7 Things to Stop Doing Right Now ...

1. Stop Running from Your Problems

Let’s face it – life is full of problems and obstacles. The thing is, problems are there to be overcome; face your problems instead of running from them and you’ll see yourself eventually triumph over your adversities. No one said life would be easy – you will fall but you will get up again, and when you do, you will be stronger, more self-assured and more capable. And you will be more compassionate because you will be able to help someone else. For the sake of those whom you may one day help, this is definitely one of the things to stop doing!

2. Stop Trying to Be Someone You’re Not

Remember that there’s only ever going to be one YOU. We live in a society that’s constantly telling us how we need to be and who we need to look like in order to gain acceptance. Embrace your individuality; it’s a gift to be grateful for! You are the sum of all your parts, if you take even one thing away from your personality you cease to be uniquely you. Never change who you are to make yourself more appealing to others. The people who are genuine will love you exactly as you are.

3. Stop Holding on to the past

You’ll never get to the next part of your story if you stay stuck on the same page. Move on! Holding on to the past serves no purpose, and is a self-defeating trait because it stops you from achieving all that you are capable of. You may have been disappointed, let down, betrayed and hurt. Forgive those who have wronged you, forgive yourself for your own mistakes, put your best foot forward and turn that page.

4. Stop Being Afraid of Making Mistakes

As a perfectionist, I’m preaching to myself here. I’ve held back from attempting things because I’ve been afraid of getting it wrong or making a mistake. The only mistake we make is in not trying something. As George Bernard Shaw said, "The only failure in life is the failure to try." How true is that? When you look back on life, you’re more likely to regret the things you didn’t do at all, far more than the things you did, even if you didn’t succeed.

5. Stop Trying to Compete

We have a tendency to always measure our abilities and our achievements against those of other people. The only person you should be in competition with is yourself. Work on always achieving your own personal goals, not what you think you should be doing because someone else is. Aim to better yourself. Shoot for the stars and do it for yourself, not to compete with someone else.

6. Stop Feeling Sorry for Yourself

Feeling sorry for yourself is a waste of time and energy; much like holding on to the past. A ‘poor me’ attitude or mindset will only keep you in the problem. Find the silver lining to the situation – that job you lost may open up new opportunities you would never have considered otherwise. That relationship that didn’t work out may lead you to someone who values you for who you are. Think of the circumstances you’ve already come through and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

7. Stop Being Negative

This one is the one you really need to stop doing, and I mean right now! Thinking positively about a situation will re-energise you toward actually achieving your goal. Thinking negatively about the situation will get you in the doldrums pretty quickly, and you’ll be less like to follow through on making things happen. It’s much easier to follow a negative train of thought than to train your mind to believe in a positive outcome. Focus on what you do want as opposed to what you don’t want. If you follow the principle of sowing and reaping, it becomes pretty obvious – sow positivity and you reap the rewards that mindset.

We’re living in a society that encourages competitiveness and dictates what perfection is. Look inside yourself instead, and figure out who you are and how you want to represent yourself. Once you’ve worked that out, you’ll know which of these things you need to stop doing in order to achieve your goals, better yourself and live a happier life. Do you find yourself doing any of these things? Are there other behaviors that you have found to be destructive or counter-productive?