Habits That Are Hard To Break After 30 - Page 5

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Studies have found that the human brain doesn’t change much after your mid-20s. While some behaviors and traits have and always will be stronger in some individuals simply due to genetics, we have more power to alter those up to our mid-20s than we do after. In other words, it’s just hard to change after you turn 30—your personality and habits are almost written in stone. If it’s very important to you to change something, then you’ll always have the option to go to therapy, meditate, and try other practices that can condition certain behaviors out of you (or into you). But just know that changing those would be much simpler if you did so before 30. If you know someone who just can’t kick a bad habit, pity them—it’s just tough after a certain age. Here are habits that are hard to break after you’re 30.

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Impulse shopping

One top here, one dress there…it doesn’t seem too bad, right? But if you don’t need those items, then you’re an impulse shopper. And a lifetime of impulse shopping could rob you of the funds you needed to put a down payment on a car or a house.

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Gossip obsession

The need to know what others are doing is deeply rooted in humans—we’ve been curious about others since we lived in caves! But if you’re still under 30, you can quit the habit of checking social media every 30 minutes and get your life back.

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Poor eating habits

Time is running out to kick your candy addiction or your nightly routine of waiting until you’re so hungry that you just order a giant pizza and eat the whole thing. Now is the time to be conscious about when and what you eat. You can still reset your stomach’s clock and your cravings.

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Skipping doctor’s appointments

Getting in the habit of scheduling regular doctor’s appointments, putting them in your calendar, and keeping them can add years to your life, and help you avoid devastating health problems. But if you don’t start this before you’re 30, you may skip 3 pap smears and not even realize it.

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Night owl tendencies

If you didn’t keep any clocks around, you’d probably go to bed sometime between 3 and 6 am and sleep until 2 pm every day. But get in the habit now of giving yourself a bedtime because you just can’t engage in society like a normal person if you sleep until 2 pm forever.

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Caring what others think

You can reprogram your brain to not even be bothered by what others are thinking. You really can condition yourself to stop the mental cycle of obsessing about what others think—doesn’t that sound nice? Imagine all that time and energy you’d get back. But do it now.

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Forgetting your sunglasses

If you think about it, your friends either never wear sunglasses when they go outdoors or always wear sunglasses—there is little in between. That’s because it’s a habit that you can ingrain in yourself if you do it soon. It can save your eye site!

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Throwing tantrums

Do you give into your emotions too much? Do you let your anger get the best of you? Do you say things you don’t mean (or you do mean, but shouldn’t have said)? This can destroy relationships and even your career. But there may still be time for you to condition yourself to stop doing this.

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Staying in dead-end relationships

Once you consciously break off a dead end relationship the moment you realize it’s dead end, you can develop a healthy, lifelong habit of doing this. But the longer you stay in dead-end relationships, the more prone you’ll be to always do that.

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Disappearing when you’re depressed

Hiding in your home feels like the easiest thing to do when you’re depressed but it can make your depression worse. If you’re still under 30, get in the habit of talking to someone when you’re depressed, getting out of your home and seeing friends. You can train your brain to want to do those things when you feel depression coming on.

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Failing to take risks

If you don’t take many risks by the age of 30, then you also won’t reap many rewards for taking risks. That means when you’re 30, you won’t know, firsthand, how rewarding risk taking can be. And then it will just be terrifying.

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Not speaking up

By the age of 30, you’ll either be somebody who speaks up when you witness an injustice or you feel wronged, or you’ll be someone who stays quiet. Make your choice.

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Refusing to forgive

Forgiving someone can be really hard—forgiving someone after you’re 30 can be damn near impossible. But you’ll be amazed at how much lighter you feel, and how much smoother life goes if you can let go of grudges. You don’t need to remain friends with someone who is bad for you, but you can release your anger towards them.

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Making your partner your life

If you get in the habit of making your romantic partner your whole life—revolving your schedule around him, only hanging out with his friends, and only taking an interest in his hobbies—this will be very hard to break later in life. Why? Because everyone else will have full lives of their own at that point, and you’ll just feel left behind. So you’ll cling to romantic partners even more.

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Drinking every night

If you have a drink every night after work but you’d like to stop that habit, stop it before you’re 30. Otherwise, you could be setting yourself and your liver up for trouble.

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Smoking

Smoking is hard enough to quit at any age, so take advantage of the fact that you’re not yet 30 and quit it now. That is one habit you cannot afford to have your whole life.

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Eating out

You can train your brain to subconsciously schedule a time to grocery shop, cook food, and clean dishes. But if you don’t start doing this now, it will feel very difficult later and you could throw money away on delivery forever.

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Flaking on plans

If it’s important to you to be a woman of her word then stop flaking on plans today. Do the things you say you’ll do—even if you’re tired, you don’t feel like it, or something more interesting comes up.

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Rarely calling your family

Now is the time to schedule weekly phone calls with your family. Put it in your calendar if you have to. Say no to other things that come up. Treat that phone call like a physical plan.