HOW TO STOP BAD HABITS AND FORM GOOD ONES

Why We Adopt Bad Habits

There are some important things we need to understand when it comes to habits. One, human beings are habitual creatures in nature and nurture. Two, habits are cultural phenomena. Three, no one really sits down and plans to adopt bad habits. We form habits from our subconscious mind. That is, we don’t realize we’re adopting them because they’re so ingrained in our culture.

People who have tried to break bad habits will tell you it’s a very tough thing to do. It’s hard because once a habit is adopted, it becomes the comfort zone.

Most people have attempted to break bad habits in their life before. While some succeed, others find it so difficult that they give up, resign themselves, and accept the bad habits. They snap back into their comfort zones. This is not a place that you want to be in.

You can break bad habits, but only by using the right techniques. The best way to break bad habits is to replace them with good ones.

As the saying goes, nature abhors a vacuum. If you try to break a bad habit without a replacement, another bad habit may replace it. But sometimes, replacing bad habits with good habits may not be possible. In this case, you’re going to need to be creative.

In the first part of this article, we’ll show you the five best ways to break your bad habits. Next, we’ll show you how to form good habits and make them stick. And lastly, we’ll list some common bad habits you can get rid of today.

The 5 Best Ways To Break Bad Habits

1. Create pain for indulging in your bad habits

People will usually do more to avoid pain than they will to gain pleasure. So with this in mind, it is a good idea to create a pain situation related to your bad habits.

If you eat too much junk food, then fine yourself each time you visit the hamburger joint. Make this significant such as $20 that you give to your spouse or children when you do this.

Another thing that you can do is to engage in a wager with someone over your bad habit. Make it a large enough wager so that it will be really painful for you if you have to pay it out.

You do not have to use money for this pain. Giving up something that you love can be just as painful if not more. The wager could be over your new video game console, for example.

2. Find out what triggers your bad habits

Do you understand yourself? You need to understand what kicks off your bad habits in order to break them. This is called a trigger and it can be one thing or several different things.

Most of us indulge in our bad habits without even thinking about it. We then tend to believe that we can never break the habit because it is automatic.

It is not automatic it just happens very quickly so you think that it is. So when you next crave your bad habit identify what caused this craving. The more that you know about your bad habits the more likely you are to break them.

3. Remind yourself

You may have the very best intentions to break a bad habit. However, if you experience a sudden drop in your willpower then you can find yourself easily indulging again. In order to avoid this, we recommend that you place reminders around you.

Remind yourself that you are on a mission to break a bad habit. This will help you to refocus and continue with your good work.

4. Make changes to your environment

People go to all kinds of lengths to change their bad habits. Yes, that includes avoiding some friendships. Some even move to another part of town or to another town or state altogether! It all depends on your situation. Just do your cost-benefit analysis as you make your move.

A lot of bad habits are triggered by being in a certain place or seeing the same things over and over. To avoid these triggers you can make some small changes to your environment.

Does the route you take to work stress you out because of too much traffic? Does it make you want to smoke a cigarette? Then, try different routes.

5.Take small steps to break bad habits

You need patience and persistence to break bad habits. Trying to make massive changes in your life all at once is going to be really challenging for you. It is better to take smaller steps and introduce smaller changes over time that lead to the eventual big change.

Developing Good Habits And Making Them Stick

The flip side of bad habits, of course, are the good habits. Most people want to make changes in their life to improve it. Forming new good habits is the most effective way to do this.

If you are disorganized, then you can form a new organization habit to make your life better, for example. You will be able to find everything that you need to accomplish a task, and this will reduce your stress.

Read: How to manage stress.

The problem is that forming a new empowering habit is not an easy thing to do. As such, most people do not do it.

Most people have attempted to form new habits that are good for them. However, they end up giving up because they lose their motivation for some reason. This frustrates them so they never try again. Worse, they adopt bad habits instead.

Here are some ways to develop good habits that stick:

Start in a small way

The reason why many people fail to form good habits is because they want to accomplish too much too quickly. It takes a lot of willpower to do something like this and most people simply do not have what it takes.

The better approach is to start with a small change in your life and build from this. Identify the new habits that you want to form and focus on one first.

