Hardly there will be anyone who does not possess any bad habit. However, the bad thing is not having any bad habit, but not able to control it. Most of the people start anything just for the trials, but they soon become addicted to it, and hence they cannot stop it. Moreover, some of the habits like arguing came by birth which people have no control over it unless they try to handle it.
At some point in time, everybody tries to break those habits and try to focus on the good habits. However, not everyone tastes success in this field. The reason behind their failure is that they are unaware of the things that are necessary to get rid of the bad habits. If you are facing the same situation, then here we present you with the things that you need to know to eliminate bad habits from your life.
#1 Convert the Bad into Good
The first thing that you need to keep in mind that habits play a significant role in life; be it good or bad. Always remember that bad habits could also provide some benefits to your life, but you need to find it. The most notable mistake that people make is trying to eliminate the bad habit before opting the good one. Not only it consumes a lot of time, but extreme efforts as well.
Rather than eliminating the habit, you should try to replace it with the good one. Without a doubt, it will also be daunting, but it will be easier than to eradicate it from the roots completely. The best thing to do is find a substitute for your bad habit. You need to keep in mind that the excellent habit must have the same needs so that it could be replaced with ease.
#2 Identify the Triggers
People are unaware that some of the things increase the urge to continue doing these habits. These things are known as the triggers which you need to identify so that you can switch your focus from the bad habits. The triggers depend on different habits. For instance, smoking could be triggered by looking at any smoking person. All you have to do is modify your environment in such a way that it will switch your focus from all such bad habits.
#3 Know the Benefits
Most of the people may warn you about the adverse effects of the bad habits that you may be doing including poor health, and breaking relationships. People tend to ignore all such warnings as they believe that nothing has happened till now and nothing will happen in the future. However, none of the people tells about the benefits of leaving these habits that will actually motivate you in leaving them. Find out all the potential benefits that you will receive once you ditch your bad habits and prefer to stay with the good habits.
#4 Have a Teammate
While doing things alone, you may feel that you lack motivation and soon give up on leaving any bad habit. Some of the people might prefer doing things alone while most of them want to have a partner while doing. A partner will be the one who also wants to lose the habit so that they could become a better person. Both will keep other engaged and will motivate each other to stay focused towards leaving the bad habits.
#5 Focus on Just One Habit
There is a possibility that you may have multiple bad habits and want to improve all of them. However, trying to improve them simultaneously will not help you in leaving any of them. You need to keep in mind that this process is similar to studying where you need to focus on just one topic. Make sure only to put your attention on one habit at a time so that your willpower could be controlled easily.
#6 Setup a Target
In order to ditch a bad habit, you need to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve. However, this vision alone will not help you in doing so. You need to set a target goal along with a target date and a challenge and thrive to achieve that goal. This goal could be not trying to do the habit for thirty days or reducing its numbers. In addition to that, you need to fix a date where you will be getting rid of that habit entirely.
While fixing this date, most of the people make a mistake of setting it too early which seems unachievable for them. When they are unable to achieve it, then they feel demotivated and start believing that they could not remove these habits from their lifestyle. One thing you need to keep in mind that you always set the targets which seem achievable.
#7 Reward Yourself
One of the best motivators is a reward which you can use to motivate yourself. Whenever you achieve a milestone on the road to leaving a habit, you can reward yourself so that it keeps you motivated. These rewards could be anything that you like; be it any experience or food. Sometimes you may feel monotonous about getting the same reward every time you achieve a milestone. In that case, you can try using different rewards every time so that it keeps you interested for a longer period.
#8 Ignore the Negative People
Without a doubt, there will be people who say that once you have started the habit, there is no going back. They will not help you in improving your habit, but rather they will demotivate you which will weaken your willpower and ultimately result in staying with those habits. If you are surrounded by such people, then it is best that you cut off such people or ignore whatever they say about you. They could be your friends, colleagues, or any strangers.
#9 Create and Implement a Strategy
As we have mentioned, you need to set a target so that you will have an idea of what you need to do. You may know what you want to achieve, but still be unaware of the most significant thing and that is how you are going to achieve it. You need to create a strategic plan including all the factors that will help you in doing so. You have to include the activity triggers, your target, and the challenges that you might face during that period.
Even though most of the plans seem perfect on paper, but their implementation does not provide the expected results. Once you have created the plan, make sure to implement it as soon as possible so that you can identify whether the plan is working or not. Moreover, you should keep an eye on the results and make the necessary changes so that it can help you in getting rid of the habits. It is best that you review your plan every day so that you can monitor the changes.
#10 Go Slow
The most common mistake that people make while leaving a bad habit is expecting the results too soon. A habit was there with you from a very long time, and you cannot expect it to leave in a few days. Always keep in mind that this is a long-term process and provide you with lifelong benefits. Make sure that you are putting in efforts slowly and not expecting the results too soon. You are not just leaving a bad habit, but forming a good one too which could be harder in the beginning. Be patient, and you will surely be successful in the mission.
Endnote
One of the most challenging tasks in life is leaving a habit. Some people may find it easy while the others spend their life in doing the same. It all depends on the strategy that you are implementing, and the points mentioned above will help you in creating an effective strategy.
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