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Health, Lifestyle

10 Toxic Habits of Unhealthy People

Written by Amy Morin
A psychotherapist, psychology instructor, keynote speaker, and the author of the bestselling book 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do

Unhealthy people have toxic habits that keep them unhealthy. Avoid these 10 toxic habits to ensure that you are living life to your full potential.

1. Always Assume the Worst

Unhealthy people always assume that the worst. They assume no one will like them, that they’ll always mess up, and that they’ll never be successful in their efforts. They predict others have evil intentions and they always predict the worst possible scenarios will come true.

2. Possess an External Locus of Control

People with an external locus of control think that everything that happens to them is fate. They believe they just have bad luck and that they have no control over what happens to them in life. As a result, they take little responsibility for what happens in their lives and blame everyone else for their misfortune.

3. Believe in the Latest Health Fads

Toxic people tend to jump on board with the latest health fads without conducting any research on their own. If someone makes a claim a that a new product can offer miraculous results, they’ll buy it. They aren’t able to critically analyze whether or not a product is likely to produce the results that are claimed.

4. Look for the Easy Way Out

They want quick and fast solutions. They expect immediate results and don’t believe that hard work will get them to where they want to be. Instead, they expect that if something is going to change, it should happen now.

5. Don’t Set Goals for Themselves

Toxic people don’t create goals for themselves. They don’t work toward reaching anything in life. Often, they can say that they want things to be better but they don’t try to establish strategies to help improve their situation.

6. Feel Jealous of Others Success

They tend to feel jealous when other people are successful. They often feel angered by people who are more attractive, earn more money, or have a better life. They don’t stop to look at the hard work a person has put in to gain that success, but instead believe that it isn’t fair that the same success hasn’t come their way.

7. Blame Their Health on Genetics

They don’t tend to take responsibility for their health. Instead, they blame their weight or illness on genetics. They think that if they had a mother with diabetes, they’re doomed to have it to. Instead of recognizing their genes may help them identify risk factors, they just presume that their genes make their health problems inevitable and they make no attempts to remedy the situation.

8. Don’t Listen to Knowledgeable Experts

Toxic people tend to dismiss the advice they receive from knowledgeable experts. They don’t listen to doctors, dentists, therapists, or financial counselors. They write these people off as “stupid” and tend to want to dispute any advice that encourages them to take responsibility for their own behavior.

9. Avoid Creative Problem-Solving

Unhealthy people tend to think there is just one way to solve a problem. If that solution doesn’t work, they don’t try to resolve the problem in another way. As a result, they often remain stuck because they can’t get around a problem by using creativity. Almost any problem has multiple solutions and a little creativity can go a long way to finding solutions but toxic people prefer to avoid attempting to resolve them.

10. Gossip About Everyone and Everything 

Instead of focusing on how to improve their lives, they focus on judging everyone else. They revel in other people’s problems and mistakes and announce their business to the world. They spread rumors and take great joy in gossiping about others. Instead of trying to improve their own lives, they spend their time talking about what others should be doing differently.