Breaking Bad Habits
Bad habits, we all have them and reveal them in many different ways. Some may seem relatively harmless, like biting your nails. Others can have deadly consequences, like smoking or drinking to excess. Regardless of the severity of your habits, the same scientifically proven simple set of steps works for helping to break them. You can eradicate these habits once and for all and so get back on track to that healthier happier you.
What’s the magic formula?
Understand why the habit exists in the first place.
Most habits begin because we’re not coping well with either stress or boredom. Figuring out the trigger for the habit goes a long way toward figuring out the best way to defeat it. So take a good hard look at yourself over the next week. Write down those times when you found yourself slipping over the course of a week. Write down also what happened JUST BEFORE you indulged in that habit. Do you see any patterns? What do they tell you?
Get motivated.
What do you want to change? Why do you want to change it? The ‘why’ is the important part here. List everything. These are your motivators, and they’re going to keep you on track.
But motivation goes deeper than that. You need to start seeing YOU as a SUCCESS. You must picture that new you. How does it look? Hold that image close – that’s going to be you before you know it. You can do this!
Make an action plan.
Setting goals are great, but you’re going to fail if you don’t also establish how you’re going to get there. Break the goal down into small pieces. If you’re wanting to quit snacking and eating healthier, then your plan might include creating a meal plan and making shopping lists to keep you on track. You might want to take a cooking class. Schedule those things. Then stick to the schedule.
Check your Progress.
The last thing you want to do is obsess about how you’re doing, but you do want to have regular check-ups with yourself. Gauge how far you’ve come. Did you slip up? No big deal if you did, simply jump back in where you were – don’t let yourself get derailed. Evaluate your goals. Do you need to do anything differently? Adjust your action plan if you need to.
Seek professional help.
When all else fails, it might be that you could use a hand up. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help, especially from someone who understands what you’re trying to accomplish.
While the steps might seem simple, the results will speak for themselves. You can lose those bad habits once and for all. Don’t you owe it to yourself to try?
