Almost everyone has some habit in their life that robs their
\nday-to-day life of a little (or a lot) of joy. We might have
\na habit of showing up late, bottling up our emotions,
\nsmoking, eating excessively, not eating enough, avoiding
\nexercise, drinking too much caffeine, spending too much time
\non a computer, blaming others, getting angry quickly,
\nover-spending, not taking care of our selves, or many other
\nnon-helping habits.<\/p>\n
Over time the word “habit” often becomes synonymous with
\n“excuse.” We begin to feel that we can’t change an area
\nbecause it is a “habit,” and stereotypically habits are hard
\nto break. However, if we have the power to create a habit,
\nthen we also have the power to un-create it. How do we know
\nif a habit needs to be broken? When it begins to negatively
\nimpact our relationships, self-esteem, finances, career, or
\nany other area important to us, then a habit has become a
\nhurt. Let’s look at strategies that can help rid ourselves
\nof habits that hurt.<\/p>\n
1. Clearly Define Your Habit and its Purpose<\/b>: We don’t
\ncreate negative habits for fun and to purposely complicate
\nour lives. We create a habit because at the time of creation
\nit seems to serve a purpose in our lives. Typically, we then
\noutgrow the need for the behavior however we don’t
\nrelinquish the habit. The first step in breaking a bad habit
\nis to clearly define what the habit is, when it started, and
\nhow long we have been engaging in it. We can’t mange or
\nchange what we don’t clearly understand, so get a working
\ndefinition of your habit on paper along with your thoughts
\non why you created this habit in the first place.<\/p>\n
2. Gather some basic background<\/b>: Take a quick inventory of
\nthe past 12 months. Answer the following questions:<\/p>\n
How much time did you spend keeping up this habit?<\/p>\n
How much did this habit cost you?<\/p>\n
What did this habit prevent you from doing?
\nAnswering these questions can help us see the reality of the
\neffect a particular habit has in our lives.<\/p>\n
3. Fast Forward<\/b>: As you conduct your habit analysis, imagine
\nwhat you days would be like if you were rid of this habit?
\nWhat would change? Write about how your life would be
\ndifferent. Write as much as you can about the benefits of
\nchanging your ways. Try to come up with at least 10 separate
\nreasons for change. The more you think through the benefits
\n(and write them down) the more solid the foundation you will
\nhave when you begin to implement change.<\/p>\n
4. Track Your Habit:<\/b>\u00a0Grab a notebook and for the next week
\nwrite down each time you engage in your habit. Note anything
\nthat might be influencing you like your thoughts, those
\naround you, or how you felt physically or emotionally.
\nConducting this habit-audit let’s us see exactly how our
\nhabit is affecting us in our current day-to-day activities.<\/p>\n
5. Make a Commitment<\/b>: After you have completed the steps
\nabove it is time to clearly define what you want to change
\nand how you want to change it. Make a detailed plan by
\nbreaking down the steps you need to take. It would be a bit
\nunrealistic to say that in 4 weeks you don’t ever want to
\noverspend. Dramatic overhauls often lead to “slips and
\nrelapses.” Try creating a multi-tiered plan for change. If
\nthe habit was overspending, choose and define your new goal.
\nThen set milestones between where you are currently and
\nwhere you would like to be. If you routinely overspend $100
\na week, you could reduce your spending by $20 every other
\nweek, and in 2 months you would have a $20 spending budget
\neach week.
\n
\n6. Think it Though<\/b>: Before your start date, think through
\nthe challenges you are likely to face. What might confuse
\nyou? What might cause you to run from new change? What might
\ncause you to slip? Think of as many potential roadblocks as
\nyou can write them down. On your own, or with the help of
\nothers, brainstorm a solution for each of these roadblocks.<\/p>\n
7. Tell Someone!<\/b>: Once you have defined the change you want
\nto make and chosen the steps to make it, then it is time to
\nmake a first commitment. On one piece of paper summarize the
\nchange, the benefit, and your action plan. Choose a start
\ndate. Tell someone what you are doing! None of us like to go
\nback on our word. If we don’t tell anyone about the change
\nwe are contemplating it is easy to revamp and alter the plan
\nat any time. If we tell someone and ask that they help us be
\naccountable we are much more likely to succeed.<\/p>\n
8. Begin!<\/b>\u00a0When your start date arrives, review your plan.
\nDaily review the reasons for change that you created in Step
\n3. Rely on your support person for help when needed. If you
\nfind new roadblocks, add them to the list you created in
\nStep 6.<\/p>\n
9. Don’t let a slip become a fall<\/b>: Often we have a little
\nslip (or a big one) and that becomes a reason to abandon our
\nplan all-together. DON’T! Just because you slipped today
\ndoesn’t mean you need slip tomorrow. Don’t let the shame of
\none setback be a reason to abandon your plan. Instead, add
\nthat as a roadblock and brainstorm a solution for the next
\ntime you face that specific scenario. Take the day off and
\nthen get back on track tomorrow!<\/p>\n
Try it! What habit is holding you back? Use the strategies
\nabove to create an action plan for change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Almost everyone has some habit in their life that robs their day-to-day life of a little (or a lot) of joy. We might have a habit of showing up late, bottling up our emotions, smoking, eating excessively, not eating enough, avoiding exercise, drinking too much caffeine, spending too much time on a computer, blaming others, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[427],"tags":[827,824,826,139,788,828,699,770,825],"class_list":["post-3250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-427","tag-begin","tag-change","tag-commitment","tag-fast","tag-habits","tag-slip","tag-slow","tag-steps","tag-track","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3250"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3251,"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3250\/revisions\/3251"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}