We all fall victim to bad habits, whether it’s overeating, smoking, or even social media addiction. They’re the behaviors we know we should kick but find it so hard to change. It can sometimes feel like we don’t have the willpower or discipline to break unhealthy habits, but the truth is we all have the ability to change.
Here are 3 steps to break a bad habit and create healthy routines:
1. Identify what triggers the behavior.
When we think about creating or breaking a habit, we tend to focus so much on the behavior itself that we often aren’t aware of what actually triggers it. Before we can change our habits, we have to understand what precedes them.
Take note of what happens right before the unhealthy behavior. Is it always at a certain time of day? A particular place? Does it happen in the company of certain people? Is there a certain emotion that triggers it? Once you start to see the pattern, you can better understand the habit and how to break it.
2. Determine what you desire that is at the root of the habit.
Every habit delivers a reward whether we realize it or not. Even with negative habits, there is still some pleasure or benefit we gain that keeps us coming back for more, though it’s not always immediately obvious what that reward looks like. Knowing the reward we are seeking from the habit will help us find other, healthier ways of achieving that goal.
For a smoker, the reward could be a burst of energy, getting to socialize with other smokers, or getting to take a break from work. To determine which one it is, the smoker could try having a double espresso instead of a cigarette to see if the caffeine satisfies the craving. If not, they could have a cigarette without talking to anyone to see if it’s still rewarding without the socialization. Then, they could have a cigarette as fast as possible during work without giving themselves time to relax to see if they derive as much pleasure from it.
Conduct experiments to figure out what kind of reward you are craving. Think about what you can do instead to satisfy this desire. Once you figure that out, you can begin changing the habit.
3. Consciously create new routines.
Habits are behaviors we initially choose but then begin to act on without thinking. This is true for both healthy and unhealthy habits. The more we are conscious of the habits we are forming, the more we can direct our lives towards positive choices.
If you can interrupt your habit, you can change it. It takes willpower initially to make a change but then less and less to maintain that change over time. Decide what you want your new habits to look like and create an environment that supports them, keeping in mind what triggers your behavior and what rewards you are seeking.
It isn’t easy to break longstanding habits, but it is possible with awareness and consciousness. If you want to change a behavior, seek to understand it better. Figure out what brings it on and what you gain from it so that you can start forming other habits that bring you just as much fulfillment, if not more!
