Bad habits prevent you from reaching your goals. Some are worse than others, but finding better habits to replace them with is key. Bad habits not only waste your time and energy but are also bad for your health. So what is it about them that keeps us in a repeating pattern? Why do we keep doing them? And how do we get out of the habit?
Most habits are formed by boredom and stress. By teaching yourself new ways to deal with the boredom and stress of life, you can replace those bad habits with good ones. Start by being honest with yourself on what bad habits you have. Maybe it’s being a shop-a-holic, biting your nails or even drinking too much with friends. Once you identify those you will be able to take the correct steps to overcome them.
There is a reason you have the habits you have, good or bad. They help you in one way or another. Take for example checking Facebook when you first wake up in the morning. This helps you feel connected to the world, but also distracts you and causes you to put aside more important tasks. But, it helps you feel involved so you keep doing it every morning.
Because of the benefit, it makes these bad habits extremely hard to stop. It’s not as cut and dry and just making a choice and not giving up. Your brain tells you, you need it and when you don’t, it causes stress.
You need to address the need the bad habit brings. Then you can replace it with a healthier action without losing the benefit it brings. If you cut a bad habit without replacing that need, it will make it hard to stick to a different routine. Causing a rollercoaster of sticking to it, and failing.
Think ahead of what you will do when social media is screaming at you to get sidetracked. You can have the goal of creating a vision board you look at daily to keep your mind goal-oriented. How will you handle stress and boredom without falling back into that negative pattern?
Instead of getting up and immediately checking your social media, tell yourself you need to do a few chores first. Once you get in the swing of cleaning, you will be less likely to get in the scrolling vortex of Facebook or Instagram.
Maybe you spend time with people who don’t value you. They make you feel worse about yourself and feel like its a competition to earn their love. Start by telling yourself daily affirmations. Such as, “I’m awesome and deserve the best!” Before long you will demand people in your life treat you with love and respect.
Nail-biting is a huge bad habit for lots of people. When you notice yourself starting to bite your nails, look around at your environment. Are you stressed out? Are you bored at home? As soon as you identify your triggers, you can start avoiding them. Or, get rid of the temptation altogether and get your nails done! Looking at pretty nails should make it easier for you to keep those chompers away.
Eliminate your triggers. If you eat ice cream every day after work, then throw the ice cream away. Get rid of it. All of it. It will be hard to not go out and buy ice cream again the next day but remind yourself of why you are doing it. Think of the end goal of your decision and stick to it. Make it easier for you to stick to your goal by removing your triggers.
Find a friend who values the same goal as you. If your goal is to work out 3x a week, find someone who works out 3x or more a week. Having someone hold you accountable will help push you to not give up. Find friends with similar beliefs who will help hold you up instead of weighing you down. Having a support system increases your chance of being successful in your goal.
Breaking bad habits takes time, but keep moving forward when it gets hard. Never let yourself stop to look back, keep taking in the new view in front of you. It may take you multiple times of getting back off the ground and trying, but you will never fail as long as you continue to stand back up.