Bad Habits Holding You Back

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Today at a Glance:

There’s no such thing as an overnight success. Extraordinary success is simply the byproduct of a large volume of ordinary actions. The quality of our daily habits governs the ultimate quality of our long-term outcomes.

I frequently write and speak about the good habits—the ones that positively contribute to your desired outcomes. But what about the bad habits? Just as we want to identify what will propel us forward, isn’t it at least as important to know that which is holding us back?

Today’s piece covers 20 bad habits that are holding you back from reaching your potential. All of these are bad habits I have—or currently am—struggling with, so you definitely aren’t alone in this fight.

Bad Habits Holding You Back

I’m mildly obsessed with the myth of the overnight success.

There’s a story I love about Spanish painter Pablo Picasso that captures the essence of the myth very well:

Picasso was walking through the market one day when a woman approached him.

She pulled out a piece of paper and said, “Mr. Picasso, I am a fan of your work. Please, could you do a little drawing for me?”

Picasso smiled and quickly drew a small, but beautiful piece of art on the paper. He handed it back to her.

“That will be one million dollars.”

“But Mr. Picasso,” the woman protested, “It only took you thirty seconds to draw this little masterpiece.”

Picasso smiled, “On the contrary, it took me thirty years to draw that masterpiece in thirty seconds.”

The lesson: extraordinary success is simply the byproduct of a large volume of ordinary actions.

The quality of our daily habits governs the ultimate quality of our long-term outcomes.

I frequently write and speak about the good habits—the ones that positively contribute to your desired outcomes.

But what about the bad habits?

Just as we want to identify that which will propel us forward, isn’t it at least as important to know that which is holding us back?

In that vein, today’s piece will cover 18 bad habits that are holding you back from reaching your potential. All of these are bad habits I have—or currently am—struggling with, so you definitely aren’t alone in this fight!

These are designed to be short, punchy insights—I would encourage you to skip any that don’t apply and think deeply about those that specifically resonate with you.

Without further ado, let’s dive right in…

Focusing on the Urgent

It's easy to jump from one urgent task to the next.

But when you focus on the short-term urgent, you lose sight of the long-term important.

Spend most of your time focused on long-term important tasks—the compounders.

Delegate or delete the rest.

Saying Yes to Everything

Confession: I've always had a tough time saying no. I'd take on too much and then grind my way through—or even worse, under-deliver vs. expectations.

The ability to say no is a superpower of successful people. Be deliberate about what you spend your time on—and who you spend it with.

My rule of thumb: You should spend your 20s saying yes and your 30s and beyond saying no. Your 20s are a time to say yes to almost everything. Saying yes puts you into new and uncomfortable situations that expand your luck surface area. Your 30s and beyond are a time to say no to almost everything. Saying no allows you to focus & build leverage.

Glorifying the Wrong Things

What I used to glorify:

No sleep

100-hour workweeks

Busy schedules

Fancy titles and credentials

What I now glorify:

Sleeping 8 hours

Regular physical activity

Unstructured schedules

Working in short sprints

Spending time with family and friends

The realization: Freedom and control over your time is the one true status symbol. Success and wealth is meaningless if it doesn’t provide that freedom and control.

Comparison Traps

Throughout your life and career, it's tempting to compare yourself and your progress to those around you.

It’s borderline impossible to avoid:

This person made X dollars last year

That person got Forbes 30 Under 30

So and so raised $100m for their startup

They just got a vacation home and new car

It's natural, but dangerous—comparison is like gas on your “more” fire—it tears away the enjoyment of the present and tells you that it’s not enough.

Learn to turn it off.

Focus on what you can control. When you notice yourself falling into the trap, reset and focus on yourself.

Procrastinating

Confession: I spent most of my life as a chronic procrastinator.

I also spent most of my life justifying that chronic procrastination—both internally and externally. I told myself it was "just how I worked”—that the pressure of an imminent deadline was what I needed to thrive.

Procrastination holds you back from achieving at the level you are capable of.

My framework for how to stop procrastinating:

Awareness: Schedule a daily assessment of your day-to-day actions. Start by identifying the important long-term projects in your life. Then ask a few questions: Am I proud of the actions I am taking on these big projects? Am I doing what I should be doing? Create an awareness of your procrastination.

Deconstruction: Large, long-term projects look like a big, black box. Our imaginations tend to fill that box with endless complexity and unknown horrors. It's critical to deconstruct the big and scary project into small and individually-manageable tasks.

Plan Creation: Develop a plan of attack to check off the deconstructed task list. The plan for each micro task should be specific and time bound. Create a project document to track the plan and tasks.

Stake Creation: Create stakes that turn big projects into a “game” for yourself. These mental games can be very effective!

Action: A body in motion tends to stay in motion. Create systems that spark initial movement. Engineer small wins (they become big wins over time).

You can find my full piece on how to stop procrastinating here.

Complaining Incessantly

Complaining never got anyone anywhere worth going.

The world is effectively split across complainers and doers—the former will always talk while the latter will always act.

Complainers are on the sidelines. They sling ro...