Habits – The Good, Bad and Ugly
Studies have shown that it generally takes twenty one days to change a habit, bad or otherwise. We all have them. Some of us bite our nails, chew the inside of our mouths, smoke, drink until we get drunk, belch constantly, drum our fingers, tap our foot, yell instead of talk calmly and make noises when we chew our food. The one thing these all might have in common is the people doing them are in most cases not aware that they are.
Bad habits are learned behaviors that are reinforced when we are young. Like attitudes, they become ingrained and are extremely difficult to change. Most are generally harmless and just plain irritating. Some are barely noticeable while others are downright unattractive. If they are not addressed before you enter a professional service, they can most definitely limit your potential for success as well as how others perceive you.
Try sitting in a quiet room and make a well thought out list of all your habits. More than likely someone has already brought them to your attention more than once and even hollered, “Will you stop doing that!” Then ask yourself if each habit is consistent with the image you want to portray of yourself. If not, it is time to change. You don’t need to spend countless of dollars getting analyzed. A bad habit is just an action that’s been repeated enough times that it becomes an involuntary response and is either undesirable or harmful.
Realizing what the positive trade off could be is the major factor to breaking the habit. Not biting your nails will make your hands more attractive, not chewing the inside of your mouth will not create raw open sores, talking calmly and rationally will not hurt people’s feelings and not make you seem irrational or abusive.
We all know there is no magic bullet to making it stop instantly. It took time to create a bad habit and; it will take more time, patience, commitment, awareness and acknowledging it exists to get rid of it.
About the Author:
Tags: bad habit, involuntary response, quiet room, magic bullet, breaking the habit Bad habits are learned behaviors that are reinforced when we are young. Like attitudes, they become ingrained and are extremely difficult to change. Most are generally harmless and just plain irritating. Some are barely noticeable while others are downright unattractive. If they are not addressed before you enter a professional service, they can most definitely limit your potential for success as well as how others perceive you.
Try sitting in a quiet room and make a well thought out list of all your habits. More than likely someone has already brought them to your attention more than once and even hollered, “Will you stop doing that!” Then ask yourself if each habit is consistent with the image you want to portray of yourself. If not, it is time to change. You don’t need to spend countless of dollars getting analyzed. A bad habit is just an action that’s been repeated enough times that it becomes an involuntary response and is either undesirable or harmful.
Realizing what the positive trade off could be is the major factor to breaking the habit. Not biting your nails will make your hands more attractive, not chewing the inside of your mouth will not create raw open sores, talking calmly and rationally will not hurt people’s feelings and not make you seem irrational or abusive.
We all know there is no magic bullet to making it stop instantly. It took time to create a bad habit and; it will take more time, patience, commitment, awareness and acknowledging it exists to get rid of it.
About the Author:
The Girlz Korner
“Where women come together as family to learn, share their experiences and talents & support each other.”
http://www.thegirlzkorner.com
“Where women come together as family to learn, share their experiences and talents & support each other.”
http://www.thegirlzkorner.com
