Proven Ways To Kick Those Bad Habits To The Curb
Everyone has habits. They are the things we do on a regular basis, often without much hesitation. Sometimes they are healthy habits, such as going to the gym a few times a week or drinking green tea after waking up in the morning. In other cases, however, they can be unhealthy or ‘bad’ habits, such as nail biting, smoking, drinking a little too much when stressed, continually snacking, and eating a lot of fast food. Unfortunately, habits are quite challenging to break, especially if they are long-standing ones. But it is not impossible to break bad habits. Continue reading for some of the proven ways to kick your bad habits to the curb and never see them again!
Become Mindful Of The Habit
When trying to break a bad habit, it is essential to become more mindful of the habit in question. Try asking yourself what you are doing. Wonder why you are doing it. When did you start doing (now and when the adverse formed) it? You will learn how to be aware of the indicators when you are about to engage in your habit (e.g., what induces a cigarette craving). Thus, when you wish to break the pattern, being mindful of the habit gives you the ability to stop yourself before you do it again.
Don’t Instead Of Can’t
Often when someone is trying to change their habits, they will tell others that they can’t do something. Specifically, if someone is trying to avoid fast food, they will often say “I can’t eat fast food.” Unfortunately, this is the wrong approach when it comes to breaking bad habits. A research study from the Journal of Consumer Research indicated when presented with both a chocolate bar and a healthy granola bar, sixty-one percent of those who said “I can’t” would eat the chocolate bar, whereas only thirty-six percent of those who said “I don’t” would eat the chocolate bar.
Similar research showed only one out of ten participants were able to maintain their goal of breaking the habit after ten days when saying “I can’t,” whereas eight out of ten saying “I don’t” were able to maintain their goal after the same amount of time. So if you are trying to quit smoking, try saying “I don’t smoke” instead of “I can’t smoke.” Shift your thinking with any habit this way and watch it disappear before your very eyes!
