You’ve decided to break a habit that is bad for you. Well and good. We all make new year resolutions with the intentions of bettering ourselves. The problem is, most people hardly have a plan to help actually achieve these resolutions. Here are a few secrets you can use if you want to break your bad habits.
Observe the situational and emotional context that enables the habit.
Observe when, where, how, why and with whom you tend to perform the habit. If you would like to stop smoking, for example, take note of the emotional triggers you feel when you need to smoke and the time and places you like to indulge. Once you understand this, you’ll be in a better position to change the pattern.
Don’t fight thoughts of the Bad Habit
When quitting a habit, we tend to feel we need to banish the thought of it. It is however hopeless to keep pushing these thoughts away. Matter of fact, when you try not to think about something, your brain tries to analyze the thought to determine whether it is intrusive. It thus becomes even more persistent. When you say, I must npot eat cake, you start seeing cake everywhere.
Replace the bad habit with a good one
Truth is it’s quite hard to stop a bad habit. In fact, it would be easier to replace a bad habit with a good one. When you replace one habit with another, it takes a less mental effort. This is because you’re slightly changing a habit as opposed to totally reconstructing it. For instance, if you want to eat less processed sweets, instead of fighting strong cravings, you can eat fresh fruits.
Find distractions
You will need more than your need to stop that bad habit. Find an activity that could work as a distraction when you need to fight strong urges. You can take up a new hobby or do something as simple as calling a friend for 10 minutes. Be sure the distraction is something good or healthy.
Change your routine or environment
Experiencing a new situation will often make you think about your behaviors and choices. You can consider moving to a new place or changing your environment. A spendthrift can break their habit if you avoid shopping areas – For instance, you can carry packed lunch so you don’t have to go buy the food.
Are you working to break your bad habits? Do you have any more tips that could help break them?
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