Breaking Habits

BAD HABITS ARE HARD TO DROP and even harder to live with. When the correct steps are taken, a bad habit can be stopped dead in its tracks. It doesn’t matter what habits you have; you can change. You can take the bad and replace it with good. The next section offers tips that help you to drop bad habits and pick up new ones. By putting these ideas to work for you today, you will eventually break free of unhealthy and negative tendencies and replace them with healthy, positive activities.

Three Weeks to Completion

When you feel like you’ll never be able to drop your bad habit, re-member this; it takes approximately three weeks to break an old habit. That means you cannot expect instant results and immediate success. You have to be willing to put in the time. Knowing that it takes three weeks should help you to maintain your motivation and positive attitude throughout the process. Be patient.

Temptation

Take steps to eliminate habit temptation from your life. If you are try-ing to lose weight, eliminate fatty foods from your groceries. If you are trying to stop smoking, make sure your home is free of cigarettes. Simply eliminating the temptation from your daily life will go a long way to helping you break the habit.

A Great Resource

Write out the reasons why you want to break your bad habit. This list will serve as motivation whenever you need it. When you are feeling weak, you can take a look at your list and remember why you started the process in the first place.

Just the Facts

Get the information about your bad habit. One tool they use to warn children about the dangers of smoking is a picture of a smoker’s lung. The more you can learn about the negative side of your habit, the eas-ier it will be for you to say no. They say that knowledge is power, and that sentiment holds true here. As your knowledge and education in-creases, so too will your motivation to break the habit.

The Reverse Reward

After talking with individuals who are trying to give up a bad habit, I have come across a common obstacle that I like to call the Reverse Reward. They reward themselves with the very thing they were trying to give up. For example, someone who is trying to eat healthier, after doing so for a week, eats junk food as a reward. This is crazy thinking, and it happens all the time! Do not reward your improvement with the bad habit you are trying to give up.

The Smart Reward

Reward yourself with something that contributes to your plan. This may take some creativity, but with enough thought you can come up with quite a few ideas. If you are trying to get in shape, reward your-self with a healthy meal. The right reward system will get you motivated and help you reach your goals.