Stop These 3 Destructive Habits Blocking Your Personal Growth in 2026

I'm talking right now.

If you want to make this year stand a chance at being the year that you dream it could be, well, it has to begin by you getting real with yourself and acknowledging the fact that some things gotta go.

And today we're revealing exactly what three things are a must-go and ultimately what that's gonna do for you in the end.

So, my friend, with that said, this is episode 427 of Grit Grace and Inspiration.

In case you are new here, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe, a guy who went blind over 20 years ago.

Yeah, unexpectedly, I woke up from a life-saving brain surgery to find that I was left completely blind.

And yeah, life has been challenging, but I've chosen to see the positive.

And that's what I do here on the podcast is to bring you the insights I've gained from 17 years of sight, now over 20 years completely blind, a lifetime of knowledge gained along the way to just hopefully be a help to you.

That is my mission here on the podcast and on stage as an inspirational, motivational speaker.

Is I just want to use what I've gone through to be a help to you.

So, my friend, if you are up for it and ready to make this year one for the record books, well, you are in the right place.

Welcome to Grit Grace and Inspiration.

SPEAKER_01: What if it's gonna live like I believe?

I'm gonna live like I believe it.

SPEAKER_00: So, my friend, it is indeed the first episode of the new year.

It is the year 2026.

Crazy as that sounds, but here we are.

And so, baby, my goal with the podcast, kicking off the year, is to help make your life a little bit easier.

And specifically, I want to be sure that you make this year the year that you want it to be.

I get it.

A lot of times we all have big hopes and expectations for the year, and then the year falls apart.

But why would we not, though, try our best to be sure that this year isn't like the past?

That's what I'm doing in my own personal life, and that's what I want to help you do.

So I want you to understand this.

This is just the start.

Today's episode is episode one of 2026.

Coming up in the weeks to come, it is nothing but strategies, tactics, mindset shifts to help you be sure that this year is the year that you want it to be.

So be sure that if you have not already hit the little button to subscribe or follow the podcast on your favorite app where you're listening, like Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please be sure you do so so that you are notified every time a new episode is released, which just so happens to be each and every Tuesday morning.

So please be sure that you do that.

Now, my second little thing that I want to tell you before we dive into these three things that you're going to begin eliminating from your life is that everybody loves a shortcut, a cheat code, a guide for life.

And that is exactly what I made for you.

I went back through the episode catalog and I started picking out specific episodes that really helped you accomplish something, maybe overcome an obstacle, or just helped you to know you're not alone in life.

There's all kinds of things that we're struggling with, that we're dealing with.

And so I put it all together in what I'm calling the grace and inspiration life guide, inspired from the old school TV guide, the one that used to come in the Sunday newspaper, the thing that you would look through, circle the things that you wanted to watch, call up Papa and ask him to set it to record on the VCR.

Yeah, baby, I am going old school.

But this lifeguide is a little bit more modern than that because, well, it comes in the way of just a simple, easy to read PDF document called the Great Grace and Inspiration Life Guide.

It's going to be your little tool for whatever you're dealing with in life.

It's going to give you the resources you need to help you out.

It's totally free and it's simple.

It's an easy download.

All you have to do is click the link at the top of today's show notes.

So, again, the first link you see right after the title of this episode, that link at the top of the description, just click it and you can download your free grit, grace, and inspiration lifeguide.

Please be sure to check out that free resource.

I made it for you to give you a head start on the year that is 2026.

Now, back to those three things that you must stop doing in your life starting right now.

Point number one: the thing that you must stop doing immediately is I want you to stop underestimating yourself.

You, my friend, have been through so much in life.

You've already done so much in your life, and yet you continue to underestimate yourself.

Maybe you think that it's just being humble, but instead, no, it's being a detour, it's being a distraction.

It's literally you dropping an anchor and holding yourself in place every time you underestimate yourself.

So, my friend, the next time that you think to yourself that I can't, I'm not good enough, I'm not fast enough, I'm not qualified.

I want you to look back at what you've already done in life.

Because the chances are you've probably gone through some really hard seasons in life, and yet you're still standing, you're still here today, you're still trying to better yourself.

It's why you're listening to this podcast.

So, my friend, I want you in 2026 to stop underestimating yourself.

I have tried to preach it on this podcast as much as I can, and I'm gonna say it again.

You are more amazing, you're more awesome than you give yourself credit for.

Give yourself some grace.

Realize that you're good.

You don't have to beat yourself up.

You don't have to keep talking down to yourself, you don't have to keep underestimating yourself.

It is time to become your own cheerleader, to remind yourself of what you've done, who you are, and who you're going to be.

My friend, this is the year for you to stop underestimating you and to start going into your fullest potential.

That's how we're going to make this year absolutely spectacular.

So that's point number one.

Stop underestimating yourself.

Point number two, I want you to stop overestimating the challenge in front of you.

