7 Habits That Make You Emotionally Weak

Emotional weakness is not being able to regulate or express your emotions in a healthy well balanced way. It isn't anyone's fault nor is it something to be ashamed of if you feel you haven't reached a certain level of emotional strength. It's a process requiring patience to help you become more self-aware. Here are seven habits that make you emotionally weak.

Number one, not believing in yourself.

What's something you think you're bad at. What about genuinely trying that activity again after deciding you're no good at it. It's important to realize that an initial failure doesn't mean you aren't gifted or talented enough or something. If you only stick to first tries, you'll likely end up limiting and dragging yourself down. In psychology, this is called a self-fulfilling prophecy. Simply put, if you believe something is true, you subconsciously go out of your way to affirm it. For example, if you believe you'll fail a math test you're much more likely to do worse since you have such low confidence. What this means is not having faith in yourself makes you both emotionally weak and it makes you perform worse, so watch out.

Number two, not taking care of yourself.

Do you struggle with taking breaks when needed while it sounds counter-intuitive, in a work oriented society it's actually sometimes harder to rest than to keep pushing yourself to the limit. Emotional weakness tends to force people to base their self worth on their achievements, status or finances instead of who they are as a person. After all, regardless of how often we hear the phrase, "love yourself", it's still incredibly hard to put into practice. This can lead to many problems, such as avoiding self-care, not prioritizing your physical health and burnout. You may not realize it, but there is strength in taking breaks. Your worth isn't based upon what you do instead it's based on who you are.

Number three, making decisions based upon emotions instead of values.

You tend to think with your heart rather than your head. Have you ever regretted letting your initial reaction to something get out of control? If so, you know all too well about letting your emotions get the best of you not being able to balance your emotions with your morals and logic is a telltale sign of emotional weakness. How you feel should be a factor in your decisions but when it becomes the driving force you end up making impulsive, uninformed or dramatic choices. So when faced with a difficult decision trying to identify the emotion you're feeling and seeing whether it's outweighing your values and reasons stops you from making a rational decisions.

Number four, judging yourself for how you feel.

This isn't a normal feeling or I shouldn't feel like this since no one else does. Do you ever think to yourself, phrases like these "that may be easy to judge yourself for how you feel "but doing so can have many unintended consequences". These pave the road for emotional weakness, why so? Because these questions cause you to suppress, deny or deflect your emotions. In reality, your emotions are one of the biggest indicators as to what you should and shouldn't do your boundaries and what you enjoy. They serve as a guide to you. So it's important to remember that all feelings are valid and so deserve to be expressed.

Number five, needing to find a reason behind everything.

Do you believe in the phrase "everything happens for a reason". It isn't prudent to hold it accountable for everything that occurs. Trying to find reason in everything may end up making you emotionally weaker. This is because you end up spending more time overthinking and analyzing whenever something that you can't explain a rationalize happens. It takes the focus away from taking action and looking for ways to cope. A huge sign of emotional strength is being able to recognize and accept situations as they occur and making them the best of them.

Number six, trying to control and plan everything.

Do you have your whole life mapped out? Have you planned exactly what career you want? If you'll get married, if you want kids and more while making a timeline is a great way to get a general idea of what you want in life. Almost nothing goes according to plan. If you become too set on one path, you could become close-minded and miss many opportunities simply because you weren't looking. You may also end up becoming less emotionally flexible. Meaning if anything goes wrong you're more likely to fall apart, then adapt. Finally, similar to needing to find a reason behind everything you could spend more time preparing than actually doing. The bottom line is a key part of emotional strength is accepting you can't foresee everything no matter how scary that sounds.

And number seven, letting others influence you.

Have you ever purchased something just because it was popular? Being able to stand out from the crowd and be yourself is a huge sign of emotional strength. On the other hand, when you let others influence you you might prioritize their needs over your own and end up making choices that don't actually benefit you. Others could recognize this emotional weakness and try to take advantage of you. So while it might be hard, it's important to remember that your wants and needs are ultimately the most important factor in your life.

Emotional weakness isn't something to be ashamed of.

It takes time, energy and experience to become emotionally stronger. So don't be too hard on yourself if you're not there yet. The most important thing is to remember to be patient and kind to yourself. As you continue to emotionally grow and mature.

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