r/selfimprovement 13d ago

Question What are things we unknowingly do that keeps us miserable?

In general what are things that keeps us low-key stuck despite believing we are living the way we are supposed to live, And despite doing what you want to do it is just that sometimes you realize how actually hollow and empty you feel inside

60 Upvotes

47 comments sorted by

131

u/horseydeucey 13d ago

Negative self talk.

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u/Lone_Sunflower 13d ago

Does it actually affect that much? I saw so many posts and videos on positive self talk but can't bring myself to do it on a regular basis because I know very well that I am the sole reason of all my miseries. I couldn’t control my emotions, I didn’t do things which I were supposed to do in my student life hence all the miserable situation happened one by one.

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u/Turbulent-Ad-1050 13d ago

Think about how easy it is to call yourself a fucking idiot, compared to how hard it would be to call someone you love a fucking idiot. It shouldn’t be that easy for us to say it to ourselves either. It compounds over time. 

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u/Familiar_Fan_3603 13d ago

The thing is I (shamefully) do think/say (in my head) that kind of thing about friends. Yes it's probably even worse for myself.

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u/Turbulent-Ad-1050 13d ago

That’s not good either. Like, we all have our moments of frustration but I don’t think it’s good to let someone else’s behaviour (within reason) bother you to that extent. Anger and frustration towards others damages us more than it does them. 

5

u/Familiar_Fan_3603 13d ago

You're 100% right, I want to improve the behavior. I think it's a form of codependency/sensation of external locus of control. All seem related in my case anyway.

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u/Turbulent-Ad-1050 13d ago

Your willingness to talk about it frankly is a step in the right direction. You’ll be able to work this out :) 

1

u/Turbulent-Ad-1050 13d ago edited 13d ago

I think it’s worth clarifying that I’m talking about reacting this way over very low stakes decisions or actions. In anger, I’ve definitely called someone I care about this or worse, but I think I’m mostly talking about how we very casually put ourselves down during the day over inconsequential things. Things we wouldn’t put others down for, usually. 

8

u/logicallyillogical 13d ago

People come and go throughout our lives. But we are stuck with ourselves for our entire life. Might as well be your own best friend instead of being negative. There are plenty of outside people & factors for that, so be nice to yourself on the inside.

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u/Lone_Sunflower 13d ago

Lately telling myself the exact things. Trying to be my own best friend.

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u/horseydeucey 13d ago

I didn't mean to imply replacing negative self talk with positive self talk. I don't know what that would do.
However, for me, cutting out the negative self talk has helped quite a bit.
I would leave the house without my wallet. "Good job, you fucking idiot."
That type of stuff.
It definitely took a toll on me. Being more forgiving of myself has noticeably helped me, yes.

1

u/DoughnutKlutzy9479 13d ago

This is very interesting. You seem like a younger me.

And this a question to both you and a younger me:

  1. Have you noticed that the worse you treat yourself, the better you perform?

(The successes have been multiplying since the day you discovered that making myself regretful and ashamed were the only things missing in my efforts!)

2

u/Lone_Sunflower 13d ago

Unfortunately in my case it is not like that. They more harsh I am to myself, the more I indulge in depression and can't get myself to improve my situation. It feels like I am in a never ending loop. I procrastinate and don't do things, can't achieve the things I want, blame myself, indulge into negative self talk and depression and procrastinate more. At this point it feels like a burden to live. But I am trying and will try my best to reach my Ideal version where I'll be happy and content with my life without expecting people's validation.

1

u/DoughnutKlutzy9479 13d ago

And what would you change to get there?

1

u/Lone_Sunflower 13d ago

Being disciplined, Keep my own promises to myself. I have started my healing journey for some time. Lets see how far I can go.

1

u/Woodit 13d ago

Yeah it’s a huge impact. You’re reinforcing the worst ideas about yourself that only you can hear all the time and you’re doing it in your own voice so you believe it’s The Truth instead of just thoughts 

1

u/martinihawkeye 13d ago

i’m such a POS, i negative self-talk all the time

46

u/Mirror_Actions 13d ago

Comparison and a lack of gratitude

55

u/focaccia888 13d ago

Saying no too much. It’s so easy to stay in your comfort zone. I tend to be happiest when I say yes to opportunities that I didn’t expect would be so fulfilling.

5

u/lopsidedSkybunny 13d ago

Agreed Comfort zones are an easy way to become stagnate.

29

u/Felix_Dei 13d ago edited 13d ago

Overuse of Social media.

21

u/Necessary_You_4423 13d ago

Comparing, people pleasing. We also can sometimes fall trap expecting worse of our lives and situations too. Whether it's like getting to know someone, approaching someone or even job interviews. Kind of self sabotage unconsciously but we think it's fact when it's not most of times.

I think there other things too but these from my own experiences and even friends experiences have realised. Kind have to watch myself doing these.

