Jasmine watson
You all have some habits that you want to get rid of. Every night when you go to your bed, you decide that you will make a fresh start from tomorrow but give in when tomorrow comes. You feel guilty and frustrated as you know what you have been doing is wrong, and yet you cannot resist.
Your brain regulates the function of your body. It is the central system, and hence it is quite challenging to have control over it, but it is not impossible to get rid of your bad old habits.
Why Is It Onerous to Change Your Old Habits?
Habits are routines, whether they are good or bad. For instance, you take a bath daily or go to your workplace in your car. You do it automatically because your brain does not have to think much about it.
When you decide to breaking bad habits, your brain breaks the harmony between you and the activity that you have been doing for a long time. It is like a threat to the routine, which is what your brain does not like at all.
Your brain activates the fight, flight and freezes responses. To avoid this threat, you ultimately decide to go back to your old habits despite knowing that they are not suitable. Another reason you grapple with bad old habits is that they make you pleased.
They release dopamine hormone that makes you pleased. This is the same hormone released when you eat and have sex. You feel that you get rewarded, and hence you go back to your habits every time. Therefore, it is very hard to break them.
How to Break Bad Habits
Although it is very hard to break these habits, you can become successful in doing so. Here are the tips to follow to breaking bad habits:
Find the reason to change your habits
Before you get to breaking bad habits, you should know the reason for it. This will prompt you to stick to your goal. You must have a genuine reason to do so.
For instance, if you take out text loans with UK lenders every time you have an emergency, you may decide to build an emergency cushion.
Not wanting to pay interest could be a strong reason to create an emergency corpus. Likewise, if you are a heavy smoker, the reason for quitting can be that you want to improve your health or you want to set a good example for your kids.
Stronger motivation can keep you from going back to the path of your old lifestyle. Most of the bad habits are addictive, so you will likely be tempted to give in. Remind yourself why you are doing so when you feel weaker.
Deal With Triggers Bravely : Breaking Bad Habits
As you know, bad habits are addictive. You will have an urge for it. For instance, if you have decided to quit smoking, your brain will trigger an urge to smoke. Even if you manage to control your urge this time, you will likely work harder to resist yourself next time.
This cycle will keep going on, and you can become the winner every time only by not giving in, but before that, you will have to identify triggers, which can be internal and external. You will have to find out when, where and with whom you felt the urge for your bad habit.
At the same time, you will also have to find out what you were feeling at that time – gloomy, dejected, depressed, and lonely. Finding triggers is extremely crucial because you can avoid being encircled by that atmosphere.
For instance, some people consume alcohol to feel less stressed. To get rid of alcohol addiction, you will have to manage stress. If you do not overthink a stressful event, you will likely crave a drink less. The trigger for a bad habit urge can be different for every person.
It may be being alone for yourself, while it can be stressful for your friend even though you have the same bad habit. Note that urges follow a cycle. At the outset, they will be intense, then wane, and then go away. It generally takes 20 minutes for an urge to go away.
If you find it hard to resist smoking or alcohol, see time in your clock and wait for the next 20 minutes to pass by. You will eventually feel better when the urge is gone. Next time when it happens, you have to do the same thing.
Accept That You Will Face Setbacks: Breaking Bad Habits
As you are to get rid of your old habits, it will undoubtedly take some time. The journey until the lasting change is not going to be so smooth, but the problem is that you want it to happen instantly. You slag you off whenever you fall off.
For instance, when your friend falls off the track, you will likely reassure them and motivate them, but you do not show the same level of consideration to yourself when you get off the track. Note that it will take a bit longer time, and throughout the journey, you will likely lose track many times.
Look at the progress that you have made and give a pat on your back. This motivation will help you be more determined to stick to your goal. For instance, if you take five drinks a day and want to quit drinking, you cannot do it immediately. You will reduce the number first.
However, occasionally you can get into your old habit. Do not criticise yourself. Instead, consider how gracefully you managed to reduce the number of drinks. Though it is not a complete success, it is not a complete failure either.
The Final word
Getting rid of old bad habits can be challenging, but it is not impossible. You should identify the reason to do so to keep you motivated until you finally replace it with a new habit. Identify triggers and stay away from them so you do not fall prey.
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