For the longest time, I have struggled with these unhealthy habits. I would wake up some days and be fed up. I’ll promise myself to do better henceforth but in no time I’m back to my usual self. You know a thing becomes a habit if you repeat it over and over again right? It got tiring actually and one day I decided I was going to work on myself. Trust me it’s easier said than done. As humans, we fear change and that’s because it means that we must get uncomfortable. But then you must be willing to leave your comfort zone if you want things to be different.
What I had to do first was to acknowledge these things as unhealthy habits. I decided to work on them even though it might not look like much right now, but you know what they say about baby steps.
Unhealthy habits I struggled with
1. Punctuality
If I’m honest with you, I still don’t get why I just can’t be punctual. I mean, I wake up early every time (except days when I’m sick or extremely tired). It became a problem when multiple people started telling me. I would sometimes console myself with the phrase, “better late than never”. It was not a big problem until I started affecting other people with my lateness. The looks on their faces are always shitty, but then I deserved it.
2. Procrastination
For a lady like me with so many ideas running through her head per time, I got used to procrastination. I would start a thing with so much excitement and energy but halfway through it, I’m convincing myself there’s still time. So I shove it aside. Until I checked google and saw that procrastination could be a sign of mental illness. What?! (Google can make you doubt your sanity sometimes). I knew I had to do something when it started hampering my overall productivity and the quality of my work. As an undergraduate, I could read at the last minute for an exam. But I soon realized that panic can’t work me through longer assignments now.
3. Worrying
I’ve worried so much in this life that it won’t be bad to add worrier to my name. I think so hard about things and get worried they won’t go well. As soon as I am told about a problem that concerned me in the slightest manner, I would begin to worry. When a friend, family, or just random people asked that I help with a thing and I can’t at that moment, I begin to worry. In my head, I believe that I’m doing good, that I’m protecting themselves and others from danger. I soon realized that worrying about ninety-nine useless things out of a hundred is a waste of time and emotion.
Worry made me unhappy and I’ll often make bad decisions because my mind is colored by needless, unrealistic fears.
4. Saving
Some months to my 25th birthday, I was so scared that I didn’t have tangible savings. I mean saving is relative and for me and my income, so I knew I was not saving enough. I love bags and most time, I spend my money on them. If not bags, I’ll buy junks, do giveaways (give people beyond my means), and maybe do other stuff I couldn’t account for.
Progress update and things I did
I won’t say I’m there yet but I have made reasonable progress. For a person who would go to events 30 minutes (and above) late, that now goes like 10/15 minutes late, you would agree with me its progress. Lol
So on a serious note, the first thing I did was acknowledge that these things were unhealthy habits. I sat myself down, spoke sense to myself, and decided that I’ve had enough. It didn’t work for too long as I was back in my vomit in no time. So I sought help.
- I spoke to my friends and people whom I know I could be accountable to.
- I wrote it everywhere I could and they stared in my face. It was more like my mantra
- For punctuality, if an event was for 10, I tell myself it’s for 9 so I try to finish early. If we add the allowance of 30 minutes lateness, I would still be punctual. Not that I still don’t go out late, it’s just really reduced.
- For savings, I started tracking my expenses. To the minutest thing I spend money on, I write them down. Just before my money comes in, I already write a budget and I remove my savings first. I also opened up to my friend who took it upon herself to actually make saving compulsory for me. We now have a group target saving on piggyvest.
- For worrying, I constantly remind myself that I’m not Jesus and therefore I can’t help everybody. I try my best and leave the rest to God in prayers. Also, I decided that rather than channel my energy to worrying about things I had little control over, why not do what I can and leave the rest to God. I was not helping the situation by worrying either was I improving anyone else’s life by worrying about them. To improve my life, I decided to be appreciative and supportive when I can.
- For procrastination, I always put a time limit on everything I have to do. I found out that I don’t have to wait till a thing becomes urgent; I won’t give quality if I do. Rather, I know that a thing is important and I treat it as such.
For what it is worth, I think I have made reasonable progress. I’m not here to blow my trumpet actually; I just wanted you to know that you are not alone in this. We all struggle with unhealthy habits at some point in our lives. You’ll be lying to yourself if you say otherwise. You have to first acknowledge it, take responsibility for the results of your unhealthy habits, be ready to let go of these unhealthy habits, and then look for solutions.
Much more, you have to stay committed to changing these habits. I’ve done these things and they have worked for me. Are there unhealthy habits you are struggling with? How have you worked on them? What’s your progress update? Share all these things with me in the comment section; you don’t know who might learn from you too.
With love,
Opeyemi Omidiji