5 Tips for Breaking Your Bad Habits

Posted on May 03, 2018 by Sanket Pai, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

What are your bad habits? Talking too much? Being lazy? Procrastination? Smoking? Untidiness? Sitting all day? Drinking too much coke or coffee? Plugging into your mobiles every now and then? We’ve all got them – one or the other. Bad habits often begin as pleasurable activities. The initial pleasure associated with them encourages us to engage in that activity again and again, till it becomes a habit loop.

Quote: A man who can’t bear to share his habits is a man who needs to quit them. ~ Stephen King, The Dark Tower

Whether it’s a perpetual pile of clothes in the corner you’re waiting to someday turn into gold, or a knack for timing your exit just so, so that someone else is continually left to pick up the dishes, now’s the time to extinguish these habits before they turn into next year’s resolutions.

Why?

1. It’s not fair to others – One of the great universal laws ruling our wonderful planet says that you get back what you put out there. Want others to be kind and considerate to you? Then start putting the considerate, kind vibes out there and pick up your clothes, your dishes, and stop interrupting or whatever it is you or a collective “others” define as a bad habit.

2. It’s not fair to you – These tiny culprits have been known to ruin marriages, friendships, and cause the downfall of many a mighty person. Plus you’ll feel better about yourself when you break them.

3. Your success depends on it – Bad habits have a funny way of scope and context creep. First they only happen in certain situations, and the next thing you know, you’re at a business function swirling your fingers through the chip dip. Put an end to it now.

4. You probably don’t like it when others do the same thing – Think about it. If someone did the same thing to you, would it bother you? Be honest. Sometimes all it takes is a simple exercise in empathy to find the motivation to quit whatever it is we could benefit from stopping.

5. And for your own reasons – List down your own reasons. But, be sincere. What is it costing you to perpetuate these habits?

So what? You would say I have tried many a time, but my bad habits always creep up on me. Just like breaking a smoking habit, bad habits have a way of creeping up on us and slowly over time becoming somewhat akin to an appendage, i.e., they’re hard to get rid of.

Here are 5 tips for doing it the right way –
1. Start small
While it might not be reasonable to expect that you can just stop whatever you’re doing overnight, identify what might constitute as a small step in the right direction? Write down what that step is and carry it out over the next 21 days. For example, if you are smoking 40 a day, cut that down to 30 for the next 21 days. Make that behavior a habit before you cut that down to 15 for the next 21 days and then 5 and so on.

2. Commit
Promise yourself you’ll make this shift, and if reinforcement and punishment works, use it! Figure out how you might reward yourself for making the change. Or, figure our how you might penalize yourself if you don’t. Also, write two lists, one, of the reasons why you are doing this and also a list of the things that you will miss out on if you keep on doing your bad habit.

3. Identify alternatives
Use the second list from above (the things that you will miss out on) to identify some alternatives to the behavior you are demonstrating. Is there a quick fix or solution that might help provide an alternative, e.g., put a laundry basket by the bedside so that you don’t end up with a pile on the floor.

4. Get help
Ask someone to help keep you accountable. If they’ve been victims of this bad habit, they’ll most likely be thrilled you asked! Sometimes change can be hard! You need someone to help and encourage you when it gets tough. You can also consider hiring a coach to power through your habit change. Coaches are excellent at providing a structure, support and accountability, especially when you want the changes to last for long.

5. Ask for feedback
Because human nature dictates that we will only complain when you offend, rather than amend, ask for feedback frequently. Don’t assume, no news is good news, but be sure to get praise when praise is due.

As with any new endeavor, be kind and love yourself through the process. Change can be difficult, but not impossible. If you fall, get up, brush yourself off and start again.

If you want to cultivate good habits, the ones that will propel you to your purpose and success, read my blog on 4 Practical Habits to Inculcate Before the Summer of 2018 (sanketpai.com/2018/01/02/4-practical-habits-to-inculcate-before-the-summer-of-2018/)