Thursday 16 May 2013

DAY 108: How to Break a Habit

Do you bite your nails? Chew on your hair? Suck your thumb? Pick your lips? With persistence and the right mindset, it's possible to break your bad habits. Here's how.

Step One
Admit that you have a problem. Acknowledging that you have a habit you'd like to break is vital. Consider the ways that the habit alters or affects your life, and accept that you'd like to change this. Ask yourself:

a) Why is this habit bad?
b) What's holding me back from getting rid of it?
c) What things or people stop me from breaking the habit?

Step Two
Change your environment. Research suggests that sometimes our environments can cue us to perform certain behaviours, even if we're actively trying to stop. Find a way to change your scenery and see if your bad habit becomes less tempting.
For instance, if you like to smoke out on your patio, remove the chair you sit in and replace it with a plant. If you tend to overeat at the same location at the dining room table, move to a different seat or rearrange your furniture such that you're facing a different direction than usual when you eat. Subtle changes to the environment can make a habit less rote and force your mind to reassess what's happening.
Limit your interactions with people who encourage your bad habit. If your habit takes place in an environment that you can't alter, like your place of work, then try changing the social configuration of your habit. For instance, if you smoke on breaks with a group of coworkers, start timing your break differently so that you're not tempted to join the fray and light up. Your social life might suffer, but your health will improve.

Step Three
Create barriers to the habit. If your reason for avoiding the habit is more pressing than your desire to engage in it, the behaviour will become continually easier to avoid. Here are a few suggestions:

a) Find someone you like who disapproves of your habit. Tell yourself you will not indulge in the act whenever you are around that person. Use the person as an anchor, and try to be around them whenever you feel like controlling the urge.
b) Capitalise on other habits. Use another behaviour or tendency to combat the habit. For instance, if you're lazy, be lazy about your habit. Think of it as too much effort. If you're a smoker, keep your pack locked up in your car down the street.
c) Pay up. Use the same rationale behind a swear jar: every time you slip back into the habit, put a euro (or more) in a can or jar. Set an amount that you'll hate to cough up whenever you give into the urge, and stick to it. When you've successfully kicked the habit, spend the money on a reward or donate it to a charitable cause.

Step Four
Find a placeholder. Try to replace your habit with something new and positive in your life. The key is not to focus on the "not doing," but to think instead about "doing."  For instance, if you're trying to stop smoking, eat a sucker or walk around the block when you would usually light up. Filling the void left by your old habit with another activity will help you avoid backsliding.

Step Five
Be patient. Behavioural conditioning is a long process, and breaking a habit takes time - as much as you'd like to, you probably won't stop doing it overnight. Set realistic goals and plan to have the behaviour wiped out in 21 days. If you get to the end of a month and find you need more time, take another 21 days. As long as you're still improving, don't pay too much attention to how long the process is taking. You'll get there eventually.

Tips
a)    Believe in yourself. Telling yourself you can't do something is a bad cognitive habit that needs breaking!
b)    Fight the sudden urge of your habit. It may be hard at first but you will see fit to it in the future.
c)    Take on one habit at a time, two at most. Any more than that and you'll feel overwhelmed.
d)    Remember to reward and congratulate yourself when you do well.
e)    Make a realistic plan to avoid your bad habits.


Weight for me tomorrow. Paul

Paul Lambis is the author of “Where is Home?” – A journey of hilarious contrasts. 
For more information on Paul Lambis, and to order his book online,
visit www.paul-lambis.com

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