5 Bad Habits that are ruining your life, replace them now.
Hi, I got a week off from my corporate world. The Ramzan (Fasting Month) ended and I got a one-week vacation for the Eid Event Celebration. So my mind was free from meetings, Clients, Reports, office and so on. I tried to analyze my daily routines. I found that there are things I am constantly doing and it's wasting a lot of time and energy.
These bad habits can be replaced with good ones that will have a really good effect on the mind, health, productivity, and overall life. So I thought to share them with you.
1. Staying awake late at night and scrolling Social Media
Yea, yea I know. Everyone loves social media, scrolling reels, watching memes, tagging friends, and more. But, wait a second, and get out of this picture and view it as a whole. Is it worth spending countless hours? especially when your body wants to relax. We forcefully keep ourselves awake till 11 pm, 12 pm, or even 2 pm.
Last night I got a chance to sleep in the open sky and I kept my iPhone away in a room. I kept wearing my watch so it woke me up in the morning. I felt the night coldness, breeze, darkness, stars, and clouds. I felt how amazing this is. What if there were no nights, how do we relax?
Allah (God) is the One Who has made the night for you as a cover, and ˹made˺ sleep for resting, and the day for rising. (Ayah al-Furqan (The Criterion, The Standard) 25:47.)
As I don’t having my iPhone so I find my grateful for the things I have and others don’t. The family, friends, gadgets, job, food, shelter, vehicle, and the list goes on. I did breathing exercises for a minute and all the stress and worries were gone. Just me, night, and clear mind. You can try this too.
Just think what chaos this late-night social media has. Insomnia, depression, anxiety, eye problems, and tiredness, affect relationships and the next-day overall routine. You have to sleep on time probably 9 pm, or 10 pm, and get rid of this nasty stuff.
2. Waking up late in Morning and not Exercising
We need to fix our sleeping routine first for waking up early. It will take time maybe 2–3 weeks but it is worth it. It will affect your overall life. Waking early for me is to get myself wake up before the sun. So I wake up at 4:30 am and never see the notifications first. Fresh myself, drink water, do prayers, gratitudes, etc, and go for a morning walk.
By the time the sun is rising, its tiny cute sun rays falling on my face is the best feeling. The bird's sound, the cold air, the oxygen levels, the trees and mountains everything feels amazing. I felt confident, blessed, motivated, and mindful.
The Prophet (PBUH), Said “The early morning has been blessed for my Ummah.”(Saheeh al-Jaami’).
It boosts creativity and I get a chance to meet new people, building new connections and more. I do a minimum of 30 minutes walk a day. Once I am back I still have a plenty of time for breakfast, reading, and getting ready for work.
3. The Non-Stop Social Media, Netflix, and YouTube
I know, I have mentioned before but we need to replace it with something. You may be thinking if I delete all social media apps, then what will I do? and the answer is to replace them with something you like.
The Prophet (PBUH), said, “There are two blessings which many people waste: health and free time.” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6412)
I deleted Facebook, X, Snapchat, Instagram, and other time-sucking bugs. I started reading Medium and News. I started writing journal. Journal writing makes me self-aware and makes me a better version of myself. You will find endless reasons and benefits of reading and writing.
I replaced YouTube, Netflix, Movies, and Seasons with Documentaries. If I did it you can too, just start with a little action.
4. Guilt from the Past, and Fear of Future
Everyone has some guilt from the past, and fear of the future. Don’t run away from them instead face them, bring them forward and fight. Forgive yourself, and move on. As far as the fear and stress of the future, 99% of this is just our imagination. What if I lost my job? What if I break up? What if I lose my money, What if, What if, and What if.
If I flash back I laugh, these were the things I was worried about. We were worried about the present. Now we are here and want to keep making that mistake by worrying about the future? No! You don’t need to. Just take a deep breath and let go of all your stress with air. Our life is destined, there are certain things we can control and others we don’t.
The Prophet (PBUH), said “And if they were to gather together to harm you with anything, they would not harm you except with what Allah had already prescribed against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried.” (Tirmidhi)
5. The Ego
Don’t confuse this sh*t with self-respect. Self-respect rises you and Ego makes you fall. Self Respect makes friends and Ego makes foes. How Ego is defined?
When someone keeps feeling that someone or something has insulted me. Every conversation and every event makes someone feel insulted. I am the Director, I am this, I am that, I, I, and I. Instead I need to think I am not the Director I have just been given the responsibility of a Director and I am accountable for that not for my Ego.
But how to get rid of this evil? Well, I got 2 remedies. The first one is making myself Emotionally intelligent. Being emotionally intelligent means knowing self-emotions as well as others.
The other remedy is believing that we are all equal, whether a CEO or an Office boy, We are Equal.
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said: “O mankind, your Lord is One and your father is one. You all descended from Aadam, and Aadam was created from the earth. He is most honored among you in the sight of God who is most upright. No Arab is superior to a non-Arab, no colored person to a white person, or a white person to a colored person except by Taqwa (piety).” (At-Tirmidhi)
Conclusions
Life is an awesome journey. It has ups and downs. We can’t have happy emotions all the time. We need to learn from the past, prepare for the future, and enjoy the present. Just go with the flow and everything will be okay :)
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