7 Bad Habits That Can Hold You Back from Taking Your Career to the Next Level:

In life, we are all working toward something when it comes to our career. And yes, becoming a stay-at-home mother or father is also a career. Your ideas begin in your younger years like a seed, and as you grow older, that seed grows into a tree with fruit that serves a purpose within society.

This process looks different for everyone. For example, I knew from a young age what I wanted. However, I noticed that the following 7 bad habits affected the development of my career.

1. Lack of self-reflection

If you do not regularly pause to reflect on your own performance and areas for improvement, it can be difficult to grow in your career. That is why it is important to plan moments of self-reflection. I often asked colleagues, employers, and even family members for areas where I could improve. This helped me tremendously in taking my career to the next level. These days, I do these reflection moments together with my coach. I am not yet where I need to be, but I am growing toward my dream job.

2. Fear of change

If you hold on to the same habits and feel afraid to take on new challenges, this can hinder your growth. It is therefore helpful to regularly stretch your boundaries or break daily routines, so that even with the tension, you still dare to take on new challenges. I struggled a lot with breaking this bad habit. Steps toward new challenges often led to self-sabotage. Eventually, I realized that I would achieve nothing that way. So, with every new challenge, I decided to involve my sister, husband, or another family member, so it felt less scary and overwhelming. This led to many small moments of success. It has helped me become far less afraid of change, and now I can do many things independently.

3. Not being open to feedback

If you are not open to feedback from colleagues and supervisors, you miss valuable information that can help you improve your skills. Feedback is not an attack on you as a person, but a tool to develop your skills and character. If receiving feedback is very difficult for you, ask your supervisor or manager if they can write it down, so you can return to it later.

4. Lack of assertiveness

If you are not willing to share your ideas, express your opinion, or make your desires known, this can stand in the way of your growth and development. Nobody can sense what you think, feel, want, or need. One thing I have learned is that opportunities do not simply fall into your lap. You have to seize them. So challenge yourself to become more assertive. You may think the opposite, but people often appreciate it.

5. Difficulty setting priorities

6. Being too easily distracted

If you are constantly distracted by things such as multitasking, social media, emails, and other interruptions, this can affect your productivity and focus. I used to call myself a “multitasker,” until I discovered through research how harmful multitasking was for my brain. By unlearning this habit, I improved my productivity, memory, and focus.

7. Poor work-life balance

If you do not have a healthy balance between work and private life, this can affect your performance and growth. To this day, I am still very intentional about creating balance between my personal and professional life. I am a true work enthusiast, and I am aware that I can completely lose myself in my work if I am not held back. In the blog post “10 Ways I Want to Share With You to Create More Balance Between Your Personal and Professional Life,” I share more about this.