Tips for Overcoming Poor Habits

Everybody has a habit or personality trait that they wished they could be rid of. Smoking, nail biting and hair twirling are all good examples of these kinds of habits, which can seem difficult if not impossible to overcome. I personally believe that all behavior can be changed, however, and the key is in understand the correct process for assessing a poor habit and systemically applying yourself to unlearning it. If you adhere to this procedure, you will have a much greater likelihood of both acknowledging and overcoming any seemingly insurmountable personality challenge that you currently face. Motivation What’s important to understand before you set out to try and change anything about yourself is that you must truly be motivated to change in order to do so. If you’re reading articles on “how to break bad habits” because your girlfriend wants you to stop smoking, you might as well stop now. Changing any part of your personality, including your habits, is a very personal thing that requires effort and dedication. If you haven’t determined that it’s something YOU want to do, for yourself, then you’ll be much less likely to follow through on any action plan you take, no matter how well it might work for others. The Process for Overcoming Poor Habits From observation and personal experience, I’ve broken down what I believe to be the natural progression of events involved in the correction of a poor habit. Each point is listed out below, with a little bit of supportive information to help you understand it and what is entailed. Denial: This is not a step towards removing a bad habit, per say; rather, it is the starting point for every habit, and the place wherefrom all change must originate. Acknowledgment: Once you realize that you’ve been denying you have a potentially detrimental habit or quality, you have shifted to the acknowledgment phase. This is exactly what it sounds like: you’ve recognized this quality in yourself (ie nail-biting as a nervous mannerism) and understand it for what it is: a learned behavior that is not benefitting you, and which you have the power to change. Preparation: Now that you’ve acknowledged the habit, you have to consciously draft a plan of action in order to effectively overcome it. With something simple like nail-biting, it might be something simple like putting vinegar on your nails to remind you not to bite them, or just striving to catch yourself in the act and make corrections where necessary. For something more complicated like quitting smoking, it can be beneficial to look up suggestions from support groups online and see what has worked for other people. Action: This is the phase wherein you implement the guidelines you laid out in the previous step. It’s important not to be hard on yourself at first, and simply be aware that you’re engaged in a learning process (or an “unlearning” process if you prefer to look at it that way.) There will be mistakes, so don’t get upset or put yourself down. It’s like learning a new language: it’s not going to come all at once. Commitment: This ties in with the last phase. You must commit to your change in order to solidify it. This means sticking with it even in tough circumstances, like social situations where you might be sorely tempted to “just smoke one.” Commitment can also entail writing yourself reminder notes or rewarding the correct behavior. Resolution: This is the point when you feel you have fully overcome your old habit or behavior. Usually resolution is achieved when you find yourself in a situation where you previously would’ve engaged in your habit and have suddenly a kind of “epiphany” that you have no longer have the urge to do so.