25 things that can steal your joy

Having had bouts of extreme sadness in my life, I’ve become somewhat of a studier of JOY : what steals it, and what brings more of it into our lives.

I believe it’s important to know both, because if we can avoid those things that steal our joy, we can maintain a level of happiness throughout most of our day instead of letting ourselves be robbed of it. And then of course by knowing what brings us joy, we can look at incorporating more of those things into our day to day lives.

Below is a list I’ve created based on what I’ve observed in my own life – so if you feel like you’ve got some work to do after reading this list, then WORRY NOT. It will make you feel better, I’m sure, to know that at some point in my life I have struggled with EVERY.SINGLE.ONE.

I’ve worked to eliminate as many of these joy-stealers from my life as possible – but of course there are times that some can raise their sneaky heads again and I have to work to overcome them again! And no doubt, so will you!

So, here’s that list of JOY-STEALERS TO AVOID :

1. Regret (I’ve written more here about regret and how to avoid it. )

2. Dread

3. Worry (Read about 4 ways to stop worrying and start enjoying life)

4. Perfectionism vs excellence (Want to know the lies of perfectionism?)

5. A critical attitude

6. Complaining

7. Comparison and jealousy

8. Being ungrateful

9. Negative thinking

10. Unrealistic expectations

11. Entitlement mentality

12. Hurry sickness

13. Focusing only on the destination not the journey

14. Loneliness

15. Burnout

16.Materialism

17.Living vicariously through your children

18.Self neglect

19.People pleasing

20.Being someone you’re not: masks

21.Living too cautiously

22. Putting your worth in what you do (performance orientation)

23.Guilt

24.Lack of purpose

25. Drivenness/striving vs healthy ambition