10 Things That Stop You From Living The Life You Want (Because You’re Only Surviving)  

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1. Settling for a job you hate.

Because there are no better opportunities out there. Work is your second home and sometimes your first, if you don’t try your hardest to find work that you at least enjoy doing, then you’re going to live most of your life in misery.

2. Giving up on love after heartbreak.

Life is meant to be shared with someone special, someone who makes your world a better place and makes you a better person. Sometimes we have to go through a few wrong ones to know who that person really is, the lesson is to choose better not give up on love.

3. Not believing in yourself.

Discounting your opinions, your values, your beliefs because you always think people know better. It’s good to keep an open mind but not at the expense of your own voice or morals.

4. Hanging out with toxic friends.

Or friends who keep pulling you in the wrong direction, who don’t share the same views on life because you will always feel like you’re alone with them or you’ll always feel misunderstood. It’s better to wait and find the right people who can support you because they know you and understand what you’re going through or what you’re fighting for.

5. Selling yourself short.

At work or in relationships. When you accept what’s given to you even though you feel like you deserve more, you will not be entirely satisfied with your life or yourself. It’s not okay to keep selling yourself short and not realizing your own worth or value.

6. Being too hard on yourself.

Overthinking everything you say or do. Trying too hard to get people to like you. Not forgiving yourself when you make a mistake. Blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong in your life. When you become your own worst enemy, you’re making your life way harder than it has to be.

7. When you can’t learn the art of letting go.

Letting go is one of the best ways to have peace of mind and move on from the bad things in your life or the things that are out of your control. When you hold on to things or dwell on the past for too long, you get stuck in a pattern of negative thinking that overshadows the other good things that are happening in your life or your blessings.

8. Expecting too much from yourself.

It’s good to be ambitious and dream big but sometimes you take these dreams and ambitions too seriously that it makes you feel inadequate when you don’t achieve them. You shouldn’t think any less of yourself just because you’re not where you want to be in life. It’s not easy to live the life you want or the life of your dreams and it will always require a lot of work, trial and error and a lot of effort.

9. Judging yourself based on how people see you.

People will make all kinds of judgments and give you all kinds of labels according to THEIR own beliefs and perspectives. You don’t have to feel pressured to live up to certain label or let some people down. You’re allowed to be who you are, change or just grow out of things that were once part of you without worrying too much about others because people will you judge you regardless.

10. Thinking that you can’t change your life.

Because it’s too late, or too hard or you just don’t have a plan. Once you decide to change your life, trust me, you will find new ways, new doors will open and you will slowly start making small yet significant changes that bring you closer to the life you want to live. 

Rania Naim is a poet and author of the new book All The Words I Should Have Said, available here.