How Can You Take Action Against Letting Your Vices Run Your Life?

“When it comes to your vices, you can either let them take control of you, or you can take control of them.” -Michael J. Fite

Keep this in mind when it comes to deal with your vices.

The reality is that everyone has vices of some variety. Although they differ from person to person, they happen to be things can negatively impact you if you allow for them to.

Let’s answer a few questions to understand and see how we can be in control of our vices.

What is a vice?

Merriam-Webster defines vice as:

• Bad or immoral behavior or habits.

• A moral flaw or weakness.

• A minor bad habit.

A vice is simply something negative that is inside of each of us.

When does your vice cause issues in your life?

Your vice can cause you issues in your life when any of the three conditions below happens.

1. When you or someone else allows for that particular vice you have to ultimately define who you are. Granted, your vice may be a piece of who you are, it does not have to ultimately define everything that you are and what you do. When you are defined by your vices, it can lead you being stereotyped and held back from certain things.
2. When you do not recognize your vices. When you cannot see your own vices, it makes hard for you see what other people see and try to correct them. This can cause your vices to grow larger and create more problems in your life.
3. When you do not make an attempt to correct or fix your vices. Granted, there are some vices that may not be able to be corrected or fixed, but you must give an effort to try to correct and fix them so that people can see you are trying to improve. When you do not make an attempt to correct or fix your vices, you are sending the message that you do not see anything wrong with your vices.

When you do not take care of your vices, your vices will cause problems in your life.

How do you take action against letting your vices run your life?

Here are is how you can take action against letting your vices run your life.

1. Identify your vices.
   • You cannot fix or improve yourself if you not know what your vices are.
   • You can do this yourself or get someone else to help you identify them.
   • Identifying your vices can give a starting point towards fixing the issues you may have.
2. Do research on your vices.
   • Without knowledge, it is hard to understand or combat your vices.
   • You can do this through asking questions to people with similar vices like yours, online search of your vices, and even local resources like the library.
   • Researching your vices can give you the knowledge to understand why they exist and give you an idea on how to deal with them.
3. Gather the help and resources to combat your vices.
   • Without the proper help and resources, you may find it hard to deal with your vices.
   • Gather a good support system of friends and people who can help through fixing your vices. You can also get the various resources that you have identified through your research that can help you with your vices.
   • Gathering the proper help and resources can give you a good chance of fixing and solving your vices.
4. Take action against your vices.
   • If you take no action against your vices, they will run and control your life.
   • You can do this through utilizing your help and resources to help you deal with your vices head on and try to solve them.
   • In taking action, you not only stand a chance of defeating and fixing your vices, but you are showing people that you trying to do what it takes to deal with them.
5. If you realize that you cannot fix your vices, try to turn your vices into positives.
   • There may be some vices that cannot be fixed, and that is okay as long as you tried to fix them.
   • Allow for those vices to motivate you to improve in other areas of your life.
   • You can also use those vices to make people laugh and inspire other people to do good in their lives.

I encourage you to look at the vices you have in your life. If you do not think you have vices, ask someone else to help you identify them for you. It is important for you understand identify and understand them because they exist in your life for a reason.  Let’s remember that how you deal with your vices can ultimately determine if they will run your life or you will run them.

I have a few questions that I would love for you to give some thought. Feel free to answer and comment below.

• What vice or vices have you had the hardest time controlling?
• What effect did the vice or vices have on you prior to dealing with them?
• How did you learn to control your vices?

Your answers and comments can help yourself or someone else deal with a current vice and answer the question…

• How can you take action against letting your vices run your life?

-Michael J. Fite