Johan

The True Impact of Addiction

Many people erroneously assume that their addiction won’t harm others. Of course, it does depend on what the addition is too. But for the most part, addition can really harm you and your entire community.

* Physically Harmful – Most additions have something to do with drugs, food, or other substances that can harm your physical health and sometimes the physical health of those around you. For example, cigarettes not only hurt you but the second-hand smoke also harms anyone around it, and the chemicals that are left behind on surfaces also continue to harm people.

* Can Kill Your Career – One issue with addition is that it often gets in the way of your work life, even if you think it’s not. You won’t be as productive as others and you’ll call in sick more. And if you think no one knows about your addition, you’re wrong.

* Bad for You Emotionally – When you are addicted to something, it is a very emotional thing because you know it’s bad for you and that it’s harming everything about your life, but you feel powerless to stop it. The guilt can be worse than anything.

* Ruins Your Financial Future – This can be very true for any type of addition, because often it requires money being spent that isn’t really in the budget. For example, a gambling addiction can lead you to spend just as much money that you don’t have as cocaine addiction. A coffee addition might not impact you or others much in other areas, but it’s still going to impact your finances.

* Harms Your Freedom – When you have an addiction, you tend to base all your choices on whether you can have that thing you’re addicted to or not. You may avoid social activities and doing things outside of where you can comfortably engage in your addiction.

* Harms Romantic Relationships – Addiction requires lots of lying and deception. When the partners find out, they are usually not too happy about it. They will usually break up the relationship, or if they are also damaged, they may stay in it and you will both be miserable together.

* Ruins Friendships – The same that happens in romantic relationships will happen (though much faster) in friendships. Friends will lose interest in being around you if it’s always dramatic and about you and your addiction. They may love you, but they are powerless to help.

* Can Harm Those You Don’t Even Know – If you engage in your addictive behavior around anyone, you can harm them even if you don’t know them. For example, driving under the influence, going bankrupt due to gambling debts, and more, all contribute to problems in your community.

* Can Cause Bad Impact on Your Entire Community – When a community is harshly impacted by addiction, it will become less desirable to live in. The people who can do so will leave.

To lessen the impact of addiction on yourself, your family, and your community, seek professional help to help you develop good habits to replace bad ones so that you can overcome the addiction. Don’t allow that word “addiction” to frighten you. Some addictions are simply bad habits. Some carry with them an additional problem of a chemical addiction, either physically or emotionally, which may require professional help to overcome.

The Impact of Bad Habits on Your Work

You may not even realize that some of the bad habits you’ve developed over your lifetime are causing you problems at work. However, if you have any of the habits below, you could be affecting your job (or business) if you’re not aware.

Lack of Sleep

If you have the bad habit of staying up late because you see yourself as a night owl, but you have to get up early to go to work, you are making a huge mistake. Not sleeping enough at night can not only impact your performance at work but it could also cause health problems – including cardiovascular disease.

Not Eating Breakfast

While you don’t have to eat a giant breakfast at the crack of dawn to be healthy, at some point during the morning you should eat something – even if it’s just a banana with some peanut butter on it. When you don’t eat when you’re hungry, you can cause your body to be weak and your brain unable to focus.

Reading Emails Constantly

Even at work you should not check your email all the time. Checking email (and social media) is a trap that might take you down a rabbit hole of no return. Instead, set a timer to check your email and social media or any other communication channel just three or four times a day at set times.

Sitting for Long Periods of Time

It often can’t be helped, but if you sit for work then go home and sit some more, you’re making a big mistake. This can impact your health and make it hard for you to do your job at all. Find ways to move around the office more, whether it’s taking the steps or volunteering for the food runs so you can walk around.

Complaining about Everything

This can be a habit that sneaks up on you. You may not even realize that you are doing it. However, most people tend to complain more openly than they express joy openly. In order to stop doing this, recognize the behavior and say something nice instead of something negative.

Comparing Yourself to Others

Anytime you start comparing yourself to others, it’s a mistake. It’s also a dangerous mistake. The reason it’s so bad is that you have no idea what the person has really experienced in their life or what happens to them at home. You cannot compare because so much is different. It can erode your confidence and cause you to second guess yourself, making you look incompetent.

Thinking You’re a Great Multitasker

Here is some news for you; no one is good at multitasking. If you’re trying to multitask – even if it’s required at work, it’s going to be hard to get things done accurately. Multitasking is the curse of mediocracy. Do what you can to get out of that situation so that you can do your best work by fully focusing and being mindful about one thing at a time.

If you can replace these bad habits with good habits, you may end up becoming irreplaceable at work or you might boost your business to the next level. The main thing you want to do is to at least recognize which bad habits you have so that you can plan to combat them with good habits.