s human nature. However, holding on to the pain and guilt of past screw ups is the perfect recipe for unhappiness. Beating yourself up simply becomes an impediment to moving forward.
4 – Failing to Recognize the Right Decisions That Can Move You Forward
We make decisions that can alter our lives on a daily basis from the kind of jobs to take or decline, to the people we choose to associate with socially and direction to pursue. These decisions can have painful outcomes if they clash with what you really desire deep within you.
You have to understand how to make decisions that align with what you know is right, adds to your capabilities and experiences in a positive way, and creates new opportunities for you.
Most individuals do not know how to make effective decisions that evaluate the options in front of them and carefully look at the risks and benefits of each choice. If your decisions do not fit in with your values and things you care about, then you forfeit the opportunity of true happiness no matter how good the decision might seem at that moment.
5 – Never Truly Learning from Our Mistakes
Learning from our mistakes is easier said than done. The circumstances in most of the mistakes we make are different. This tends to deceive us into not paying enough attention and learning from each mistake.
Repeating the same mistakes can negatively affect our confidence and self-esteem. This may lead us to make more mistakes and feel regretful about our choices.
6 – Comparing Ourselves to Others
It is important to stop comparing ourselves with others or trying to live up to what society considers perfect. You will never be happy if you pretend to be someone else or try to do what you are not capable of doing.
The good news is putting an effort to ditch these negative ways of thinking or habits can help to bring more happiness into your life. In the next post, you can learn more about how to start being responsible for your own happiness.
