“All bad habits start slowly and gradually and before you know you have the habit, the habit has you.” - Zig Ziglar
Many of us often subconsciously pick up bad habits and forget about them. Like keeping the door left open, drinking too much tea/coffee, being addicted to drugs, sugar, or chain-smoking. While we may not pay heed to most of these unless we are in total awareness of our being, these habits could creep up and harm us significantly. It could also annoy people around us. So how do we stop the urge of continuing these habits and bring a change for good?
Well, nothing can happen if you do not accept you have a bad habit. So, the first key is acceptance, the second is the identification and the last is substitution. Before we delve deep into this matter, let’s throw some light on the meaning of habit and some claims of research experts associated with it.
Habit
Habit is defined as a set of recurring activities that you do subconsciously, following the same trend every day. When you actually start the process, you do it in awareness, but over time as you practice the routine, it happens intuitively.
You start a habit with an intention to bring a change in your discipline, in the hope of a reward at the end (material or spiritual). For example:
- Someone gets into the habit of saving money to travel to their favorite destination.
- Someone starts running regularly to get back in shape.
- Someone meditates daily to connect to their inner selves.
Basically, habit is driven by a purpose.
Habits can be classified into two types- good habits and bad habits. Good habits make you feel good about yourself physically and emotionally whereas bad habits could lead to deterioration of health and mind.
There is a famous 21-Day rule that has a notion about habits. Let’s take a look.
What’s the 21-Day Rule?
“It takes 21 days to make a habit and 90 days to make it a permanent lifestyle change.”
The quote was taken from the book of a cosmetic surgeon Dr. Maxwell Maltz who wrote it when he discovered one of his patients getting used to his new face after 21 days.
Though the rule does not guarantee that everyone could get into a habit in exactly 21 days, however many find it quite effective to start a new habit or break a bad one. When you accept that you do have a bad habit, it’s important to identify the extent of the habit and the damage it has caused. Finally, substitute the habit with a good one or motivate yourself to unfollow the habit for a minimum of 21 days. See for a change then!
8 Tips to Break A Bad Habit
Wake Your Consciousness
- Why am I smoking?
- What good will eating junk food do to my health?
- What hygiene am I practicing by biting nails?
When you connect with your inner being and talk, you will easily identify the problem and it will make more sense to you. Soon you will want to break the bad habit or change it to a good one. When someone is in touch with themselves and the divine, it is not easy to distract them.
“All good qualities that you see in the world today come from the divine. And bad qualities or habits come from an ignorance of the divine.”
-Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Twist the Habit
Another way to get rid of a bad habit is if you twist it and start a new habit. For example, People who are chain smokers feel the need to smoke at a particular time of the day. What if instead of a cigarette, they try gums or candy. It might be tough in the beginning but staying focused for a minimum of 21 days could help reduce the smoking habit greatly.
Practice Discipline
People who take the first step in breaking a bad habit often slip back into old patterns. Learn to practice discipline. Say No to yourself multiple times and keep reminders. But if you lose out once or twice, do not blame yourself or get stressed for the mistake. Learn your lesson, forgive yourself and be honest with the setback. That will help you move on and not repeat the mistake.
Seek Help
If you find yourself not being entirely honest in the steps to break a bad habit, ask someone to check on you. You can seek help from a friend, family member, or spouse and lean on them for a few days. For example: Coming out of a toxic relationship, making use of time effectively rather than being addicted to social media
Friends and relatives could encourage you when you lose focus and remind you to get back to your goals.
Make Notes
Notes and reminders help you stay focused in case of diversion. In case you forget, keep a list of reminders (saying no to the bad habit) in every accessible location. Like on the fridge or the mirror or slip a note into your office bag reminding yourself to stay away from junk food. Or, set an alarm through the day to drink more water rather than soda/soft drinks. Or, use a sticky note to remind yourself to hit the gym if you wish to go back to shape. It will of course take a while to break the bad habits entirely, however motivating yourself to keep up the pace is the key.
Acknowledge Your Efforts
The 21-day rule may not work for everyone as for some it might be years and years of them living with the bad habit. It’s good to start small in such cases and acknowledge the effort at the end of the day. Imagine: if someone with about 20 years of alcohol addiction, does not drink for one day, it is a good start. Acknowledge that effort and stay strong. If you cannot stop it altogether, slowly reduce the quantity.
Visualize Success
If trying to break a bad habit looks too far and too exhausting, try visualizing the reward. If giving up junk food looks difficult then think about what going to the gym can do to your body in a few months. Sometimes, seeing the desired result flash in front of you motivates you better to let go of the bad habit.
Keep Your Spirits Up
While some experts are with the 21-day rule, it does not necessarily have to work for you. You must give time to break the bad habit and get used to a better one. Many factors drive a habit as mentioned before; like the duration of the habit, the attachment to it, and the reward from it. Hence, practice patience as you start the journey of breaking the bad habit.
It Is Not Easy But Worth A Chance
Letting go of a bad habit may not be easy for most of us but it’s worth taking a chance. Life is too small to waste with a couple of bad addictions as there is a lot more to do. Understand that you are not alone in this fight of getting rid of dangerous habits. Almost 90% of people have some or the other bad habit that they try to change every day with or without any result. But taking an initiative takes us a lot closer to the goals. And the sooner you start, the quicker you break the bad habit to change it for good.
“Your inability to break a habit causes a pinch and when you are deeply pained by something, the pain will rid you of that habit.”
-Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
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