How to break bad habits and change them for good ones

The evil of negative habits

Bad habits are an obstacle to your life. They limit you to meet your goals, they damage your body, mind and spirit. Also, they completely drain your time and energy.

Of course, we know that there are things that we should not do. But, you keep doing them.

Is there something you can do about it?

I can’t promise you the magic formula, nor a miraculous transformation.
How I can help you is to teach you what I have learned about how bad habits work. What are the best practices to break them and change them for good habits

What is a habit?

According to researchers at Duke University, habits account for about 40 percent of our behaviors in a day.

Your life today is the sum of your habits.
• How fit or out of shape are you, a result of your habits.
• How happy or unhappy are you?, a result of your habits.
• How successful or unsuccessful are you? a result of your habits.

As Aristotle wrote, “We are what we repeatedly do”

How are bad habits born?

stress and boredom

It is impossible to get rid of these two problems. At some point in our lives we will have to deal with them. The issue is not to avoid suffering from stress or being busy all day. It is looking for a healthy and positive solution.

Smoking is a normal response to stress. Nicotine generates immediate pleasure. Quitting the cigarette when you have been smoking for a while can give you some irritation. The solution is to find a new behavior. To receive the same hit of ecstasy that a cigarette generates in your mouth.

When you’re bored watch TikToks for two hours in bed is easy. Deleting the app and promising you won’t see them again, may work. However, you might trade 2 hours of TikTok for 2 hours of Reels on Instagram.

A bad habit is not eliminated, it is replaced.

In other words, bad habits are synonymous with necessities in your life. For the same reason it is more effective to replace your bad habits with some healthy behavior. If you think you can quit cold turkey, give it a try.

It may work for you for a few days, but a bad habit is completely broken after a year. Nipping it in the bud makes the long run difficult.

How to break a bad habit

These are some of the strategies to break bad habits.

Clean your house: Throw away all temptations, even if you think you can control it. Leave your phone in another room so you can sleep and wake up without seeing it. Put the cookie jar up high so you can’t easily reach it.

Look for substitutes: The reality is that you do not want to smoke a cigarette. What you want is the feeling of having something in your mouth.

For example. Chewing gum worked for me to kick the bad habit of smoking.

Take it easy: There are some habits that have been ingrained in you for a long time and it may be difficult to break them. Take them out slowly, but you’re sure to be making progress.

Accountability partner

Trust a friend to quit smoking together and celebrate the days you haven’t smoked.

For example
I told my girlfriend I wouldn’t kiss her if she kept smoking. It sounds crazy, but I care about the health of the people around me. Now she hasn’t touched a cigarette in more than a year (let’s be honest, that smell is impossible to hide from your partner.)

Look bad: As humans we do not like to let down to people who trusted our word.

For Example
Get a personal trainer: Thus, when you go to the gym you know that you have already paid the trainer and, besides from that, you don’t want to let him down.

That will make you responsible for going to gym and don’t miss your workouts.

Surround yourself with people who live how you would like to live: You don’t need to get rid of your old friends. But the people around you influence you, even if you don’t realize it.

Think about it, who do you think you have a fitness lifestyle with?

With the Gymbros who work out every day or with those who get up at 1 pm to smoke, eat McDonald’s for lunch and party every weekend.

Justin Welsh wrote in one of his Tweets. “I have never met successful people surrounded by mediocre people. Audit your environment”

Think that you are already “that person”

There are two types of people when they quit smoking.

A friend at a party arrives with the first person and offers him a cigarette
“I’m trying to quit smoking” — said the first person
“Don’t be ridiculous, take one” — Exclaimed his friend
“Okay” — said the first person and took a cigarette

The same friend arrives with another person and offers him a cigarette
“No, I don’t smoke” — said the second person
His friend nodded and left.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been quitting for 3 months or 3 hours. If you are insecure in the decision, you will break at any moment. But, if you stand firm, speak and act like one, you will be unshakeable.

Know your bad habits better

To start breaking bad habits I suggest you start with intention.

Answer these questions:
• Do you tend to drink more when you are with certain people?
• Is there a certain time of day when you crave something sweet?
• What emotions tend to trigger your worst habits? Stress or boredom?
• When do you feel those emotions? Who is he with at the moment?

Breaking bad habits is a job of time and patience. Most people I’ve seen destroy these bad habits fail and try again. Me included, you may not have immediate success, but that doesn’t mean you can’t.

P.S. If you want more practical ideas on how to build good habits and break bad ones. I recommend these readings.

To teach you how small changes in habits generate remarkable results.

Atomic Habits — James Clear

The Power of Habit — Charles Duhigg

The Compound Effect — Darren Hardy