The secret of breaking bad habits

Abida Alalawi
5 min readAug 11, 2020

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Most of us know that we’ve some bad habits that are standing within the way of us achieving what we would like in life. We also know that we’d like to exchange these with some empowering habits which will make the transition to a far better life tons easier.

This may be a ll well and good but the matter is that breaking bad habits and forming new good ones is a tough thing to try to to . It requires dedication and energy that the majority people aren’t prepared to plan to .

If you actually want to interrupt your bad habits and form good ones which will change your life for the higher then you would like to know how habits work. during this article we’ll check out the science behind habits in order that you’ll understand them better and increase your chances of creating a successful change in your life.

Habits have Cues

All habits have cues. These are the items that trigger a selected habit within us. There are different categories of cues and therefore the experts believe that they fall under five main categories which are:

• Your spirit

• Specific times of the day

• What you see

• Where you’re

• The influence of others

A habit may be a neurological loop in your subconscious . When the proper cue appears it’ll automatically trigger the habit. it’s tough to vary your response to those cues especially if you’ve got habits that are around for years. Most of the time we don’t realize that our habits are being triggered by these cues.

there’s always a Routine

As soon as you experience the proper cue then you’ll undergo a routine meaning you’ll exhibit certain behavior or take specific actions. this is often important because it provides you with the chance to exchange a nasty routine with an honest routine.

Many psychological experts will tell you that it’s much more effective to exchange a nasty routine with an honest one than it’s to aim to totally eliminate a nasty habit altogether. This makes tons of sense and makes the method of breaking your bad habits much easier if you replace the routine with something better.

Habits have Rewards

All habits have a gift related to them. you’ll not realize this but it’s true. whenever you smoke a cigarette or eat food there’s a gift attached to the present . Smoking may cause you to feel relaxed for instance . Even good habits have rewards like cleaning your teeth makes your mouth and breath feel fresh.

You Crave Habits

Because you repeat your habits over and over you’ll receive your reward then your brain will start to crave regardless of the reward is. This craving strengthens the habit whether it’s good or bad.

The craving may be a positive thing permanently habits because it makes the habit stick. On the flip side it’s a negative for those bad habits because it’ll constantly nag at you to enjoys them.

you’re now conscious of the habit neurological loop which will assist you to interrupt any bad habits that you simply have and form new ones that are good for you. it’s a matter of addressing the cues, routines and rewards to form the changes that you simply desire.

The secret How to break a bad habits

Here are some thoughts for breaking bad habits and pondering the procedure in another manner.

Be sincere with yourself, you’ve got at the least one bad habits to your lifestyles despite the fact that it may be painful to confess this. Some bad habits are worse than others of course. Smoking cigarettes or consuming an excessive amount of alcohol may be very bad to your health.

Other bad habits can simply be irritating and demanding to you and others. Maybe you’re aregular nail biter or you want to crack your knuckles loads? Then there are different bad habits like procrastination that can prevent you achieving the things that you really want in your life. The bottom line here is that most of your bad habits have probably been around for quite some time. If that is the case then they’re going to be without a doubt hard to interrupt. So we have 3 simple and powerful steps for you in this article that will make the process of breaking your bad habits a lot easier.



Be aware about your Bad Habits

The first step which you want to take to interrupt a Bad Habit is to be absolutely aware about it. This means that you need to work out why you indulge in your bad habit and when this happens. Not only that but you need to know the feelings that are associated with the bad habit. So for instance in case you experience like smoking a cigarette, reflect onconsideration on what has brought about this craving. Is it a particular time of day or the end result of some thing happening? When you smoke the cigarette what emotions do you revel in? Is it satisfying? Does it scratch an itch? Does it loosen up you?

Once you understand this stuff you’ll have a far more risk of breaking the Bad Habit



Write it down

As you study your Bad Habit it’s important that you write everything down that you learn about it. The for that is that it presents you with a basis or a baseline to interrupt the habit. Make a note of the triggers that make you want to indulge in the habit and the feelings that you experience by indulging in it. Make a commitment to observe your bad habit and record everything for a few days at least. Your aim is to build up all of the data that you require to tackle the bad habit. The next steps will be so much easier when you have this data. Create a list of the pros and the cons of the bad habit as well.

Use Bait and Switch

After gathering all of the necessary data about your bad habit you can then find something else to replace it. So if you have a habit of biting your nails then you could chew a piece of gum instead when you feel the urge. If you crack your knuckles then perform a few stretches instead.

Use those 3 easy and effective steps to help break your bad habits.They aren’t hard to carry out and could assist you loads. Don’t allow your Bad Habit manipulate your lifestyles. It will take time and effort to break them but it is not as difficult as you may think it is.

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