How to Break the Mold of Addiction

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By Tasha J
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It all starts in the mind

Many people battle with addiction every single day. There is really no such thing as a good addiction because it enables you to behave in a way that promotes dependability in a negative way. Whether it is gambling, drinking, smoking, shopping, eating or drugs, addiction can lead to unnecessary hardships. In this article I will suggest some ways that you can break the pesky mold of addiction. FYI….The first step to breaking any addiction is first realizing that you do in fact have an addiction and you need to change your addictive behavior.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

The willingness to change

Step 1

Seek adequate council- Once you’ve realized that your addiction has gotten out of control, you should seek the help of a professional. They usually advertise counselors on commercials of organizations that offer a range of support for whatever addiction you have. If you have never seen these types of advertisements then you could check your local yellow page listing or the Internet for more information.
Step 2

Establish a goal and stick to it- When you make the decision to kick the habit then you should prepare your goal. Some people can quit any addiction cold turkey, while others struggle with their addiction. You must first make the decision to want to change your addictive behavior; this is the only way a goal implementation will work. You have to be serious about it and want to quit the habit once and for all.
Step 3

Develop a list- if you are constantly struggling with your addiction, than you should prepare a list that weighs the pros and cons of your addiction. Most addiction rarely ever have a positive impact on your life which will make your decision that much easier. For instance, if you are a cigarette smoker you could count on all ten fingers and all ten toes of all the negative ramifications of smoking, and find absolutely no reasons to continue smoking, with that in mind your decision has been made for you. If you don’t smoke you will live longer and breath better, if you do smoke your life will be shortened and you could develop emphysema, asthma, cancer, etc.
Step 4

Change your environment- If you truly want to break free from any addiction then you will have to refrain from comingling in environments that promote the use of doing what you have been trying so hard to avoid. You need to avoid places that will be a constant reminder of what you use to do. Avoid all signs of temptation even if that means finding new hangout spots or new friends who encourage you to continue your road to addictive freedom.
Step 5

Develop new interest- Generally when people leave one addiction behind, they pick up another one that is just as damaging as the one they gave up. For example, people that use to smoke cigarettes tend to pick up unhealthy eating habits; in essence you are just replacing one addiction for another. Therefore, you should develop positive interests such as; sports, games, collecting, art, etc. You need something to take your mind off of what you think you’ve lost and work towards gaining a new experience that may even include new friends.
Step 6

Build awareness-inform your friends, family member and associates that you no longer engage in the addictive behavior and that you would appreciate it if they didn’t engage in that activity around you. If they respect you, then they would also respect your wishes.