30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself - By: Marc and Angel -
April 2014
Marc and Angel, two passionate writers, life-hackers and
“admirers of the human spirit,” have come up with an
amazing list of 30 things to stop doing to yourself. If you
like their list, make sure you check out their site and sign
up to their amazing newsletter.
#1. Stop spending time with the wrong people – Life is too
short to spend time with people who suck the happiness
out of you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make
room for you. You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot. Never,
ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks
your worth. And remember, it’s not the people that stand
by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who
stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your
true friends.
#2. Stop running from your problems – Face them head
on. No, it won’t be easy. There is no person in the world
capable of flawlessly handling every punch thrown at
them. We aren’t supposed to be able to instantly solve
problems. That’s not how we’re made. In fact, we’re made
to get upset, sad, hurt, stumble and fall. Because that’s
the whole purpose of living – to face problems, learn,
adapt, and solve them over the course of time. This is what
ultimately molds us into the person we become.
#3. Stop lying to yourself – You can lie to anyone else in
the world, but you can’t lie to yourself. Our lives improve
only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult
chance we can take is to be honest with ourselves.
#4. Stop putting your own needs on the back burner –
The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of
loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are
special too. Yes, help others; but help yourself too. If there
was ever a moment to follow your passion and do
something that matters to you, that moment is now.
#5. Stop trying to be someone you’re not – One of the
greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s
trying to make you like everyone else. Someone will always
be prettier, someone will always be smarter, someone will
always be younger, but they will never be you. Don’t
change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right
people will love the real you.
#6. Stop trying to hold onto the past – You can’t start the
next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last
one.
#7. Stop being scared to make a mistake – Doing
something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more
productive than doing nothing. Every success has a trail of
failures behind it, and every failure is leading towards
success. You end up regretting the things you did NOT do
far more than the things you did.
#8. Stop berating yourself for old mistakes – We may love
the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no
matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure,
mistakes help us find the person and things that are right
for us. We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even
regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes,
you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the
power to shape your day and your future. Every single
thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you
for a moment that is yet to come.
#9. Stop trying to buy happiness – Many of the things we
desire are expensive. But the truth is, the things that really
satisfy us are totally free – love, laughter and working on
our passions.
#10. Stop exclusively looking to others for happiness – If
you’re not happy with who you are on the inside, you
won’t be happy in a long-term relationship with anyone
else either. You have to create stability in your own life first
before you can share it with someone else.
#11. Stop being idle – Don’t think too much or you’ll
create a problem that wasn’t even there in the first place.
Evaluate situations and take decisive action. You cannot
change what you refuse to confront. Making progress
involves risk. Period! You can’t make it to second base with
your foot on first.
#12. Stop thinking you’re not ready– Nobody ever feels
100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most
great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our
comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally
comfortable at first.
#13. Stop getting involved in relationships for the wrong
reasons– Relationships must be chosen wisely. It’s better
to be alone than to be in bad company. There’s no need to
rush. If something is meant to be, it will happen – in the
right time, with the right person, and for the best reason.
Fall in love when you’re ready, not when you’re lonely.
#14. Stop rejecting new relationships just because old
ones didn’t work – In life you’ll realize that there is a
purpose for everyone you meet. Some will test you, some
will use you and some will teach you. But most
importantly, some will bring out the best in you.
#15. Stop trying to compete against everyone else –
Don’t worry about what others are doing better than you.
Concentrate on beating your own records every day.
Success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF only.
#16. Stop being jealous of others – Jealousy is the art of
counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own.
Ask yourself this: “What’s something I have that everyone
wants?”
#17. Stop complaining and feeling sorry for yourself –
Life’s curveballs are thrown for a reason – to shift your path
in a direction that is meant for you. You may not see or
understand everything the moment it happens, and it may
be tough. But reflect back on those negative curveballs
thrown at you in the past. You’ll often see that eventually
they led you to a better place, person, state of mind, or
situation. So smile! Let everyone know that today you are a
lot stronger than you were yesterday, and you will be.
#18. Stop holding grudges – Don’t live your life with hate
in your heart. You will end up hurting yourself more than
the people you hate. Forgiveness is not saying, “What you
did to me is okay.” It is saying, “I’m not going to let what
you did to me ruin my happiness forever.” Forgiveness is
the answer… let go, find peace, liberate yourself! And
remember, forgiveness is not just for other people, it’s for
you too. If you must, forgive yourself, move on and try to
do better next time.
#19. Stop letting others bring you down to their level –
Refuse to lower your standards to accommodate those who
refuse to raise theirs.
#20. Stop wasting time explaining yourself to others –
Your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe
it anyway. Just do what you know in your heart is right.
#21. Stop doing the same things over and over without
taking a break – The time to take a deep breath is when
you don’t have time for it. If you keep doing what you’re
doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting. Sometimes
you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.
#22. Stop overlooking the beauty of small moments –
Enjoy the little things, because one day you may look back
and discover they were the big things. The best portion of
your life will be the small, nameless moments you spend
smiling with someone who matters to you.
#23. Stop trying to make things perfect – The real world
doesn’t reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get
things done.
#24. Stop following the path of least resistance – Life is
not easy, especially when you plan on achieving something
worthwhile. Don’t take the easy way out. Do something
extraordinary.
#25. Stop acting like everything is fine if it isn’t – It’s okay
to fall apart for a little while. You don’t always have to
pretend to be strong, and there is no need to constantly
prove that everything is going well. You shouldn’t be
concerned with what other people are thinking either – cry
if you need to – it’s healthy to shed your tears. The sooner
you do, the sooner you will be able to smile again.
#26. Stop blaming others for your troubles – The extent to
which you can achieve your dreams depends on the extent
to which you take responsibility for your life. When you
blame others for what you’re going through, you deny
responsibility – you give others power over that part of
your life.
#27. Stop trying to be everything to everyone – Doing so
is impossible, and trying will only burn you out. But
making one person smile CAN change the world. Maybe
not the whole world, but their world. So narrow your focus.
#28. Stop worrying so much – Worry will not strip
tomorrow of its burdens, it will strip today of its joy. One
way to check if something is worth mulling over is to ask
yourself this question: “Will this matter in one year’s time?
Three years? Five years?” If not, then it’s not worth
worrying about.
#29. Stop focusing on what you don’t want to happen –
Focus on what you do want to happen. Positive thinking is
at the forefront of every great success story. If you awake
every morning with the thought that something wonderful
will happen in your life today, and you pay close attention,
you’ll often find that you’re right.
#30. Stop being ungrateful – No matter how good or bad
you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life.
Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs.
Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking
about what you have that everyone else is missing.
This is such a beautiful list, and we all are guilty of some of
these. The best thing to do is just remember each day to
appreciate and reflect a bit, even if it's only a few minutes.
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