How to Break a Life Long Habit
Habits, both good and bad, are hard to break. Few people want to break good habits, so the focus for breaking a life-long habit is usually directed at bad ones. It can be done, but it is a challenge, one that in most cases is certainly worth the effort. The most successful attempts at breaking habits engage the techniques of journaling, affirmations, and replacing bad habits with good ones.
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Instructions
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Create a journal to track your daily progress toward your goal of breaking the habit. On the first page of the journal, write a heading stating the habit you are breaking and a time frame for breaking it -- perhaps 21 days. For example, "In 21 Days I Will No Longer . . ."
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Write on the second page of your journal the heading "New Habits." Write down replacement habits that will help remove some of the temptation to fall into the old habit. For example, if your goal is to stop overeating, your list of new habits might include not watching TV while eating, sitting at a table while eating and chewing food thoroughly before taking a new bite. Refer to this list every morning. Feel free to add additional habits to the list as you go along. These will help you visualize the "new you."
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Create goal pages within your journal. Here you may write, draw pictures or paste cutouts depicting things that are important to your breaking the bad habit. For instance, if not exercising has been a problem for you, include a picture of your favorite athlete and write mini goals or sayings, such as "Just Do It" or "Hit the gym 3 days a week!"
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Practice positive affirmations. Create a whole page of them in your journal and memorize several to repeat to yourself at challenging points of your day. For example, if you are a smoker and you want to break this habit for health reasons, write present-tense affirmations that address this, such as "I am not a smoker" or "I am a healthy person who now takes care of my health" or "Smoking is disgusting."
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Write regularly in your journal. You will have good days and bad ones. Don't be afraid to write your true feelings and refer to them later for inspiration or understanding. Try to review the journal daily. This persistence and dedication is important to building new habits and will help you overcome your targeted habit.
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Wear a reminder on your body. Pick up a rubber band or purchase a bracelet to wear daily. When you think about your new habits, touch the band and say a positive affirmation from your journal. When you feel yourself slipping into the old habit, snap the rubber band and say to yourself, "Snap out of it!"
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References
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