Secret Habits | How to Quit Today

Though many of us have secret bad habits, it’s no secret what damage they can do to our health, mindset, and productivity. Good habits create results and freedom, bad habits lead to poor self-esteem and apathy.

Today we’re tackling how to eliminate bad habits from your routine. Whether your poison is procrastination, overeating, getting distracted on social media, or something else – you know, and I know, it’s time to do something about it. With that in mind before we begin you must fully commit to seeing the process through. It’s necessary to first have a deep desire to change. Whether it’s for yourself, your business or your family. Make sure you have a rock solid why before taking on the process of dropping those bad habits. Think for a second – what is your why?

With that in mind read on if the pain of staying the same has finally outweighed the pain of change in your life. You’ll discover how to break your bad habits so you can finally have the freedom, self-respect, and productivity you desire.

1- Identify exactly what you want to stop doing and why

It’s obvious but no less necessary because of it. You must identify the specific behavior you want to change. Start brainstorming using the chart below by copying it onto some paper:

Reflect on your life and begin filling in the chart with habits. You may find some habits don’t need to be 100% eliminated, but maybe it would be good to do less of them. For example – snacking during work. Maybe the right next step for you is to change the snack and/or the portion size you allow yourself. No need to cut it out entirely.

Next to each habit write down WHY it’s in the column you put it in. This further locks in the emotional commitment to the change process which will be difficult.

So, by now you have a desire to change, you have identified the bad habit(s) you want to stop and written down why it’s important for you to stop. Time for the next step!

2- Identify your bad habit triggers

If you know what emotional or environmental triggers cause you to engage in your bad habit, you can begin to put strategies in place to avoid them. Why try to resist temptation when you can organize your life to not feel temptation in the first place?

For me, I know if I see food around I will want to eat it. If there’s a Twix visible anywhere in my house, you can guarantee it will be gone by nightfall. The solution for this bad habit of mine? Don’t buy candy at the grocery store. If I can’t access the candy when I have a craving, I won’t eat it.

The trick to avoiding your bad habit is to think critically about what emotions and circumstances trigger it.

• Emotions
  • Think back the last time you engaged in the habit- how were you feeling? Lonely, sad, hungry, tired, overwhelm or scared?
• Circumstances
  • Think back to the last time you engaged in the habit – did something you saw/heard/felt/tasted/touched trigger the desire for you?

Now you have an idea about what caused you to engage in the habit, you can start to build your life to avoid situations where you would be tempted. Or, at the very least, be on guard when you are in those situations. What are two or three specific ways you can avoid triggering your bad habit with the new self-awareness you now have?

3- Turn your struggle into curiosity

This step is meant to be a in-the-moment last resort. If you can’t avoid your trigger, using this technique will help you summon the strength to stop.

The truth is bad habits start with fulfilling our one of our needs. At the core humans are wired to pursue pleasure (comfort, safety, connection to others/God/the world) and avoid pain (discomfort, work, stress, overwhelm, loss). When are needs are not met our brains turn to familiar behavioral patterns (habits) that it knows will make us feel pleasure or avoid pain. 

In that moment when we’re struggling to resist giving in to eating that cookie on the break room table there is still hope for us in this one simple act – becoming curious. If we can stop ourselves in the middle of feeling the temptation or craving long enough to get curious, we can overcome the moment of weakness and get on with our day.

The trick is to stop thinking about how much you want that cookie and start getting interested in what need is not being filled right now that is causing you to desire it. Are you cold, hungry, or tired? Maybe you had a bad night’s sleep or you’re feeling stress in a relationship. 

If you can identify what need is not being filled at that moment, you can get power over it. You can think about it more rationally. Once the need is named, you can start to think about a healthier way of meeting it. In the example above of wanting a cookie, maybe what your brain is really telling you is it’s tired and wants a rest. So meditation would be a great option over eating the cookie at that point!

That’s it. You’re now equipped to start identifying and eliminating your bad habits. I believe you can take the steps above to create incredible results in your life. You CAN feel in control again, raise your self-esteem, and start living a more happy/healthy/productive life. You’re almost there. Make the decision today to get started on your habit-breaking journey. You got this!

Until next time, get out there and create the impossible in your life!

Joey