How to break bad habits?
Having some sort of bad habit is quite
common to most people. It is just one of those things that happens. People tend
to get bad habits due to stress, bad days, any sort of negativity, they turn to
one. But the worse thing about a bad habit is… Its bad! Nearly everyone comes
across these at least once in their life, sometimes they have out of personal
choice. Everyone is entitled to do what they want.
But do you have a bad habit that you
want to break but just cannot do it? Here are some tips on how to break it.
Identify your triggers.
Remember, triggers are the first step in developing
a habit. Identifying the triggers behind your habitual behaviours is the first
step in moving past them.
Spend a few days tracking your habit to see whether
it follows any patterns.
Focus
on why you want to change.
Take a few minutes to
consider why you want to break the habit and any benefits you see resulting
from the change. Listing these reasons may help you think of a few that had not
occurred to you yet.
Practice mindfulness.
Practicing mindfulness is
a great way to train the brain to be calmer and more understanding of the
things around us and help us a get a grip on life and the things it throws at
us.
Count on a Friend.
Counting on a friend is
something that can benefit you a lot, for the support, motivation, and even
someone to talk to about your success or even someone to talk to if you are struggling.
Replace the habit with another
one.
Not all habits are bad,
there are many good ones. Try and find a good one, even if its something small,
to replace the bad one you are trying to break.
Leave yourself reminders.
Little reminders are a
great way to remind you and motivate you to continue with your training of
breaking that bad habit. Write yourself notes to remind you why you are doing
this, how great the results will be…
Prepare for slipups.
Anything is life that
takes a lot of energy and time isn’t always going to be easy and isn’t always going
to be straightforward, so don’t be disappointed if you have a slipup. Its
normal. Just do not give up on tyring to break the habit and continue.
Let go of the
all-or-nothing mindset.
Life is not about all or
nothing. Its about getting the best out of what we have and what we have been
given.
Start small.
Do not throw yourself in
the deep end! Breaking a habit is a challenge, so do not stress to start hard,
take it step by step. Start with something minimal and work your way up.
Change your environment.
If your bad habit is related
to anything in your environment… Get rid of it!
Visualise you breaking
that habit.
Imagine yourself at the
end of your challenge of breaking your habit and imagine how you would feel, how
it would change your life… Just visualise your life without this bad habit in
the way.
Practice self-care.
Look after yourself! Have
some personal time, meditate, take care of yourself, hit a spa, go shopping with
friends…. The little things that make you happy might make you realise that breaking
a bad habit does not have to be a massive challenge.
Motivate yourself with
rewards.
Give yourself rewards every
time you hit a slight goal. Haven’t done your bad habit in a week? Give yourself
a reward, that is a big step. And continue.
Give it time.
Things like this take a
while, so do not pressure yourself to do it quick.
Know that you don’t have
to do it alone.
Many people around you
will support you, and there will be plenty of people out there trying to break
that bad habit too.