5 Damaging Stories that are Ruining Your Life

The stories you tell yourself can hurt or help you, your career, and your relationships. Here are a few to avoid.

I have a confession to make: I am terrible about flossing my teeth.

Due to helpful Twitter tips from James Clear, author of Atomic Habits (which I have yet to actually read), I’ve gotten a lot better with flossing in the past few months. Clear suggests things such as:

· Start small: I floss at least one tooth every day. Almost 100% of the time, once I start, I keep going. But the commitment is to start.

· Make it easy: I hate floss. I hate the feeling of it wrapped around my fingers. So, I started using floss sticks. Problem solved.

· Give yourself a visual cue: I used to keep my floss sticks in a drawer. I started putting a handful of them in an empty soap dish on the bathroom counter and that helps me remember.

· Attach a new habit to an existing one: I’m already great about brushing my teeth! So brushing is my cue to floss.

These are great. But the most profound way to change to habit, according to Clear, is to adjust your identity. How you see yourself drives your behavior. You’ll always struggle to consistently exercise if “exercise hater” is part of your identity. You’ll never get your drinking…