We, humans, are defined by our habits, there’s no reasonable doubt about that. Our habits, both good and bad, form the basis of who we are and how we interact with the world. How many times have you put off your plans to go to the gym just to watch one more episode on Netflix? Or never getting around to making that family vacation with your whole family because you just can’t seem to make any time for it? Planning to stop posting 10 selfies a day on Instagram but don’t feel like letting go of all the attention? Laziness, lack of prioritization, a false sense of grandeur and many other habits like these hold us back from making the best of the opportunities we get in life.
Even though most of us are aware of the detrimental effects of our bad habits, we still hold on to them because we become so dependent on them that we don’t know what to do without them. Despite this natural human weakness of holding on to what holds us back, if we want to reach our goals and aspirations in life, it’s imperative that we learn to break free from our bad habits. And to do that properly, there are two things that you need to know; how bad habits form and how to break free from them without hampering your regular mindset and lifestyle.
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Contents
Breaking Down Bad Habits
Before moving on to how to break a bad habit, let’s start with the topic of how do bad habits form in the first place. The important thing that you have to understand is that we pick up bad habits in different ways in our childhood (up to 18 years of age) and adulthood (18+) with the same factors affecting us differently in the two stages of life. As children, we are mostly influenced by bad habits from the adults around us. If you have a habit of talking or laughing too loudly then there’s a good chance that it might be because one of your parents had the habit when you were growing up. Unhygienic such as nail biting, tapping your feet, fidgeting unnecessarily are all bad habits we pick up as children when we felt under pressure. As adults, we usually pick up bad habits because of stress and boredom. External influences still matter, but not as much as our childhood. Almost all smokers and drinkers attribute stress as the primary reason for picking up these poisons in the first place. When we indulge in our bad habits, be it drinking or obsessing over ourselves on social media, we feel rewarded and gratified which makes it that much harder for us to let go of them.
All habits are the natural byproducts of repetition and practice done countless. So, it follows the logic that by doing the exact reverse we can also get rid of bad habits as well. A lot of people are aware of their bad habits while others are not while some of us even justifying that our bad habits are not so problematic for ourselves and the people around us. It’s exactly this mentality that keeps holding us back from being the best version of ourselves.
Breaking Free From Bad Habits
If you’re already aware of your bad habits but find yourself unable to get rid of them, here are 5 of the best and proven ways of breaking your bad habits. The journey is not going to be an easy one as the habits you’re trying to get rid of will tempt you to stick with them, but if you’re willing to follow through with approaches mentioned below vouched by countless behavioral experts and therapists, you’ll find that you can break free from your bad habits successfully!
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Replacing a negative habit with a positive one
One of the most common mistakes most people make right off the bat when trying to break a bad habit is quitting it off entirely. The problem with this approach is that our habits, both good and bad, are part of our subconscious routine. When that routine is disrupted, we fall back to our old ways. The effective solution is to replace the eliminated bad habit with a good habit. Explore hobbies that you enjoy. For example, if you want to give up drinking, instead of just stopping booze to your home or going to the bar, start going to the gym. Once space is filled up, our mind and body start working on the new routine, making it easier to break free from the bad habit and replacing it with the good one. This might sound simple as you’re reading it, but you’ll find that reality is very much different when you actually attempt it with something as simple as trying to stop procrastinating.
Try Meditation
While most people are aware that regular meditation calms down the mind and sharpens it, few people know that it can also be a very effective biological software for the brain. When we meditate, we can integrate autosuggestions in the process which programs our subconscious mind to act and think in the way we aspire to in regular everyday situations. I personally believe this is the most effective way to break free from any bad habit despite not being highlighted properly by mental healthcare professionals. There are countless recorded cases where individuals have not only broken free from bad habits by doing regular meditation but also depression, sleep disorders, and psychosomatic disorders as well.
Meditation also helps you visualize your end-game more clearly. Maybe you’re trying to give up chocolate so that you can hopefully fit into that gorgeous Zara dress next summer; consciously closing your eyes and visualizing that you’re wearing the dress will be not as effective as visualizing the same thing will meditating. The stronger your visualization, the easier it is for you to resist slipping back to your old bad habits.
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Remove key triggers of the bad habit from your surroundings
This is really, really important. Just take a moment and think back on your first breakup; you didn’t get over it by sobbing and curling on the bed, did you? No. You moved on once you removed everything that reminded you about the relationship around you starting from the text messages to the gifts. Breaking free from a bad habit follows the same principle; you get rid of every visible and audible trigger that reminds you of the bad habit. If you’re trying to give up smoking, get rid of all the ashtrays around you. If you’re trying to go vegan but your colleagues are constantly chomping on meat at lunchtime, have your lunch somewhere secluded. Do whatever it takes to keep the bad habit from breaking free and tempting you.
Words and thoughts are also very important triggers. Replace negative words like ‘can’t’ and ‘not’ from your vocabulary and replace them with words that have more positive connotations or indicates options such a ‘might,’ ‘but’ and ‘if’ instead.
Find a good enough reason
Our actions are only as strong as our intent or motivation. Which is why you need to have a strong enough reason to quit the bad habit that you’re trying to put off. These reasons can range anything from people, life goals, unrealized goals, and many other things. Maybe your thinking of having a baby soon and want to keep your body as healthy as possible; maybe you aren’t the best role model for your younger siblings and want to set a better example- whatever your reasons might be, make sure they’re worthwhile to follow through on a long-term basis.
While I did mention earlier as adults, other people cannot influence us much in forming bad habits, the opposite holds true when getting rid of them. You can surround yourself with like-minded people like you who share the same positive interests like you or trying to break free from the same bad habit as you are. Sometimes the company you keep can be the biggest inspiration to beat a bad habit.
Img source: everteta-lakuriqe.comBe self-dependent
I cannot stress how important this is. When trying to break a bad habit, you can count others for support, but you cannot expect them to break the habit for you. Learn to carry out your convictions in reality by yourself. You cannot magically expect your parents to whip out a million dollars out of the blue to end your financial worries or a prince charming to sweep you and all your troubles off your feet; you need to be your own hero. Determine goals that will benefit you, stay busy, and find things to do by yourself. Remember, you’re breaking your bad habits for your own betterment, not for others!
