Mary Ann Bailey has recently written a good article on Five Bad Habits to avoid being stuck in work and in life.

1. Believing What You Think – Bailey says the average mind thinks about 60,000 thoughts a day and most of us believe 99 percent of what we think.  Are your thoughts holding you back from getting ahead?  Have people been speaking negatively about you for so many years that you can not shake off those negative comments?
2. Blaming Others For Our Circumstances – the blame game doesn’t cut it in life.  I have found that every time I want to blame someone else for my failure or problem the real problem lies with me, not with them.  No matter what your circumstances are, you are the only one who can truly change your situation.
3. Taking Life(Yourself) Too Seriously – Bailey says we need to balance ourselves with fun and humor in our lives to get the most out of it.
4. Living Life in the Middle – Bailey encourages readers to break out of your comfort zone and come close to the edge of uncomfortable.  Life in the middle is boring and does not produce much excitement.  As the great philosopher and real estate mogul Richard Davis says, “The greater the risk, the greater the reward.”
5. Falling Prey to the Fear of the Unknown – She makes some very good points on how fear can really hold us back from reaching our potential in life.  Bailey uses the acronym False, Evidence, Appearing, Real, as a way to describe what fear really is.

I liked the points she made in the article.  It is a good personal development and career development article.