If you try and form more than one good habit at a time, you will dilute your willpower very quickly. In the end, you lose and end up achieving nothing.

Be committed

Forming new habits is going to take a lot of time, effort and perseverance. So, you need to be committed to making the change in your life.

Without a high level of passion and commitment, you are very likely to fail. Come up with a compelling reason why you need to form the new habit. Bad habits can be stopped and good ones adopted.

It’s all about the motivation!

Use the law of inertia to your advantage here. Once you start to make the change and follow through every day you will build up great momentum. You’ll tend to continue down this path until an external force intervenes.

Say you start a diet and you start noticing some good results in the mirror and on the scales. This will motivate you to continue. But if an external force like a toxic relationship cuts in, you may find yourself snapping back to bad diet.

Celebrate small gains

How often do you celebrate when you have achieved something? Most people are very good at beating themselves up if they fail at something. Yet, they find it more difficult to be proud of themselves when they have achieved something new.

When you are in the process of forming a new habit, be sure to celebrate the small gains often. A celebration can be as simple as telling someone else about your achievement. At times, even getting out of your chair and punching the air is a celebration.

Get the right support

Get your spouse and your family and friends on board with your new habit. Having the support of those closest to you is incredibly uplifting. It is also good because you become accountable to them. That way, you will be less likely to deviate from your new habit.

Six Common Bad Habits You Must Break

Never forget that your habits define you as a person, will define who you become in the future. When most of your habits are good you will tend to become a better person. Conversely, if you have a lot of bad habits then you’ll go down an undesirable path.

Nobody really wants to form bad habits in their lives. It is human nature to do this though and it is hard to avoid. Obviously, some bad habits are worse than others. Here are six bad habits that you really must break.

1. Procrastination

Ever heard the saying ‘Don’t leave for tomorrow what you can do today’? The habit of procrastination is one that most people experience in their lives. Do it too often and it becomes a bad habit that will prevent you from achieving your life goals.

There can be a number of reasons why people procrastinate. They may do it to avoid overwhelm and stress for example. The best way to approach a daunting task is to chip it away. When possible, just divide it up into small tasks.

Procrastination can lead to many problems in your life and can stop you from getting a job or keeping one. Do everything that you can to break your procrastination habit.

2. Multitasking

People tend to believe these days that they can multitask a lot of the time. Just because a computer can do several things at once does not mean that you can.

The problem comes when you have a number of important things to achieve that require your full attention. When you multitask you will dilute your focus on the things that you are working on. If they are really simple then this may not matter too much, but never confuse quality with quantity.

3. Cursing regularly

A lot of people curse regularly and this can be very difficult in social situations. It is okay to slip up now and again and utter a curse word. But it is definitely not good to curse all of the time. A lot of people will find this offensive and will not want to associate with you. So, please stop!

4. Biting your nails

If you bite your nails regularly then this is a bad habit that you really must break. It is very unhygienic, not to mention an embarrassing thing to do in front of others. Usually, people develop this habit as a child and continue as adulthood whenever they are stressed or anxious.

Read: How to manage stress.

5. Anxiety over things you cannot control

A lot of people worry and become anxious about things that they have no control over. If the economy is performing badly then these people will be depressed about it. The same goes for the weather being bad outside. These people fear the future and quickly develop an anxiety habit.

Whenever you find yourself worrying too much about things out of your control, try the Serenity Prayer:

[God] grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

6. Not sleeping well

If you have a habit of not getting enough sleep then you are going to suffer in the long run. Getting a good night’s sleep is essential for your health and well-being.

It is OK to stay up late occasionally but not every night. This is certainly a bad habit that you must break as soon as possible.

Conclusion

Kids are passive learners of habits because they’re raised around them whether they like it or not. Bad habits are hard to break because they take us to a comfort zone in our subconscious mind. The best way to break bad habits is to replace them with good ones.

You need a lot of patience and willpower to break bad habits. But you can do it if you find the right motivation and the right tools and the right environment.

Further reading:

How to achieve self-development through the Law of Attraction.

Be a better you: Your guide to self-development and a success-oriented mindset.

Habits: How they form and how to break them.