The fact is true, most people do not stop because something is too hard, but rather they quit because they decide it's too hard.

They decide before they ever even try.

And that's because they overthink it, they overanalyze, they over-research it, they research it to death, they think of it every way they can, and they spend all their time thinking about it and over-analyzing it and watching YouTube videos about it and Googling it and going on Chat GBT and perplexity and all these different places.

And they go into this over-analyzation mode where what did they accomplish?

Well, they became an amazing researcher.

Well, unless that is your goal in life, to be an amazing researcher, you got to stop the over-analyzing, the over-researching.

You have got to stop overestimating the challenge in front of you.

The truth of the matter is, is the challenge is rarely the problem.

It's your anticipation of the challenge.

That is what is the real problem.

You are most likely not overwhelmed because of the challenge being massive.

You're overwhelmed because you're standing still.

You're constantly researching, thinking about it, never actually moving forward.

So instead of you staring up at the mountain and analyzing for the next year which route to take, I just want you to look.

I want you to take your best judgment, and I want you to just start moving forward and to realize this.

You can course correct while you're going.

Maybe you get halfway up the mountain and you realize you chose the wrong path.

Well, you know what?

Nothing was lost.

Turn around, go back down, and choose a different path.

You never know until you start.

This is what stops people dead in their tracks.

This is what I see people doing so much in life, is they just never, ever take the first step.

My friend, you have to have the courage to just go for it.

There's a time for planning, but there is never a time for over-planning and over-analyzing and overthinking.

That is nothing but just an excuse that's keeping you stuck in life.

So basically, I'm here to tell you you want to shrink the fear, you got to start taking action.

You want confidence, you got to start moving.

Momentum, it comes with movement.

You have to start moving to build momentum.

It's not gonna build up on its own just by you sitting at your computer all night long researching.

No, you have to finally take the step and take imperfect action.

You can course correct along the way, but the biggest thing here is to get moving forward.

Period.

End of story.

That is point number two.

My final point, number three, of the third thing that I want you to stop doing right now is I want you to stop waiting for the perfect time.

OMG, another killer of success, another killer of years wasted, is waiting for the perfect time.

My friend, what is the perfect time?

I don't know, because there's never a perfect time.

There's just now.

This one is what silently destroys more dreams than anything else.

Is everybody constantly waiting on the right time?

Maybe you keep waiting for clarity, for confidence, for life to be perfect, for life to slow down, for your finances to be in perfect order, for everything to just be perfectly perfect.

Meanwhile, time keeps moving, time keeps being wasted.

My friend, I don't have to be the one to tell you.

You already know it.

There is no perfect time.

There is only now.

Right now is the only perfect time.

Now, yeah, if you want to use that age-old philosophy of when's the best time to plant a tree?

25 years ago.

When's the next best time to plant a tree?

Today.

So, my friend, figuring that you didn't plant the tree 25 years ago, I'm encouraging you to plant the tree today.

So remember this the perfect time, the perfect moment, it's never gonna come.

It doesn't just happen.

Instead, it waits on you to create it.

You get the choice to determine when is the right time.

And what I'm encouraging you to do is to decide it's now.

It's right now.

If we want this year to be a year of something different, well, we can't waste another day.

We can't waste another week.

We must start right now.

So, whatever it is that's weighing on your heart that you've been thinking about, dreaming about, wanting, secretly desiring, my friend, let this be your cry to start right now.

Please, for the life of me, stop putting off your dreams for tomorrow and start making them come true today.

So, your framework for the year 2026 is as simple as you eliminating three things.

I want you to stop arguing with reality, aka, I want you to stop underestimating yourself.

For Pete's sake, my friend, you're awesome.

Give yourself the credit and the acknowledgement that you are.

Number two, stop overestimating the challenge in front of you.

If you need to, break it down into simple little pieces.

I don't want you to look at the entire mountain and think I'll never reach the top.

Instead, I want you to focus on taking the first step.

And the way we do that is point number three is to realize there is no perfect time.

You make the perfect moment by starting right now, today, declaring that this is my day.

Not even thinking this is my year.

No, this is my day.

This is my moment when I declare that right now I'm stepping forward into whatever the dream is, losing weight, getting in shape, starting a business, living a life of freedom, of quitting the job, of applying for the job, of doing the thing, whatever it is.

You start doing it right now.

So, my friend, I hope today maybe encourages you that maybe you just need to stop doing a few things to be able to start doing the things that really matter in life.

Together, my hope is that we can make this year one that you look back on and think, man, that was one awesome year, the year 2026.

I'll be right here every Tuesday on Grit Grace and Inspiration.

Remember, hit that follow button, subscribe button, check out the free resource, the grit, grace, and inspiration life guide, linked in the episode description.

And um, hey, I will see you back here next week, same time, same place, for another episode of Grit Grace and Inspiration.

Get out there and have an awesome day.