Change Bad Habits – 7 of the Most Powerful Tips to Help You Break Bad Habits For Good
Want to change bad habits? Who doesn’t these days? People all over are trying to change one habit or another, whether it is to eat better, exercise more, stop smoking, act different, or to better control their emotions.
Listed below are 7 powerful tips that will help you break bad habits. Follow them, and end your struggles with habits for good.
Take it One Day at a Time – Bad habits take time to take root and so do good ones. Realize you are not going to change bad habits over night. Changing them takes time. And the more time you spend sticking to your plan, the easier it will get. So take it one day at a time, and remember, “slow and steady wins the race,” not racing through things haphazardly.
Record Your Progress – Sometimes we don’t realize how far along we have come in our efforts in trying to break a routine or dependency. It is almost as if our mind hides that fact from us so we lose motivation and give up. Having a continual reminder of your progress can inspire you to continue to persevere. You can accomplish this by recording your progress in a private journal and reviewing it regularly.
Forgive Yourself – Often times when we lapse and revert back to our old ways, there is a tendency to be hard on ourselves; as if changing bad habits means we can never slipup, not even once. So when you slip, don’t be too hard on yourself. No one is perfect. Accept the fact that you momentarily veered off course, and get back on the road again.
Find Healthy Outlets for Your Emotions – Habits are patterns of thought and behavior our mind and body has become accustomed to. And when we try to change that pattern, our internal mechanism reacts. Sometimes it gets angry, sometimes it gets depressed, and often times it gets stressed. It is important to find healthy outlets for these emotions. Some effective outlets are exercise, finding a hobby you enjoy, or simply changing your environment for the moment and going outside to the park or beach.
Find Activities to Keep Your Mind off of the Habit – Life truly has a lot to offer and much is forgotten during stages of dependency (which may be a reason why one becomes dependent in the first place). Keep an ongoing list of fun, interesting things you’d like to do that will keep your mind of the habit, and do them.
For some ideas to get your list started, you can go out for a drive, swim at the local YMCA, sit on the porch, visit a local museum, swing with a friend, play your favorite songs, enjoy a warm bubble bath, pick fresh flowers, light a scented candle, eat your favorite healthy food, prepare a fun snack and share it with friends, or play with your cat or dog. When you’re anxious, bored, or just need a break, grab your list and choose an item to do to keep you mind of the habit.
Self-Esteem – Often dependency and addictions start and continue because of a lack of self-esteem. Find ways to build your self-esteem. Read motivational books, listen to self-help tapes, watch inspiring movies, or attend local workshops. Affirmations and visualizations are also powerful ways to build esteem. With esteem building opportunities available from free to a variety of budget ranges, there is no excuse not to take advantage of them.
Let Bad Times Take their Course – The reality of life is that not everything is perfect. And that’s OK. In other words, there is no need to run to your habit for comfort every time things aren’t perfect. It’s OK to feel angry, sad, unhappy or other not so positive emotions sometimes. Let these bad times and feelings take their course, and before you know it, the sun will come back up, and everything will be OK again.
Life is a process and each of us has to take the good with the bad and make that proverbial lemonade out of lemons. Struggling to change bad habits may get you down, but do what you can to turn your motivation around. Follow these tips and take them to heart, and you will do just that.
About the Author:
Tags: slow and steady wins the race, changing bad habits, private journal, internal mechanism, steady wins, finding a hobby Listed below are 7 powerful tips that will help you break bad habits. Follow them, and end your struggles with habits for good.
Take it One Day at a Time – Bad habits take time to take root and so do good ones. Realize you are not going to change bad habits over night. Changing them takes time. And the more time you spend sticking to your plan, the easier it will get. So take it one day at a time, and remember, “slow and steady wins the race,” not racing through things haphazardly.
Record Your Progress – Sometimes we don’t realize how far along we have come in our efforts in trying to break a routine or dependency. It is almost as if our mind hides that fact from us so we lose motivation and give up. Having a continual reminder of your progress can inspire you to continue to persevere. You can accomplish this by recording your progress in a private journal and reviewing it regularly.
Forgive Yourself – Often times when we lapse and revert back to our old ways, there is a tendency to be hard on ourselves; as if changing bad habits means we can never slipup, not even once. So when you slip, don’t be too hard on yourself. No one is perfect. Accept the fact that you momentarily veered off course, and get back on the road again.
Find Healthy Outlets for Your Emotions – Habits are patterns of thought and behavior our mind and body has become accustomed to. And when we try to change that pattern, our internal mechanism reacts. Sometimes it gets angry, sometimes it gets depressed, and often times it gets stressed. It is important to find healthy outlets for these emotions. Some effective outlets are exercise, finding a hobby you enjoy, or simply changing your environment for the moment and going outside to the park or beach.
Find Activities to Keep Your Mind off of the Habit – Life truly has a lot to offer and much is forgotten during stages of dependency (which may be a reason why one becomes dependent in the first place). Keep an ongoing list of fun, interesting things you’d like to do that will keep your mind of the habit, and do them.
For some ideas to get your list started, you can go out for a drive, swim at the local YMCA, sit on the porch, visit a local museum, swing with a friend, play your favorite songs, enjoy a warm bubble bath, pick fresh flowers, light a scented candle, eat your favorite healthy food, prepare a fun snack and share it with friends, or play with your cat or dog. When you’re anxious, bored, or just need a break, grab your list and choose an item to do to keep you mind of the habit.
Self-Esteem – Often dependency and addictions start and continue because of a lack of self-esteem. Find ways to build your self-esteem. Read motivational books, listen to self-help tapes, watch inspiring movies, or attend local workshops. Affirmations and visualizations are also powerful ways to build esteem. With esteem building opportunities available from free to a variety of budget ranges, there is no excuse not to take advantage of them.
Let Bad Times Take their Course – The reality of life is that not everything is perfect. And that’s OK. In other words, there is no need to run to your habit for comfort every time things aren’t perfect. It’s OK to feel angry, sad, unhappy or other not so positive emotions sometimes. Let these bad times and feelings take their course, and before you know it, the sun will come back up, and everything will be OK again.
Life is a process and each of us has to take the good with the bad and make that proverbial lemonade out of lemons. Struggling to change bad habits may get you down, but do what you can to turn your motivation around. Follow these tips and take them to heart, and you will do just that.
About the Author:
Mike C. is the founder of SelfMadeEasy.com, a nationally renowned self help company focusing on helping individuals of all shapes and sizes overcome obstacles and reach their highest potential. He really goes deep to understand issues to provide effective solutions that are not only practical, but easy to apply.
He invites you to visit http://www.selfmadeeasy.com/pd-change-bad-habits.cfm to learn about ways to change bad habits.
