5 Habits To Avoid If You Want To Achieve Success

Humans are creatures of habit. The way we think and the things that we do on a daily basis have an impact on our mental health and productivity at work.

Kick these 5 habits today to achieve success at work and in life!

1. Making excuses and playing the blame game

Complaining about others and your surroundings as an excuse harms your performance and casts  a negative impression on your competency in the eyes of bosses and other colleagues and the management at large. Saying things like, “This other project is holding me back” or “The project lead isn’t managing the situation” creates an obstacle and affects your efficiency and the ability to complete a task on time.

Tip 1: Focus on what you can do and think positive!

2. Catastrophizing the future

Never underestimate the power of your thoughts. If you overthink and make negative predictions even before starting a task, you are basically setting yourself up for failure. Saying things like, “I am going to mess this up” and “What if I don’t know what to do when things go wrong”, more often than not increases anxiety.

Tip 2: Avoid asking “what if” questions unless you are exploring potential worse-case scenarios for an assignment. Above all, stop doubting yourself.

3. Yearning for approval and compliments

Getting into the habit of faking your true self only for compliments and to gain approval from your bosses or peers will backfire and even take a toll on you in the long run. Time spent thinking of ways to gain compliments or seeking reassurance from others reduces your ability to focus on the task at hand.

Tip 3: Focus on being yourself and doing your best in all that you do.

4. Putting yourself down

Negative self-talk is damaging as it prevents you from doing your best. Saying this like, “I am not good at this” or “I can never get anything right” brings you down fast.

Tip 4: Never allow your inner-critic to get the best of you!

5. Second-guessing yourself

Constantly doubting and questioning whether you said or did the right thing is mentally exhausting. While reflecting on past choices helps in making better decisions, overdoing it impairs your performance.

Related article – 4 Reminders To Stop Second Guessing Yourself

Tip 5: Practice mindfulness – live in the present and cope with situations as and when they occur rather than worrying about the future.