If you really want to reach your full potential, say goodbye to these 6 behaviors

Reaching your full potential doesn’t just happen overnight (although I’m sure many of us wish it did!).

It takes time, effort, and a conscious analysis of your daily habits and behaviors to ensure you’re on the right track.

While there’s no right or wrong way to reach your full potential, there are certain behaviors that will (unfortunately) always hold you back in life.

Let’s explore the 6 behaviors you need to say goodbye to if you want to reach your full potential in life.

1) Snoozing your alarm

When working remotely, it’s easy to just roll out of bed, slide over to your desk, open your laptop, and start work.

But are you getting properly dressed and showered when you do this?

Are you getting any form of exercise before being caught up in meetings and emails?

Are you taking time to enjoy your morning coffee or just some headspace before work starts?

I’d imagine the answer is: probably not.

Even though those few extra minutes in bed feel so good at the time, nothing feels better than feeling ahead of schedule.

Plus, according to science, if you’re a morning person, your brain is significantly more active the earlier in the day it is.

Which means when you wake up earlier, you have more headspace for analytical thinking and inner growth.

So stop snoozing, hit that gym class, go for that sunrise run (or just a walk!), read your book out on the balcony, and start enjoying some you-time in the mornings.

With more free time to think, you can plan your days better, learn more, and truly reach your full potential.

2) Saying yes when you should say no

Saying yes when you want to (or should) say no chips away at your sense of self (yes that might be a little dramatic, but it’s kind of true!).

When you agree to things you shouldn’t, you disregard your own needs and put other people’s needs above your own.

And while this can be beneficial occasionally to maintain healthy friendships and happy relationships, it’s not something you should make a habit of.

When you say yes to everything, you’re actually saying no to yourself.

Like if you get asked to take on more responsibility at work for no extra pay, saying yes will only make you busier and more stressed without the financial rewards.

Likewise, if you keep going to social events because you can’t say no, you’re never going to save the money you want to save. Or have enough time to learn a new language or start a side hustle.

3) Not saying yes enough!

I know this might sound contradictory from the previous point, but another habit you need to let go of if you want to reach your full potential is saying no to everything.

Just like saying no can feel uncomfortable sometimes, so can saying yes.

When you get invited to a mixer or out with colleagues you hardly know, agreeing to go can be a bit of a risk.

Because will you enjoy it? Will anyone speak to you? Will some sort of disaster happen that means you can never show your face in public ever again?

It’s easy to talk yourself out of things that could be good for your growth (and life) out of fear of the unknown – especially if you have social anxiety.

But saying yes more often could lead you to new friendships, love interests, work prospects, or just a different perspective on the world.

And not just saying yes in a literal way. But saying yes to thoughts you have and things you want to do.

Like that hobby you’ve always wanted to start. Or taking up running. Or even just waking up a bit earlier every day to read more.

Whatever it is, when you start saying yes more, you learn that doing is different from dreaming (as someone who said yes for a year said). And the adrenaline rush you feel from saying yes will be way stronger than any discomfort.

4) Hiding from present challenges and past mistakes

Changing your mindset isn’t easy. But with consistent effort and a conscious change to your thinking patterns, you can adopt a more positive state of mind.

A growth mindset is defined as a belief that you can learn anything, do anything, and overcome any challenges by thinking about things in a different way.

People with a growth mindset tend to face difficulties with a positive attitude and process failures in an introspective way – helping them evolve and grow both mentally and physically.

If you want to reach your full potential, building a mindset that allows you to respond better to hurdles is one of the best things you can do.

To develop this kind of brain power, let go of your fear of making mistakes. Take risks and ask for feedback on your performance afterward.

If there’s no one to ask, start journalling to identify your thought patterns around certain tasks and analyze your successes.

Be kind to yourself and always try to look for the positives in things, without neglecting to learn from what went wrong.

According to studies, consistent work and effort can lead to a new mindset in as little as two months.

5) Running late to everything

To reach your full potential in life, you need to give yourself enough time to think, feel, and breathe.

If you’re always running late to everything, you’re not giving yourself the time to relax or think things through.

Like if you’ve got a big meeting first thing and you’re late to work, have to rush into the office, find the room, skip the coffee, and sit down just in time for the chair to start, you’re probably not going to be in the best mindset to participate.

But if you get in 20 minutes early, take time to use the restroom, have a glass of water, make yourself a coffee while reading over the papers, and get to the room 5 minutes early, you’ll be in a much better headspace to show up fully.

If you’re generally a late person, ditching the habit can be a tricky one.

But the best way to stop running late is to plan better.

Before any event, take time to plan out how much time you need to get ready – breaking it down to how long it takes to shower, style your hair, brush your teeth, eat breakfast, etc.

Set yourself alarms for what time you need to move on to the next task to keep you on track.

And always, always, always give yourself more time than you need.

6) Constantly sacrificing downtime

When you’re always running like crazy on the hamster wheel, you’re never going to achieve the things you want to achieve in life.

To reach your full potential, you need time to actually think about what that potential is.

So don’t keep sacrificing your downtime to make everyone else in your life happy. Prioritize your time so that goal-setting and quiet time is part of your weekly routine.

Which could mean making time to meditate, journal, go for a mindful walk, listen to a motivating podcast, or read a few chapters of your book.

Without downtime, you’ll always be running on empty.

And you’ll never be able to do the things you really want if you’re not giving yourself enough time to sleep, plan, and relax.

So ditch the habit of booking things to do every night and weekend and give yourself a break every now and then.

Final thoughts

Getting ahead in life requires time, more than anything. And all these behaviors sacrifice your valuable time for things that aren’t always so valuable.

That’s why it’s important to be mindful of what behaviors you’re engaging in every day.

With more time on your hands, you can finally get ahead in your career, find a new job, work on your physical health, and get your side business off the ground!

Related:

• 10 things disciplined people do (that prime them for success)
• 9 signs your strong personality is scaring people away
• If someone uses these phrases, they’re probably a strategic thinker