Life is full of ups and downs, and while it is easy to say that you should always make positive decisions regarding the way you live, there are times when this is easier said than done. However, there are things you can do to help stack the odds in your favour. Make sure you are being proactive and doing what you can, so that you can avoid — or at least minimise — poor lifestyle decisions. The following is a look at some of the best ways to avoid bad lifestyle choices.
Build your self-esteem
People with a lower sense of self-worth are more likely to make bad lifestyle choices, and sometimes these poor decisions are — at least in part — a way for them to somehow punish or hurt themselves. As much as it is easy to feel isolated and depressed in modern societies, it is crucial that people spend time and effort trying to actively cultivate a healthy image of themselves. Give yourself things to feel good about, and remind yourself constantly that you are a worthwhile person, because you are less likely to choose to do something that is clearly destructive if you have a little more love and respect for yourself.
Build strong relationships
A lot of poor lifestyle choices are made by people who don’t have good friends to be able to keep them out of trouble, so if you want to avoid making poor lifestyle decisions, put a bit more time and effort into your relationships. Real friends won’t encourage you to make poor choices, and instead will help support you to make decisions that positively affect your lifestyle instead. Along with helping keep you out of trouble, you will be able to do the same for your friends as well. If you do still end up in a bad situation, having good friends will be crucial if you are going to be able to get out of it.
Make a plan to break bad habits
It is often when you are floating around without much direction that it becomes easy to make poor lifestyle decisions, so to avoid ending up in a bad situation of your own making, be proactive and make a plan for what it is you want to get out of life. It doesn’t have to be a detailed 20-year plan, but if you are lucky enough to live in a privileged first world country, make the most of it and set yourself some goals. Sign up for that course you’ve been eyeing off, or if you have been wanting to quit smoking, get yourself a health cigarette or some e cigs and do it. Life really is too short to just float through it, and by being positive and having a plan, you are far less likely to make negative lifestyle choices.
It is important to do all that you can to avoid making bad lifestyle choices, but should you make a bad one, don’t be overly hard on yourself; simply turn your focus to bouncing back. Sometimes in life you will be faced with decisions that are almost impossible to make, so just do your best, try to be positive and remember that you are only human after all.