Want to break a bad habit? Establish a new good habit to take its place. Anything a person does, repeated often enough, can become a habit. Anything that the same person stops doing long enough is no longer classified as a habit. This is true whether you’re playing computer games, smoking, complaining, drinking, overeating, doing drugs, etc…
To break a bad habit, will require you do three things:
1. Make a decision to stop
2. Develop a plan, and
3. Follow through on that plan
Making a Decision
If you never decide to stop, why would you ever refrain from the habit? You have to decide you no longer want to do what you’re doing if you hope to cease the activity.
Develop a Plan
How will you keep yourself from doing the activity you know you shouldn’t be doing? For example, if everyday at 3 p.m. you go for a smoke, maybe you should replace that 3 p.m. activity with another activity. Or if you and your friends go for drinks after work, perhaps you could swap your beverage for club soda.
Good plans will consist of:
- The bad old activity to be eliminated and a new activity to start developing to replace the old one
- A start date
- All preparation needed to be able to stop one activity and start another
- An alternative activity in case the intended new activity cannot be done each time in place of the old habit
Following Through
You’ve decided, and made a plan with a start date. Now, all that is left is to follow through with the plan. It won’t always be easy, and you may slip up, but with each slip, recommit to your decision to break the bad habit. After a while, you may notice you don’t even think about the bad habit anymore.
Some people may need support to follow through, and others may need to re-start over and over again. That’s normal, and it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. It means you’re human. Give yourself some grace, and just try again. Keep reminding yourself of your goal to cease the bad habit, and before you know it, it will be a distant memory.
Hammond Psychology and Associates is the go-to resource for residents seeking psychological evaluations from a licensed psychologist in the Tampa Bay area. Click here to learn more about our Psychological Testing services in our Brandon location.