Most people have the potential to create an amazing life. However, most people don't even come close to achieving greatness. The problem is that their actions and habits are suboptimal. To achieve success—whether in a new career or personal life—you must abandon bad habits and adopt good ones. It can be argued that one of the most significant factors contributing to your success or lack thereof is the quality of your habits. I often write and speak about this principle: if you want better outputs, you must have better inputs.

In this post, I discuss the habits that hold you back. The following habits are high-level and somewhat ethereal—they go beyond common procrastination or time-wasting behaviors.

If you want to improve your life, you cannot wait for that mythical time when everything is ideal and there aren't any challenges. Part of success is taking on your current challenges and embracing new ones. If you want to improve your life, you must take control of your destiny. You don't want to leave the outcomes of your life to chance and circumstance.

1. Putting Blame in the Wrong Place

Human beings excel at blaming their lack of success on outside factors. While every excuse contains a hint of truth (unless it's an outright lie), excuses are distractions. Instead of doing the work, you become distracted by why something didn't or cannot happen.

It would be easy for me to point to my disability and say I can't achieve success because it's too challenging or requires more work than others have to do. Often, my disability makes many things more challenging, sometimes exponentially so. However, there's another side to consider. What determines my outcomes isn't only my disability, but other factors such as my mindset, creativity, willingness to learn, and how I ask for help. My level of presence versus distraction, along with many other factors, all play a role.

In your life, you might have an unsupportive family, health issues, ghosts from the past, or anything else that holds you back. Your job is to work around these obstacles and take control of your destiny.

2. Going with the Flow

Jim Rohn said we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. This applies to everything from eating habits to money habits to raising our children. Many people take cues from those closest to them. If someone close to you has the same bad habits, you may develop those same patterns.

Another issue with going with the flow is that the human brain seeks maximum efficiency. In other words, it prefers the easy way over the most beneficial way. Many parents of young children find it easier to hand their kids a phone or iPad rather than doing the right thing. It's also easier to call a friend and complain than actually address the issue. Many people choose convenience over taking the right action.

3. Waiting Instead of Creating What's Missing

A common excuse people make is that they don't have enough support, connections, motivation, or drive. Here's the truth: these things aren't given—they're sought or created.

Nobody told me to write books, become a speaker, or learn AI. When I decided to write a book or speak, I didn't know any authors or speakers. I met these people through networking events and conferences. I learned AI by watching YouTube videos and attending workshops. I made the connections, read books, hired mentors, and stayed productive.

You are responsible for your life and its outcomes. It's unwise to sit back and wait for an amazing life to come your way. There are always opportunities, no matter how challenging things get or how impossible they might sound. The responsibility for your life rests on your shoulders, and you must create the opportunities that will lead you to live the life of your dreams.

You, my friend, have to be the catalyst of change.