It has been said that human beings are ‘Creatures of Habit’.
Habits are routines of behaviors that occur outside of awareness. Many habits are helpful as they help you manage your time and complete important and routine everyday tasks.
Most people admit that at some point in their life they worry about unwanted habits, and many try to eliminate them. How many of your friends start the New Year full of good intentions to kick an unwanted habit and quit at the end of January? Maybe this has happened to you too!
Do you have a habit that you would like to eliminate? Is your habit your servant or your master? Are you aware that, ultimately, your habits determine your future?
No matter what you may long for in life, you not only go for the life you want, but you must create what you want by taking steps in the direction of your goals.
Ask yourself some questions about the habits you have developed, some will be useful habits as they are consistent with your values.
While other habits are useless and do not serve your life goals.
Breaking a habit takes willpower! Habits differ from addictions because they can be controlled by the will, while addictions are negative behaviors that are no longer under the control of the will. Many people hold on to useless clothes because they satisfy an important emotional need in the form of Reward. Habits are not innate; rather, they are learned and influenced by the environment through a process known as Reinforcement (reward). Think about the reward you get from the habit you want to break. Do you have the willpower to give this up and make a change?
Identify a useless habit in your life and ask yourself;
- What keeps it going?
- Does it fill a social or emotional need in you? How does this habit impact your life? Does it affect your sense of the future? How would you like it to be different?
- How would your life be different if you could free yourself from this useless habit?
- Studies have shown that breaking free from unhelpful habits requires replacing them with habits that promote and serve your goals.
- Can you think of a useful habit that you could develop in order to replace your useless habit?
Psychological research findings show that habits are developed through repetition, with little or no thought involved.
So we know that habits become automatic through constant repetition and reward. This applies to both helpful and unhelpful habits, whatever you repeat and reward consistently over 30 days will become a new habit, whether it’s helpful or unhelpful, good or bad!
Understanding the factors that influence habit formation will help you apply them to create the habits you want to develop; clothes that serve their goals.
Anthony Robbins, the famous motivational speaker tells his audience: “If you don’t set a basic standard of what you will accept in life, it will be easy for you to slide into behaviors, attitudes or quality of life that are far below what you expect” . deserve.”
If you’re ready to kick an unwanted habit, you’ll find a few guidelines below.
- When trying to kick an unwanted habit, it’s much easier to deal with. a one habit at a time, so you don’t risk failure by taking on too much at once.
- Write down a start date and give yourself 30 days to replace an unwanted habit with one you’d like to develop.
- Write down your goals and tell others about your intentions, this will help you take responsibility for your decision and make you responsible yourself for tracking.
- Make a list of the pros and cons of kicking your unwanted habit; This will help you strengthen your motivationfocusing on what you want and what you don’t want in your life.
- Be sure to find out what your triggers are. All habits have a trigger point; it can be the time of day or another context, which acts as a trigger for you to exercise your unwanted habit. For example; Do you eat in the context of being hungry or when you see food?
- Spent talk to yourself to help you overcome temptation. Access the support of others who believe you can do it and are not likely to sabotage your progress.
- Identify the obstacles that could get in the way of reaching your goal. Make a plan so you can handle problems and setbacks to make progress. Suppose blips as part of the process and don’t give up!
- Use your list of pros and cons to help you stay motivated on a daily basis, add images or photos as visual aids to tell you to stay on target.
On your ‘start day’, constantly replace the useless habit with the useful one you have chosen. Remember that repetition and rehearsal set a new pattern, so stick with it! Change the environment so that the relationship between your trigger and your response is broken. Be consistent!
Follow these instructions for a minimum of 30 days and then review your progress. If you have a problem, look for the trigger and plan to be extra vigilant the next time it happens.
Make your clothes your servants; Don’t let unwanted clothing stop you from living your dreams! You can choose and you have the power to make change happen in your life, no one else does. If it is important to you, it can be overcome. Ultimately, it is what you DO that matters in life. Helpful habits lead to positive futures.
To take action!
Use these tips to help you identify problem behavior, move on, and stay on track.
What are you going to do differently in 30 days?
Write it here:
………………………………………………….. .. ………………………………………… …. ………………………………………. …… …………………………………….. ……………………………………………….. ………. ……………..
If someone was watching you, what would they notice about you?
Write it here:
………………………………………………….. .. ………………………………………… …. ………………………………………. …… …………………………………….. ……………………………………………….. ………. ………..
now Live what you have described, live it consequently every day for 30 days.
Security note:
If you decide to kick a drug, alcohol, or other chemical habit, seek an expert opinion before quitting completely. Your change in habit will need to be managed with a gradual reduction under medical supervision to ensure your safety.
Some helpful reading suggestions are:
- The exercise book for changing habits; How to break bad habits and form good ones.
J Claiborn
- Changing For The Better: A Revolutionary 6-Step Program To Overcome Bad Habits And Move Positively In Your Life.
Prochaska & De Clemente
- Usually Great: Master your clothes, own your destiny.
mark weinstein
- Love and Survival
dean ornish
By Michelle Wynn Psychologist, Psychotherapist and Life Success Coach
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