Although several bad habits keep you from unlocking your best life and enjoying a fulfilling romantic relationship, these are the top five self-sabotaging habits that keep you stuck and drive your partner crazy! Resolve to get rid of them this year (the habits, not your partner).

1) Approval-seeking Behavior

It’s impossible to unlock your best life and have a fulfilling romantic relationship if you seek approval with everything you do and every decision you make. 

You can’t be a respected leader, manager or achieve much success without confidently making decisions for yourself. 

Stop seeking permission and approval to star in your own life!

You have what it takes to unlock your best life! You can have it if you want it.

Remind yourself that although you’re not perfect, you’re good enough! You measure up! You can’t control how others think or react. So stop seeking approval for everything you do. 

Practice strengthening your self-esteem and feelings of self-worth. Realize that you are a quality person with much to offer! Sure, you have some growing to do, but who doesn’t? There’s nothing wrong with you. 

You can choose to feel confident or inferior. Confidence is sexy. And it paves the way for greater success because people will feel more comfortable with you and trust you more. 

2) Making excuses

It’s been said that winners make progress, losers make excuses. 

Stop blaming events, people, timing, or the past for your mistakes or behavior. Take responsibility. 

Not only do employers dislike the behavioral trait of blaming, but your partner hates it too. No one likes to be blamed for stuff that went wrong, least of all your partner; newsflash, it’s not all their fault. You’ll have a better, happier relationship when you start taking responsibility for it. 

You’ll never be happy in an intimate relationship with anyone until you break the bad habit of blaming others and making excuses for your shortcomings.

3) Caving into self-doubt

Self-doubt is the leading killer of dreams and success because it creates hesitation. Think of everything hesitation has already cost you. 

At some point, you just have to trust yourself! So stop second-guessing your hopes, dreams, and decisions. Take action. Fail! If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough. Get out onto the playing field of life and stop missing opportunities for greater success and love!

4) Catastrophizing – the sky is falling!!

If you think the sky is falling, chances are yours will. Your thoughts are a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy because you’ll eventually find what you expect. 

If you see trouble, you’ll find trouble.

If you see bad times, you’ll find bad times.

If you assume infidelity in your partner’s every single action, you’ll eventually convince yourself they’re being unfaithful even if they’re the most loyal person on Earth!

We will eventually manifest what we imagine to be true, whether simply in the theater of our own mind or in the real world.

Furthermore, guess who enjoys being with or hanging around negative, gloomy, pessimistic people? No one! Including your partner. 

Outlook and mindset are everything. 

Stop being your own worst enemy and psyching yourself out by seeing and expecting the worst. Discipline yourself to spend time practicing gratitude daily. 

5) Not listening to understand

Not everyone listens, and it seems that even fewer people listen to understand. Don’t be one of those people. 

Listening to understand another person’s point of view accelerates success in life and marriage. 

You don’t have to agree with their point of view, but there’s no harm in understanding it. Who knows, perhaps you’ll even learn something about yourself, your situation, or your relationship that will improve things for the better!

Push your ego aside and start listening. Caring is listening. Compassion is understanding. So listen for success in life and love. 

Bad habits and destructive behaviors lead to problems in life and love. But you can do something about these five bad habits if you want to. 

Some bad habits are simply annoying, while others will repeatedly sabotage your life and love. 

Hopefully, this list helped you determine if you struggle with any of these leading habits holding you back from having the kind of life and relationship you dream of and desire.