11 Happiness-Draining Habits Highly Intelligent People Have No Time For
Life is too short to spend your time worrying about things you can't control.
Roman Samborskyi / Shutterstock Smart people are all aware that life is too short, especially for everyday worries that just aren’t worth your energy. High IQ people have no time to spend on happiness-draining habits they know will never benefit them in any way, shape, or form.
Giving up these common but self-sabotaging behaviors is sure to make you feel better, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Dropping these worries will free you up to put your care and intention toward things that actually matter.
These are 11 happiness-draining habits highly intelligent people have no time for
1. Feeling guilty because you skipped one workout
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It’s okay to take a day off and not tell yourself that you’re a failure for it. As they say, it takes more than one workout to make a better body, and it takes more than one cheat day to ruin all your hard work.
Speaking with GQ, RRCA-certified running coach Ashley Mateo advised, “If you miss a single run, don’t even make up that run. There’s no point, just let it go."
“A single workout is not going to make or break a training plan," she continued. "The key to training for any running race is consistency over time. You just want to be consistently showing up.”
2. Crying over romantic disappointments
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Before they get the title of boyfriend or girlfriend, they'd better earn it. And if they make you cry or leave you at home feeling sorry for yourself, they're not worth it.
You don’t have enough time to spend any of it at home crying over someone who doesn't deserve you.
3. Working a job you hate
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Leave it for someone who might be happy in that job, and demand that your very limited and precious time and energy are spent on something you believe in.
As certified career coach Chelsea Jay noted, "The daily grind of a job you despise can take a toll on your mental health and emotional well-being. Persistent dissatisfaction and frustration can lead to stress, anxiety, and even depression. These emotions and mental stress can begin to affect your personal life as well, leaving you drained and not wanting to do anything that you enjoy outside of work (i.e., self-care, hobbies, hanging out with friends and family, etc.)."
Life’s too short to be miserable for 40 hours a week. There will be a position that makes you feel proud and accomplished right around the corner.
4. Insulting yourself
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In the bathroom mirror, when you look at your Instagram photos, when you try on clothes... All the millions of chances you get to criticize your body are also millions of chances to respect yourself, compliment yourself, and build up more self-esteem by being your own loudest cheerleader.
Christine Chae, LCSW, explained that, "self-compliments are affirmations we give ourselves to acknowledge our strengths, achievements, and worth. These are not grandiose statements of arrogance but sincere acknowledgments of our positive attributes and successes."
5. Wearing uncomfortable clothes
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Yeah, really. Ill-fitting clothing can quickly ruin your mood, causing you physical and emotional discomfort as you shift and stretch and desperately try in vain to get them to feel right.
There are some real risks, too, including gastrointestinal trouble, yeast infections, and nerve entrapment. So if you really want to try that new trend, at least make sure the clothing fits correctly.
6. Not sharing your dreams with your friends, family, and loved ones
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If you don’t share your dreams and goals with your friends, family, and the people you love, they won’t know how to support or encourage you.
And if you don’t share what it is you want to create or do, you have no right to expect it to magically happen for you. Use your words as your greatest tool for recruitment.
7. Being too lazy to make changes in your life
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Excuses take a lot of time. You have to create them, repeat them until you believe them, and then use them in all the areas you’d otherwise be getting things done. Stop it.
Clinical social worker Angela Wood and health educator Ralph Wood suggest a process known as "motivational interviewing" to propel yourself forward.
"Motivational interviewing recognises that motivation often changes and fluctuates day-to-day, even moment-to-moment," they stated. "It also sees motivation as a multifaceted concept that involves not only being willing to change, but being ready and able. Being willing means that you recognise that something concerns you about your situation. You see a discrepancy between the reality of your life and the ideal. This might include a desire for change or a sense of need for change."
"You might complain that your favourite jeans don’t fit anymore or that you’re tired of endless arguments with your partner," they continued. "This reflects your reality. You then recognise how you wish things were: the ideal. When reality and ideal are sufficiently different, you become uncomfortable. You start thinking about change."
8. Comparing yourself to other people
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As artist, coach, and author David Andrew Wiebe noted, "The main problem with comparison is that it eliminates gratitude from your heart. A lack of gratitude diminishes love. A lack of love leads to a miserable life."
No amount of wishing you were someone else is ever going to make you anything but what and who you already are. Start focusing on making yourself someone you want to be.
9. Not spending your money on travel and adventure
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There are just too many beaches, bungalows, mountains, creeks, hammocks, rooftops, vineyards, canyons, cliffs, and city skylines to not get out there and see it all.
You’ve only got so much time before it’ll be too late to travel. And what are all those savings good for if not taking you to another world?
10. Being critical of others
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Board-certified clinical psychologist Nick Wignall stated that, "Impulsive criticism of others is like emotional fast food: It feels good for a few seconds, but quickly makes you feel a lot worse."
Being critical of others doesn’t make you feel better about yourself. It just makes you look unhappy and unforgiving. No one wants to be around that kind of person.
11. Valuing the opinions of other people over your own
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The only opinion about your life and your decisions that you can really trust is your own. You are the only person who’s seen your entire life, and you’re the person who knows you best.
Trust yourself. You know what’s best for you.
Rachael Yahne is an award-winning writer and cancer survivor who mixes beauty with meaning and style with soul and substance.
