There are many ways to self-improvement. Here are some tips to get rid of a bad habit. Habits are, as we all know, some kind of automatic behavior and most of us employ habits that are far from good, so we want to change them. There are many examples; smoking habits, the habit of overeating, the habit of forgetting certain things like umbrellas and gloves, the habit of interrupting other people when they are talking, etc.
Although there are many different bad habits, breaking a habit has certain things in common, whether it’s smoking, overeating, or whatever. The following tips cover how to break a habit in general and can be applied to any habit you want to break.
The first question to ask yourself when planning to break a habit is how serious are you about breaking it? If you really commit to getting rid of it, your chances of success are much higher than if you lack this commitment. Keep in mind that breaking habits requires focused energy and you need to focus on observing your behavior over a period of time.
In what situations are you doing the habit you want to get rid of? How often do you do it and are there special things in your environment that trigger your behavior? You should set aside a period of time just to observe yourself and your behavior. Write down and track when you do the unwanted behavior. It is also important that you find out exactly what your thoughts and feelings are each time you engage in your unwanted behavior. When you write this down, you will be much more aware of when and why you do this habit.
Now, take your notebook, read what you have written and ask yourself: “What function does this habit have for me? What does it really do for me? What pleasure does this habit give me? What pain do I avoid with this behavior? Does it prevent anxiety, stress, nausea?
Think about this and write down some alternative behaviors to the habit you want to get rid of that would be a better and more positive way to deal with the feelings or situation associated with it. How can this new behavior or new habit make you feel pleasure or keep you from feeling pain as well as the old one? Select one or more alternative behaviors or habits and start practicing them.
Take care to observe his behavior and as soon as you notice that he is practicing his old habit, stop and start the new alternative behavior that you chose earlier. Work with this every day at first once or twice a day, and increase as time goes by. Breaking an old habit and replacing it with a new one doesn’t happen overnight, but the more you practice your new behavior, the more it takes hold and the more of the old is erased.
Tell your family and friends that you are working on yourself to break a habit you don’t like, and they will probably help and support you in your effort to break your bad habits.
