Interesting Psychology Team
6 – Negative Emotions
Knowing how to manage negative emotions is an essential part of living a happy life. If you let anger, jealousy, or spite consume you, you’ll make decisions that aren’t in your best interest.
When toxic feelings come to the surface, practice expressing them in a healthy way. It’s important that you validate your emotions and learn to recognize what behaviors are and aren’t appropriate for communicating them. Never let your emotions take hold of you. You’re better than that.
7 – Relationships
In an ideal world, all the people in our lives would value, appreciate, and respect us, and they would treat us with kindness and compassion. But we don’t live in that world. Anyone in your life (family, partners, friends, colleagues) can be toxic.
So, be careful about who you let in, and know when it’s time to cut things off. Trust is essential for genuine human connection, but it’s not always safe to be vulnerable around others. Acknowledge that your worth is independent of anyone else, and don’t let your relationships hold you back.
Surrounding yourself with people who help you grow is a much better experience anyway.
8 – Money
Of course, we all need money to live life. After all, bills won’t pay themselves. But money can hold a lot of power over you. It can influence your decisions by shifting your focus toward material wealth.
Chasing money is only satisfying to a certain point. Once your standard of living is suitable, fancy cars, expensive clothes, and other material things won’t do much for your happiness. That isn’t to say that you should avoid wealth. Financial abundance can help you reduce stress, achieve things, and help others.
The problem is when money starts to control you. Let your core values guide your life, rather than the chase for money simply for the sake of having more.
9 – Addictions
Addiction is a coping mechanism, but instead of helping you move forward, it holds you back. When you think of addiction, you might immediately think of drugs, cigarettes, or alcohol. But you can be addicted to many different things like food, gambling, shopping, or even video games.
What’s your vice? No matter what type of addiction plagues you, they all affect your decision-making skills. Compulsive desires push you deeper into a hole, and the longer it lasts, the harder it is to get out. But recovering from addiction is not impossible.
When you focus on choosing what is best for you rather than what you want, you can discover healthy long-term solutions for meeting your needs.
10 – The Past
We all have at least some distress from things that have happened in our past, and no matter how much we want to change what happened, we can’t. So there’s no point in letting the past control the present.
It’s a waste of time, and it’s a waste of energy. Whatever has happened, you need to learn to let it go. See it as a lesson and move forward. I know it’s easier said than done. But when you can manage to do it, the weight lifted from your shoulders will be immense.
The take home
If you want to really live your life, you can’t let outside forces control you. Accept that you have complete power over your decisions, beliefs, emotions, behavior, and goals. When you identify which parts of your life come from within and which ones don’t, navigating this complex world becomes more manageable.
Which of these things are holding you back? And how are you going to work through it?
We want to know what you think, so be sure to share your thoughts in the comment section.
