Everyone makes a new years resolution, whether they are willing to admit it to everyone or not, or just something they keep to themselves but how often do you see people keep to these “Resolutions” and before you think about everyone else, when do you stick to yours?
Quitting bad habits can be difficult but replacing them could be your solution, the main thing to think about though is don’t just make the resolution, act on it for a day and then say you tried, that never resolves anything.
Categorize..
Start by Properly Categorizing your bad habits and recognising them for what they are. A recurring habit isn’t always plainly a bad habit, for example; biting your nails is a bad habit, but smoking is NOT. smoking is in fact a substance addiction much like caffeine and you may consider your excessive use of such substances as a bad habit, but its actually much more than that. the same can be said for overspending. Bad habits are really the little things that you can fix with a few tricks.
Substance addiction is a little more work and requires more effort than breaking a simple habit, so start with something small, quitting those 20 a day isn’t going to be as easy as just saying you’re quitting.
Helping yourself..
One solution to your problem, whether it is a bad habit or in some cases an addiction can be something as simple as making it public, I don’t mean letting the world know you smoke and you want to quit, but looking at those around you to help you fight off those negative cravings or every day rituals.
Another helpful solution is finding someone with a similar bad habit and seeing if they might want to quit with you, the buddy system. If they’ve already quit, ask them for advice, normally people are willing to help others fix irksome habits, particularly if they are also affected by said habit.
Take it Slow..
Nothing happens overnight, and no matter how quickly you think you can quit a habit, you can just as quickly pick it back up. When replacing an old habit with a new one try to make a conscious effort to remember. this can be frustrating, particularly when you forget or you slip up but nothing is solved instantly . The reason you picked up the bad habits in the first place are because they were easy and fit in with your lifestyle,
Practice new behaviours frequently, this will constantly remind you of the new goal you have set yourself and hopefully help you remember why you’re quitting. If you’re quitting a larger habit like smoking this will obviously take a lot more work and mental will power.
One trick to try, when attempting to stop biting your nails, take times like watching a movie and eave your finger near your mouth and see if you can consciously/subconsciously avoid biting your nails. This will help you in due time realise your negative habit. This little trick can be used for many things though, from starting a new diet to quitting smoking.
Let me know your bad habits, old or new, and how you have attempted to quit them or have you succeeded?
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