Posted By Trisha
Habits are driven by reward-seeking mechanisms in the brain.
Habits can be defined as thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that are repeated regularly and generally tend to occur subconsciously. Habits are driven by reward-seeking mechanisms in the brain, for example, smoking a cigarette when you are stressed or biting your nails when you are anxious about something. Habits are more or less fixed, and because they are mostly subconsciously done, we don’t tend to put too much focus on them because we are not conscious of when they are occurring. Little do we know that our habits determine the kind of lives we live and our overall personal performance. We all know that changing a habit is easier said than done, and it is often daunting because we have no idea where to begin.
7 Common Bad Habits
Smoking
Excessive drinking
Poor eating habits (stress-eating, overeating, skipping meals, late-night snacking)
Nail biting
Procrastinating
Constantly checking your phone/scrolling through social media
Poor sleeping habits (too much or too little sleep)
Ways to Change Bad Habits
Identify and eliminate the triggers: This is one of the most important steps in changing a bad habit. Triggers are the first step in developing a habit. To identify them, we need to spend a few days monitoring the habit for any patterns. Below are a few things we should ask ourselves while tracking the habit:
- Where does the habit occur most often?
- Is it during any specific time of the day?
- Are there any other people involved when it happens?
- Does it happen as a reaction to something?
Replace a bad habit with a good one: It may be easier to replace a bad habit with a good one instead of trying to eliminate the bad habit altogether. The new behavior prevents your brain from going into autopilot because there is now a substitute for the old habit, e.g., deciding to drink water every time your mind thinks “coffee.”
Create an action plan: When working on changing something, it is always helpful to put together an action plan with realistic goals and timelines. This way, you have something to continuously refer to and hold yourself accountable. This will also allow you to track your progress.
Start with small adjustments: Breaking a bad habit is not a simple affair; it takes a lot of time and concerted effort, which is why we should not go in with high expectations and “bite off more than we can chew.” Small steps lead to big changes.
Get support from family and friends: Share your goal with people you trust who can also help hold you accountable to the changes you are looking to make. This is a great way to get encouragement, stay motivated, and have people call you out if they notice you’re slipping back into bad habits.
Be patient with yourself: Change doesn’t happen overnight; it is a process. Don’t be hard on yourself when you feel like you are slipping up and falling back into the same pattern. Simply being aware of this is already a sign of progress.
Celebrate small wins: It is important to continuously acknowledge how far you have come and reward yourself every time you make progress, big or small. This will help keep you motivated so you don’t become discouraged when those slip-ups do happen.
Changing a bad habit is difficult but definitely not impossible. With consistent commitment, a good plan, support, and time, new behaviors can become like second nature. Change is a journey; even with many trials and tribulations, you always get to where you want to go.
