Sitemap
Follow Alex’s Instagram for more drawings and ideas.

Member-only story

Eight seemingly harmless habits you’re doing that make you miserable

4 min readJul 24, 2024

One thing I learned over years and years of amazing highs and terrible lows:

We can make ourselves miserable doing things that appear totally innocent, and ‘not a big deal.’

Small shifts in behaviour can change all this.

Here’s what I learned to avoid:

1. Seeking Validation

It’s easy to believe that our happiness relies on others. We felt joy when we behaved well and mummy rewarded us with a sweety.

We want more of this feeling as we go through life, looking to please people to boost our happiness.

We run around exhausted from trying so hard. But, when we rely on others to make us feel happy, we’re deriving our self-worth from people over whom we have no control.

This puts us in a vulnerable position — miserable when people don’t return what we gave. Far better to let go of the need for validation, and serve yourself first.

2. High Standards of Output

Humans are their most alive when they spend time following their deepest calling as humans: creating.

Whether it’s cooking, playing a game, writing a book or painting a wall, we’re happiest in the…

--

--

Alex Mathers
Alex Mathers

Written by Alex Mathers

Helping you develop uncommon confidence and authentic leadership. Triple your productivity today using my checklist when you subscribe: https://alexmathers.co/

Responses (2)