If you want more out of your life, say goodbye to these 12 habits

How’s life going?

No, seriously!

How is your life going right now, if you really think about it?

Are you doing the things you always wanted to do? Are you enjoying yourself and expressing yourself and loving every minute of it?

Or are things not exactly going as planned?

I think we all know deep down that we could be having better experiences, but there are things we’re doing that are holding us back.

So if you want more out of life, say goodbye to these 12 habits.

1) Not getting enough sleep

While some people think that getting more out of life means not wasting time sleeping, this is actually one of the worst things you can do to yourself.

According to experts, getting enough sleep (which means 7-8 hours every night, by the way) can boost your immune system, help keep your weight down, reduce stress, improve your mental health, make better decisions, and have overall better mental performance.

Not getting enough sleep once in a while isn’t so serious, so go ahead and stay out late on those special occasions to make sure you’re getting the full experience. 

But if you’re skipping sleep every night, you’re going to start running a sleep deficit that can be really hard to recover from. Regularly skipping dramatically increases your risk of stroke, heart disease, and being a cranky-pants.

2) Eating wrong

You know you should eat right, but if you’re treating your body like a trash heap, not a temple, you’re really not getting the most out of life.

In fact, you’re setting yourself up to be unhealthy and unhappy.

Hippocrates, the founder of modern medicine, said, “In food, excellent medicine can be found. In food, bad medicine can be found”.

He meant that you can take great care of yourself by eating well, getting balanced nutrition, and also eating just the amount that you need.

But you can also do a whole lot of damage by overeating and putting piles of the wrong things into your body.

You know what’s bad for you – too much salt, fat, and sugar – so why do you keep eating too much of them?

You’re setting yourself up for diminished energy, weight gain, and risk of disease in the future.

3) Inactivity

If sitting is the new smoking, then exercise is the new Lung Brush®.

So many of us now spend our working days sitting at desks and computer terminals, hunched over screens and keyboards and keyboards.

I know I do.

Then we get home and play on our phones and binge Netflix.

But inactivity is now recognized as a major health risk. The WHO even states that inactivity is associated with 20-30% increases in rates of cancer, stroke, diabetes, and heart disease!

It’s no secret – our bodies were designed to move.

Exercise is not only good for your health, but it gets you up and out into the world, going to new places and meeting new people. 

And isn’t that what life’s about?

4) Staying indoors

More and more people live in cities where it’s possible to stay indoors almost all the time.

From home to the car to the parking garage to the office to the gym and back, most city dwellers spend very little time outdoors. 

And there’s always an excuse about the weather to be heard.

But if you want to get the most out of life, look to nature for inspiration.

And nature is outside!

Spending time in nature can have a lot of benefits that you may be missing in your life, including improving mood, reducing stress, improving health, and building self-confidence.

Not to mention getting that mood-enhancing Vitamin D from the sunshine on your skin!

After all, we come from nature, no matter how much we sometimes pretend otherwise! 

5) Spending too much time online

Head down, shoulders hunched, eyes glazed over.

That’s how most of us experience our online time.

The internet is a marvel of civilization, but the way we access it isn’t great for our bodies.

What about our minds?

While some of us spend our time actively learning and seeking out experiences, let’s face it – we also spend a ton of time on social media.

And looking at all those posts by perfect people can really make us feel inferior and unworthy.

If you’re whiling your hours away online, try living in the real world for a change. You just might find you get a whole lot more out of it.

6) Being alone

There’s nothing at all wrong with being alone sometimes.

But humans are social animals, and we need things from others that we simply can’t get from ourselves.

Love, attention, interaction, communication – these are all things you’re missing out on when you spend too much time by yourself.

You’ll get a whole lot more out of life by spending time with your friends or seeking out new ones.

You’ll also feel happier and healthier, talking, sharing, and learning with others.

Even simple eye contact with another person helps to dump dopamine, the happiness chemical, into your bloodstream.

7) Not taking personal time

On the flip side, many people don’t spend much or any time alone at all.

Is it because of neediness or a fear of being alone?

Some people are also just incredibly social.

But at the same time, even the most social of people often jealously protect their personal time, which they use to reflect, relax, and care for themselves.

That’s because you really need a balance between being social and being on your own. 

Even introverted people still need some social time, and extroverts need time to themselves.

It’s all about keeping balanced.

So if you’re taking the personal time you need, you might not be getting as much as you could out of yourself and life in general.

8) Waiting for tomorrow

So many people fall into the trap of waiting for something to happen tomorrow when they have today right in front of them. 

This can include procrastination, which makes people put off life events until future dates.

But procrastinators don’t usually do this because they’re busy living in the moment. Instead, they often avoid doing anything rather than doing things that seem like they’ll be challenging.

But challenges are simply a part of life, and if you’re avoiding them, you’re not living life to its fullest.

9) Working too hard

The old adage goes that you’re supposed to make hay while the sun shines.

So if you’re young, healthy, and full of energy, why not work tons so you can make lots of money and set up your future?

Actually, that’s a great plan that will help you get the most out of life, especially in the future.

You just have to be careful that it’s not at the expense of your happiness right now.

Getting that work-life balance right is tricky, but it’s necessary if you want to live life to the fullest right now.

10) Criticizing yourself

Being negative is a trap that so many of us get stuck in.

And being negative about yourself is possibly the worst form of it.

I know I’m personally guilty of negative self-talk at times and thinking, “I can’t do this!”

But I also know that this attitude pushes me inward and holds me down, so I’m always striving to get past it.

If we can accept ourselves, our positives, and our limitations, then we become capable of so much more, and the world truly opens up to us.

11) Worrying about the past or the future

How can you get the most out of life if you’re living in the past or worrying about the future?

While these times might well exist in our minds, the only place that life is happening is right here, right now.

So if we want to be able to grab it by the reins and ride where it takes us, we have to let go of the past we’re holding onto in one hand and the future we’re grasping at with the other.

12) Forgetting how lucky you are to be alive

The biggest mistake you might be making if you want to get more out of life is forgetting to focus on gratitude.

Remember that you’re alive right now, and that is something to be thankful for.

Without practicing gratitude, we can get stuck looking down at tiny negative details of our lives and forget to look up to see the sky, the sun and the stars, and the magnificence of the world we’re living in.

There’s more to life

If you feel like there’s more out there – more fun, more experiences, more joy – to be had, it’s time to make some changes. Find a way to break away from these habits that are holding you back and let yourself rise up!