Breaking bad habits. Change can be challenging, but it is worth it. Many people resist change even if they know it’s the best thing to do.
Have you ever wondered why certain habits are so hard to break? Or why you can’t stop biting your nails or keep yourself from checking your phone every few minutes?
We discuss what makes habits so hard to break and provide some steps to help you break those bad habits for good!
What is a bad habit, why it’s wrong, and how can we stop them
A bad habit is a routine of behaviour that is hard to break. Examples of bad habits are smoking, drinking alcohol, and biting one’s nails.
A bad habit can be hard to break because it becomes a part of your daily routine. The more time you spend doing it, the more ingrained it becomes in your life.
It is important to stop habits before they become too ingrained because they will be harder to stop once they do. The benefits from quitting the habit will decrease.
There are many different ways to stop a bad habit. Some people use things like willpower or meditation. In contrast, other people use things like nicotine patches or gum (to help quit smoking).
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How Did You Acquire This Bad Habit?
Bad habits are a hard thing to break. But the good thing is that you can do it. It might take longer than you think, but it is possible. You just need to be patient and persistent with yourself.
If you want to break a bad habit, the first thing you need to do is figure out what’s causing it. The next thing is to try and replace that habit with a new one.
Easy Ways Breaking Bad Habits
Follow these 4 steps, and you’ll soon be free of your bad habits!
Acknowledge the Burden That it is Carrying
As a society, we need to acknowledge our problem’s burden.
This means we need to stop ignoring the problem and start accepting it. We need to take that this problem and needs to be solved. We can’t just keep pretending like it’s not an issue when in reality, it’s a huge one.
We need to start acknowledging the burden that our problem is carrying to do something about it. The struggle to remain present in a world that keeps pushing us out of our minds is as old as time.
But now, it seems like the fight has only gotten worse. This is due to so-called “distraction” technologies that are too powerful for us to resist and the constant pressure of an environment which expects immediate results for short-term goals.
Look for the Root Cause
The root cause of the problem is the underlying reason why the problem exists.
We need to identify the root cause to find a solution. To fix a problem, we need to first determine what caused it.
Identifying the root cause is often difficult because there are many possible causes for any given problem.
Find Alternatives or Solutions
The first step in finding an alternative solution is to brainstorm. Brainstorming is a technique that helps you generate many possible solutions to a problem without evaluating them. It is a process of developing and recording as many ideas as possible.
One way to brainstorm is to write down all the alternatives or solutions during the discussion. Then, by looking at each of them, you will be able to evaluate them and find out which one seems to work best for your needs.
Take Action and Prevent Further Damage from Being Done!
You may be reading this article because you want to stop doing something. You may want to quit smoking, stop drinking alcohol, stop eating unhealthy food, or any other type of behaviour that is not good for you.
Why don’t you just do it if you want to stop doing something?
This is an excellent question. It usually comes up in the context of someone who has tried for a really long time and is frustrated that they can’t seem to succeed at quitting.
Psychologist Reveals the Secrets to Successfully Breaking Bad Habits
3 tips from expert Timothy A. Pychyl
1. Focus on one habit at a time. If you have lots of bad habits, one of your tasks will be prioritizing which ones are most important for you to work on. Experts like Pychyl recommend starting with just one practice at a time.
2. It will take time, but that’s OK—you don’t need to do it all at once. Pychyl says he works on a single habit for 2-3 weeks before moving on to something else. He explains that even if you just make some headway during those weeks, that’s still a good accomplishment.
3. Be mindful of how your life changes affect your bad habits.
1 tip from the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Identify a cue, such as being in a particular place or situation. Identify a routine, such as drinking alcohol. Finally, identify an outcome that you want.
For example, if you want to stop biting your nails, you might notice that you only do it when sitting in front of a computer screen. When faced with that cue, change your routine by walking or doing some stretches instead. It should become more accessible and easier to resist your nail-biting urge—without even thinking about it!
1 tip from the book Unlimited Power by Tony Robbins
Spend a few minutes every day evaluating your progress. This will lead you closer to achieving your goals than if you don’t do it at all. After a year, you’ll see so much progress that you will be motivated and encouraged instead of discouraged by how far you’ve come.
After five years, you may have achieved what you had initially envisioned. If not, make another plan and give it another go!
1 tip from popular motivational speaker Jordan M. Rubin
If you can’t quit cold turkey, take a month and reduce your bad habit. Instead of smoking two packs a day, smoke one pack; instead of eating fast food three times a week, cut it twice.
And by reducing it over time, you don’t feel like you’re depriving yourself, which is really important when breaking bad habits. You want people to look forward to giving up their bad habits, not dread them.
Conclusion
Although there are many practical approaches to ending negative habits, all experts agree that commitment is crucial. Dreisbach says that the most critical element of breaking a habit is great reason and willpower.
In his study on motivation, Travis Bradberry writes. “The people who achieve lasting change aren’t always smarter or more gifted than those who don’t—they just understand how their minds work.” I hope this article will help you in breaking bad habits.
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