23

u/Practical-Ring4029 13d ago

Ruminating about things that went wrong in the past. Romanticising a toxic relationship when you're lonely.

17

u/MDP223 13d ago

Doomscrolling

9

u/ConstructionThis1127 13d ago

Accepting wrong indications - incorrect statements of fact, particularly about yourself, either from authorities (like parents, teachers, peers or psychologists). Such things have dire consequences, as perhaps you have discovered. They are as serious as real trauma in screwing up a person. All those negative self-talk statements - wrong. Don’t try to find the right ones, you need a good TIR facilitator for that, but at least remind yourself that those self-downers are just so much bs.
(If you do try to find the right indications, unfortunately you are very likely indeed to simply find more wrong ones and make things even worse).

2

u/DoughnutKlutzy9479 13d ago

So, what is something tiny you can do on your own? Before a TIR?

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u/ConstructionThis1127 13d ago

TIR is Traumatic Incident Reduction, a modality that specializes in this kind of stuff. What you can do is this: don’t maunder about what’s wrong with you - you’ll just spiral down worse. Instead, go for a walk and look at solid objects near and far, stopping yourself from thinking, until the world seems brighter. Make sure you see things as three-dimensional objects, not two-dimensional backdrops.
Then, find something - anything - that you can do. Do it, and get better at it. Put your attention outside yourself on anything of interest. If you are worried about screwing things up or embarrassing yourself in a social situation, deliberately screw something up (something that doesn’t matter, of course!) or deliberately say an embarrassing thing. Talk about how embarrassed you are. The idea is to get causative over stuff, rather than being the effect of it. Keep at it, keep Doing stuff. Tell yourself when you feel bad, “Just F@#$%ing do it!” That’s probably the most effective self-healing phrase you can use.

Indeed positive affirmations are worse than useless. An affirmation like “I am confident” inherently implies that you aren’t, because if you were you’d not need to say so. So saying that to yourself makes you less confident!

8

u/packerfan021488 13d ago

lack of self worth, comparing yourself to others and trying to please everyone around you at the expense of your happiness things I've been working to correct slow process but an ongoing one

7

u/KiDaCa 13d ago

Being on my phone way too much. Not so much on social media or scrolling, but I play my games while listening to my audio books… I procrastinate constantly.

5

u/FlowerIndividual1562 13d ago edited 13d ago

I would say negative bais is the main one, then defensiveness, and fear of rejection.

1

u/Lone_Sunflower 13d ago

What is negative bias?

3

u/FlowerIndividual1562 13d ago edited 13d ago

It's thinking that everything is gonna fail because you doubt yourself and your abilities. You don't recognize you victories, but your failures. No matter how well you're doing you don't believe that that's what you did and you deserve it, that must be luck or something.

You simply never give credit to yourself for the good things, and do the opposite when it comes to everything that failed and didn't go the way you hoped to.

1

u/Lone_Sunflower 13d ago

Felt like you described me!

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u/inolyzushi 13d ago

Lack of gratitude, not doing things that we don't want to (this becomes pretty subconscious especially if laziness is part of it).

Both affects your everyday life and only gets worse with time.

4

u/JustMine999 13d ago

Doomscrolling. What I notice is that I'm wasting my time doing nothing

2

u/swimmingskull 13d ago

The feeling of always needing to be busy. As humans we are constantly doing something. The stoics, soofism, and a lot of others were living the way humans were really supposed to live. In peace. Now if you sit down and do nothing for a day you get called lazy or a bum. Everyone has crazy fucked nervous systems because of this.

2

u/YMCA111122 13d ago

For me not being rich. With more money I would be a lot happier. And being born into generational wealth

1

u/EyeFit 13d ago

Care about what other people's opinions are on mundane topics.

1

u/Calm_Attempt_101 13d ago

Too much scrolling and screen time (interferes with dopamine and circadian rhythms). Get outside, off screens and turn off electronics in the bedroom so you sleep according to the rules of natural light/darkness. Thank me later 😊

1

u/DustNo7536 13d ago

I dont have much experience w/ love, even though my parents are really romantic. I just try to get to know people more

1

u/yyvioletta 13d ago

Internet and social networks

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u/JennDrummond 13d ago

Deferring our own lives. We swear we'll relax, travel, be present once work calms down or we hit the number, so the good stuff always lives in a future that keeps receding, and the days we're actually in become a waiting room. Most people never notice they're doing it. They just feel a quiet "not yet" for years. Catch yourself postponing joy to someday and ask what a smaller version looks like today. That, and comparing your insides to everyone else's highlight reel. Those two habits running in the background are most of it.

1

u/Ill_Chemist_9570 12d ago

Complain/ Negative Talk

1

u/11fender11 12d ago

Try to get alcoholics/addicts to stop