Breaking Bad Habits

From The Desk Of Anthony Buchalka

Our habits really define us don't they?

When we have bad habits, people start to think of us in terms of these habits. When we have good habits, people admire us. However, most of our habits are automatic. We do these things without thinking of it. That is why breaking bad habits are such a challenge. Most of our actions are automatic and it can take a while to make a change.

Going through the process to break your bad habits is definitely worth it though. They can hinder your efforts to achieve success. For example, if you want to lose weight, you won’t achieve your goal if you continue with the bad habits that got you in the situation in the first place.

The same is true of nearly everything.

Are you wondering how to replace bad habits with good habits?

Well, the details all depend on which habits you need to change. Each of your bad habits will have a different solution. However, there are some things that are pretty consistent.

The goal then is to break your bad habits and replace them with healthy habits.

Here are some tips on how to replace bad habits with good habits.

Your goals. The first step is to determine what your goals are.

This is crucial in identifying which of your bad habits you should work on first. So, once you go through your goal setting session and prioritize that list, you are ready to determine if you have any bad habits that you need to break.

If you are an effective goal setter, you will be able to not only identify what you need to get done, but you will also create an action plan. An essential part of your action plan is to work on your bad habits.

Identify the bad habits. The next step to changing your habits is to identify which of your habits are good and which are bad. You may need outside help to complete this step because you may not be able to see which habits you have are actually destructive.

To go through this process effectively you should make the list longer than you deem necessary.

If it helps your sense of self worth and your self esteem, also list the healthy habits you have so it will affirm that you are actually able to do things right.

Once you make the list, you can go through it and pick the most important habits to work on.

Healthy habits. For each bad habit on the list you create, list the corresponding healthy habit. For example, if your bad habit is that you laugh when you get nervous while public speaking, the corresponding healthy habit will be remaining composed instead of laughing.

If you go through your list and do this for each of your bad habits, you will know what to strive for.

Reward yourself. Breaking bad habits can be a difficult process, depending on how bad or ingrained these habits is. To make the process much easier, you may want to develop a system of rewards.

They work for me!

For each time that you do the corresponding healthy habit to the bad habit, it helps if you give yourself a reward. Choose a reward that is meaningful to you. For example, if you enjoy getting manicures, tell yourself that if you successfully do the healthy habit ten times, you will reward yourself with a manicure.

Of course, the reward you choose will depend on the situation.

Find people to help. Sometimes, you may not realize it when you are doing your bad habits. That is why it is tough to break bad habits.

Tell your friends, coworkers, and family members about your quest to break your bad habits and ask them to let you know when you do the thing you are trying to change. They can hold you accountable. Sometimes, it isn’t a matter of knowing how to replace bad habits with good habits.

You could already know. What is difficult is identifying the patterns of behavior that lead you to these habits.

Consult a professional. Some bad habits are rooted in some psychological issues. If your efforts to break your bad habits and replace them with healthy habits are not seeing results, you may need to consult with a professional. They will help you understand why breaking bad habits is difficult for you. You may need to do things such as self hypnosis, hypnosis, or other kinds of therapies to release your attachment to these habits.

Be kind to yourself. One thing to remember during the process of breaking bad habits is that you need to be kind to yourself.

Don’t berate yourself for not changing fast enough.

Some of your bad habits take years to develop.

You can’t expect to change them into healthy habits overnight.

I wish you all the very best.

warmly,

Anthony Buchalka