How to Break a Bad Habit Without Suffering
First Step: Just Skip It Once
Often, a bad habit is so ingrained in our days that we forget we don’t have to do it. Think of the smoker who automatically lights up first thing in the morning. To break a bad habit one step at a time, we have to remind ourselves that it’s possible not to carry that bad habit out. Teach yourself that your bad habit is a choice, not a necessity, by skipping it just one time. Reach for a piece of whole wheat toast instead of a donut as your mid-morning snack just once, and you’ll realize that it’s possible to get through your day without a donut. Sometimes it feels like if we fight the behaviors that are second-nature to us, the world will end. This exercise proves that it won’t. Now that you’ve proven you have the will-power to break a bad habit once, try breaking it “once” a week, or “once” a day, or “once” forever! Yeah, it can really be just that easy, if you let it. Of course, if you think you’ll want a bit more help to break a bad habit, move on to the second step.
Second Step: Break A Record
If you’ve ever watched the Olympics, or even a pie-eating contest, you’ll know that nothing motivates people quite like competition. The competitive drive gives people the power to do things they would never otherwise do. Like breaking a bad habit. You can use competition to help yourself break a bad habit one step at a time by striving to break your own record. Let’s say you go two days without biting your nails, then you slip up. No problem; next time, break your record and try to go for three days. Pretty soon, you’ll be at a point where you haven’t bitten your nails for a month and a half, and you won’t want to because it will mean stopping your most impressive streak yet. Striving to break your own record is a great way to break a bad habit. If you want to make the race more public so that you feel accountable, try putting a chart on your wall, or even blogging about your winning streaks!
Third Step: Make It Awful.
The most lasting way to break a bad habit is to make it so that you have no desire to start it up again. “But my bad habit is eating too much chocolate ice cream. How,” you may wonder, “am I going to start hating chocolate ice cream?” It’s simple. Just make chocolate ice cream disgusting. Tell yourself you can have it, so long as you cover it in Dijon mustard. You can break a bad habit and keep it broken by making a relapse totally unattractive. Just attach your most hated activities to your bad habit. For example, say you want a cigarette. Well, you can have it, after you scrub the inside of your garbage can with a toothbrush. In a few minutes, you won’t want that cigarette so much after all!
