There are certain times of the year that we feel we want to break our bad habits; new year and birthdays are particularly good times to do this, as it can feel like a brand-new start. However, it doesn’t matter what time of year you begin, it’s just important to ditch those bad habits and make yourself healthier in the process. It’s hard, though. Breaking a habit takes time, and more often than not we feel it’s just easier to go back to what we were doing (even if it is bad for us). So how can we break bad habits more easily?
Set Goals
The first step in breaking a bad habit is to admit that you need to. Once you realize that, your mind is already working with you to help you quit. The next step is to define specific goals that you want to achieve in your journey to breaking your bad habit once and for all. It is far easier to stop doing something if you work at it incrementally. If you want to eat more healthily, for example, start by cutting down your portion sizes, and then move onto adding healthier items to you plate once you have achieved your first goal. If you smoke and want to stop, begin by cutting down, bit by bit. Eventually you will stop altogether.
Recruit Friends and Family
If you enlist the help of friends and family you will feel much more inclined to stick to your goals. Their encouragement can be exactly what you need if you’re feeling on the verge of giving up. Also, if they like to have a glass of wine, or they smoke, or they love their take outs, then letting them know you’re cutting down is important; it will be much more of a challenge to quit if your loved ones are carrying on with your bad habit around you. You can’t make them quit too (it’s a personal choice) but you can ask them to be considerate around you and make your goals a lot easier. You might even discover that they have the same goals as you, and you can work together to make it happen.
Don’t Deprive Yourself
Many people decide that they want to quit doing something that’s bad for them, so they simply stop doing it; they go ‘cold turkey’. Whilst that might work for a small minority, for most people this deprivation just makes any cravings much stronger, and they will go back to their habit sooner or later. Not only will they go back to it, but they may even do it more than they did before. The key is to replace your bad habit with one that could be better for you. If you smoke, you can try vaping instead (you can learn more here). If you drink too much, try non-alcoholic wine or beer. If you eat unhealthily, look online for recipes that allow you to eat your favorite foods in a better way. There is so much choice these days, that cold turkey never has to be an option.
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