The popular novel The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephan R. Covey is a popular self-help novel following seven habits that individuals of high success in life follow and why you should follow them as well. However, while it is easy to determine what you should be doing in order to have a highly effective and positive life, there are also guidelines as to what you should be avoiding. Therefore, there are habits people do that I would deem to be ineffective for a positive, healthy and well-balanced lifestyle, which leads to an overall unsuccessful life.
1. Snoozing your Alarm
A common occurrence for many people, snoozing your alarm is easy and a good way to continue that comfortable sleep you may be having. However, it is also a good way to miss out on some valuable time you could be doing the things you need to tackle during the day. People who snooze their alarms and continue to sleep often regret it when they wake up, feel guilty for doing so and ultimately feel worse about themselves. Yes, waking up early and getting up on that first alarm will be horrible at first. The first half hour of the day might be completely dreadful. But overall, once you give yourself more time to wake up and do a productive morning routine, you will have an overall better day.
2. Eating out of Convenience
Life gets busy and we often find ourselves rushing to eat a quick and convenient snack or meal as we are rushing out the door. However, this is a habit that, once acquired, is hard to break and can easily be turned into an unhealthy diet. Meals of convenience are often not healthy for you and contain a low nutritional value that will not provide you with all the energy you need for a successful day. Instead, take the spare moments you would use to scroll on your phone and prepare a meal. Or, if you have an hour to spare one night, meal prep large portions of food so it is easy to grab, warm up and consume before you have to run out the door. Your body will thank you for it in the long run.
3. Procrastinating
One of the most common habits, especially among students, is procrastination. The due date of an assignment starts to become closer and closer and yet the document remains untouched. This then leads to last-minute methods of finishing it, which often results in poor quality and possibly a lower mark. If the stress of needing to finish an assignment is so difficult, then why do people procrastinate? It seems much simpler to just do the assignment ahead of time and prevent this stress from occurring. This could be because task aversion is a real thing and the idea of doing such a boring or complex task seems more stressful at the moment. However, once in the habit of procrastinating, it is difficult to break and can lead to many poor grades and eventually more stress.
4. Dwelling on the Past and Worrying about the Future
Something many people forget to do is to live in the moment. We are so caught up in what has already happened or what might happen that we forgot to look in front of us and see what is happening right now. The only moment that exists is now. When you are busy worrying about the mistakes you have made or the scary and unknown future, you put a burden of anxiety on yourself that negatively affects your present moment. You cannot change the past; only what you do in the present can affect the future. So, worry about the moment you are in and make the best of it.
5. Being Afraid to Try New Things
Growth occurs outside your comfort zone. Therefore, you cannot be successful and grow in life if you never try anything new. It is scary and there are risks. But there could also be amazing payoffs if you try something new and you end up loving it. Being the exact same person your entire life and never opening up to new experiences will lead to a boring life in which nothing of value will happen. Life is meant to be experienced and there are countless things to try, people, to meet and places to go. Staying within your comfort zone can be nice, but what if what is outside your comfort zone is even better?
6. Spending too Much Time Indoors
Home, school and work are the three most common places for a university student to be, all of which are indoor settings with a lack of fresh air and fake lighting. The benefits of sunlight and being outdoors are extreme, even just to clear your head or get some exercise in by means of a walk. Going outside even for a few minutes a day can be a nice way to get away from the stressful things surrounding your life and can give you the fresh air you may need.
7. Neglecting Yourself
The final and most important habit of ineffective people is the act of neglecting oneself. In our busy lives, we end up needing to squeeze everyone and everything into the 24 hours we have in a day. One thing to remember is that you always need to come first. If something or someone is negatively affecting you, do something to allow yourself to come first in that situation. Make sure you are drinking enough water, getting enough sleep and doing what makes you happy. If you are not happy in life, then your life is unsuccessful, even if you feel as if every other aspect of your life is good. Success can only exist once you are fully happy with where you stand and who you are around. Never neglect yourself to make anyone or anything better.
Overall, allowing yourself to have a few habits you keep in order to maintain a healthy and successful lifestyle is extremely important. Just as important is making sure you are not maintaining unhealthy habits that will hold you back from your fullest potential. They say it takes 21 consecutive days of completing a habit in order for it to be instilled in your mind. Make sure you are not including any of these ineffective habits in your lifestyle and instead replace them with some positive ones instead.