5 Awful Habits That Are Holding You Back From Being Successful

As well as great habits help us getting what we want out of life, bad habits can easily do the opposite. Based on successful people, there are some habits most people have that stops them from being successful. I am guilty of some of them, and I am starting to have a proper look into them to try to avoid them. These are 5 awful habits that are holding you back from being successful according to them:

1- Don’t Spend All Your Money

Most people tend to live to paycheck to paycheck, and that can keep going until some event requires you to have big savings. You need some money left to invest in yourself, either in courses, studying or attending webinars to getting the first steps to buy/rent your personal office to offer any type of service.

The biggest problem lays in the fact that we tend to “upgrade” our life as soon as we get an “upgrade” in our pay. I have been there, more money starts coming and suddenly you feel the flat is too small, so you move to a bigger one and start paying more rent. Some people decide to get a new car or a second one.

The logic is simple: You got a raise because you worked really hard for it and you deserve it, so you want to treat yourself for it. The problem is that, by doing this, you are sticking yourself in this system, the one that makes you work every day for the money you need to pay more bills. It’s what Robert Kiyosaki names in his book Rich Dad Poor Dad as “the rat race”. Now, you need even more to stay in your workplace because you need to pay even more bills. The taxes go up, the bills go up, and when you realise, you are not moving on.

2 – Don’t Listen To People Who Don’t Know

Or, as some people say, don’t listen to the guy down the pub. Well, this applies to everyone in every place at every time. We are surrounded by opinionated people, everyone seems to need to let you know why what you are doing is a good or a bad idea. Maybe is your family, disappointed because you are not studying the amazing degree they expected you to. The trick is to listen to those who know. I believe this applies to everything: if you want to be happy, don’t follow life advice from someone who is permanently miserable. If you want to invest in stocks, don’t listen to a constructor who’s never bought one.

If you want to get something, you will need to study it, do your own research. Listen and read about people who know about your topic, because they are the only ones who can tell you how did the get where they are now.

3- No Multitasking

I remember that some years ago, the word “multitasking” had a positive meaning. If you knew how to multitask, you were a good asset to a job because you were efficient and knew how to get several things are done at the same time.

However, to get into something important, you need to put all your senses in it. If your passion is writing about politics, then focus on writing and creating something interesting. Don’t write while you watch TV, or listen to a podcast about global warming. It won’t help you get the best of you. Doing several things at the same time won’t allow you to learn and feel immersed in the topic.

I used to multitask a lot, to the point that it was difficult to focus on one thing. That’s when I realised, I wasn’t able anymore to focus on just one thing. I would get anxious and my concentration skills were lower.

4 – Don’t Waste Your Time.

This seems simple, but as I have spoken about it before, it’s not. The are many ways to waste your time, either in reading news all the time while on the bus, to the time you decide to have a look to your Facebook profile and end up looking at pictures for a long time.

I am focusing on this one right now and I’m trying to find ways to improve my time management skills. We can be efficient people, but we are humans and we can have weak moments. Furthermore, it’s important to be self-aware of when this is happening and try to limit it.

5 – Don’t Limit Yourself

It’s really sad to think that we are our biggest enemies, but it’s also true that the difference between doing something, taking the first step and do something is under to your power.

Nobody has a perfect self-esteem, we all doubt and have harsh moments. Not to battle against yourself is really important. At the end of the day, every single one of us has a different story, different insecurities, background and experiences, but we are the only ones that can get over it and start moving on to the point where we dream to be in.

Which one do you think is the worst enemy to be successful? Let me know if you are guilty of any of this sins and what do you do to fight back.