Many of our habits make happiness elusive. You’d be surprised how much joy you can feel when you eliminate these habits. Changing your habits isn’t easy, but it can be done if you’re committed.

Be willing to challenge the status quo if you want to see a real change in your mood.

Avoid these habits and you’ll enjoy greater happiness:

  1. Concerning yourself with the opinions of others. You could be perfect in every possible way, and someone will still criticize you. There’s no possible way to impress everyone. Instead, focus on making yourself happy and surround yourself with those who are happy for you.
  2. Engaging in negative self-talk. There’s no reason to make life even more challenging. Nip your negative self-talk in the bud and replace it with something positive.
  3. Always wanting more than you have.If you’re living under a park bench, it’s natural to want a home. But as long as you have what you need, wanting more can be a source of stress and frustration. Strive for more if you like, but be reasonable. No one needs a personal jet or a $10 million home.
  4. Comparing yourself to others. Everyone has their own unique strengths, weaknesses, past, and challenges. If you want to make a reasonable comparison, compare your current situation to your situation 5 years ago. If you’ve made progress, celebrate. If you haven’t, figure out why and get busy.
  5. Beating yourself up over mistakes. Mistakes are a daily part of life. Learn from them and move on toward a brighter future. Has torturing yourself ever provided any benefit?
  6. Blaming others. Believing that someone else is a cause of the difficulty you’re experiencing is harmful because you lose control. If you believe that your situation is your own doing, you have the power to fix it. Regardless of whom is to blame, it’s still your responsibility to handle it.
  7. Saying “yes” to every request. Most of us need a little downtime to regenerate. By saying yes to everything, you rob yourself of this important time. You’ll also find yourself spending time on many activities that you simply don’t enjoy. Learn to say “no” when necessary.
  8. Waiting for perfect conditions. Whether you’re waiting for the perfect time to have children or start your own business, that perfect time will never arrive. Get started right away on the activities that mean the most to you. Time is ticking away.
  9. Avoiding new experiences. What’s the point in living the same day repeatedly? You only have so many years on Earth. Get the most out of it and live a life of many experiences.
  10. Trying to change too much at once. Humans are remarkably adaptable in the long term. However, it’s very challenging to make major changes in the short term. Make smaller changes in your life and build upon them. You can’t change much in a week, but you can make major changes over a year or more.

Are your habits putting a damper on your mood? Your habits create your life. Evaluate your habits and determine which are negatively affecting your ability to enjoy life. Happiness might be closer than you think.