How to Break Habits

Do you bite your nails? Chewing hair? Thumb sucker? Lip peeling? No matter what your bad habit is or how deeply ingrained it is in you, the process of breaking the habit is likely to be similar. With perseverance and the right mindset, you can completely break your bad habits, and the following guidelines will help you through the process.

Table of Contents

Change your mind

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Commitment to the goal. While it may seem obvious, it’s important to understand that the first step to breaking a bad habit is to develop a genuine desire and commitment to change your life. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Many people embark on the path to breaking the habit without really understanding what they want to change. Breaking a habit is a difficult task, so if you’re not fully committed to the process, you’re likely to fail. ^{[2] X Research Source}

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Understand your own habits. Almost all habitual behaviors are patterns of behavior that have evolved because they are encouraged in some way. They make it easier to perform tasks or cope with a variety of emotional states. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

The “habit cycle” is made up of a cue, or trigger, that tells your brain to start performing the behavior associated with the habit. The brain forms a “reward” for this behavior, in the form of neurotransmitters that can reinforce the repetition cycle of the habit. ^{[4] X Research Source} Disrupting the behavioral part of this cycle is how you can break the habit. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

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Consider the context of the routine. In order to be able to identify the most effective method for breaking a habit, it can be helpful to identify the context in which the situation and emotion may be triggering your habit. ^{[6] X Research Resources} This can help you understand the “reward” your brain is looking for. ^{[7] X Research Resources} This understanding will allow you to develop other, healthier ways of achieving the same rewards that bad habits provide. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

Many bad habits are formed as a way to cope with stressful or boring situations. ^{[9] X Research Source}
For example, for many people, smoking helps relieve stress. Procrastination provides temporary free time so they can engage in more enjoyable activity. ^{[10] X Research Source}
When you feel the urge to perform a familiar behavior, you can make a note of it. Often, habits are so ingrained that we don’t even realize why we’re doing it. Developing cognitive abilities will help you identify habit triggers. ^{[11] X Research Source}
As you take notes, write about what is happening in the present moment. For example, if you’re a nail-biter, you can make a note of any time you feel the urge to bite your nails. Write about your feelings, about what happened during the day, about where you are, and about your thoughts.

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Planning. Once you understand the situation that triggers the habit and the rewards you get from performing the undesirable behavior, you can form a plan that involves behavioral change goals and strategies to reduce it. habit triggers. ^{[12] X Research Source}

Research has shown that a clear, specific plan greatly increases your chances of successfully breaking the habit. It will help you get rid of unwanted habits and also help form new patterns of action. ^{[13] X Trusted Source Science Direct Go to Source}
Mentally prepare for mistakes. Don’t come up with a plan that looks like it’s going to fail because of one misstep. At some point, most people will give in to temptation and return to old habits while trying to break them. If you accept this from the start, it will be hard for negative thinking to defeat your entire habit-breaking process. ^{[14] X Research Source}
You should structure your plan so that you can sustain the process of self-responsibility in the form of rewards for success and feedback from advocates of your habit-breaking goal. It will be easier for you to succeed if you share your goals with others. More detailed information on this will be provided later in the article.

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Visualize success. In your mind, constantly practice the habit-breaking process by imagining a scenario where you would focus on your desired behavior rather than the bad habit. ^{[15] X Research Source} Imagine a situation where you felt tempted to engage in undesirable behavior and choose the better alternative. This method will help reinforce positive behavior patterns.

For example, if your goal is to limit unhealthy foods, you can imagine that you are preparing a healthy dish in your kitchen, and then imagine that you are sitting at the table. eat. ^{[16] X Research Source}
Many people find it helpful to write a “script” about their desired behavior and read it every day. ^{[17] X Research Source}

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Practice mindfulness (mindfulness). Increasing attention to daily life can help you become more aware of your own actions instead of operating on “automatic” mode. Mindfulness focuses on being aware of one’s experience in the present moment without avoiding or judging it. With practice, mindfulness can become a healthy habit that helps you fight the bad habits you want to avoid. ^{[18] X Trusted Source HelpGuide Go to Source}^{[19] X Research Source}

Mindfulness trains your brain to react differently to situations. It can actually “reprogram” the way you react to situations and stressors. ^{[20] X Trusted Source Harvard Business Review Go to the source} It can give you some time before you start reacting to something, and reduce the tendency to “think automatically” formed in response to the situation. ^{[21] X Research Source}
Know when you are tempted to give in to a bad habit. What situations lead to undesired behavior? What sensations in your body or in your thoughts help drive unwanted behavior? Understanding them without judging yourself will help you resist your behavior. ^{[22] X Research Sources}^{[23] X Research Sources}
Do not suppress thoughts about habits. Ironically, when you try not to think about something, you start to notice that it is everywhere and overwhelms everything. ^{[24] X Research Sources}
For example, trying not to think about smoking can make you extremely sensitive to anything that reminds you of smoking. It’s better to acknowledge your craving and the situation that fuels it, and deal with the problem.
Try mindfulness meditation. Taking a few minutes each day to calm down and focus on your breathing will help you develop self-awareness of your body and mind.
Yoga and tai chi also complement meditation, and they are great for your health.
Notice when you feel the urge to engage in a bad habit, but don’t judge the thoughts. You can say something like, “I really want to smoke right now” or “Right now, I really want to bite my nails.” Acknowledging your emotions will help you work through them without getting stuck in your thoughts.

Behavior change

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Change the living environment. Research has shown that sometimes our environment can cause us to engage in certain behaviors, even when we are actively trying to eliminate them. ^{[25] X Source of Research} As such, breaking habits is partly about reducing triggers until you can develop new methods of dealing with them. ^{[26] X Research Source}

The novel situation stimulates the part of the brain that favors conscious decision-making rather than automatic behavior. ^{[27] X Research Source}
A pretty effective way to stay away from bad habits is to find ways to change the context and see if your bad habits are less tempting for you. For example, if you enjoy smoking on the porch, you can remove the chair you usually sit on to smoke and replace it with a potted plant. If you tend to eat a lot when sitting in a certain position around the table, you can move to another seat or rearrange the furniture so that you will sit facing a different direction from where you are. you usually sit. A slight change in your surroundings can make you less likely to subconsciously memorize habits and force your mind to re-evaluate what’s happening. ^{[28] X Research Sources}
Build relationships with people who support the behavior you want. You don’t have to completely ignore old friends, but a new friend who lives the way you want can help reduce your triggers. ^{[29] X Research Sources}
If possible, travel. One of the most effective ways to break old habits is to put yourself in a completely new situation for a while, and develop new, healthier habits that you can incorporate into your life. your daily life back home. ^{[30] X Research Source}

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Create barriers to habits. If possible, set up obstacles that make it more difficult and uncomfortable for you to try to work on your routine than other behaviors; This can help you break down elements that have previously reinforced the habit. ^{[31] X Research Sources} Here are a few suggestions:

Tell your advocate about your plan to break the habit, and ask them to remind you when you make a mistake. This will help you to deal with the consequences when you can’t resist temptation. ^{[32] X Research Source}
Or better yet, you can find someone who wants to break the same habit as you do, and hold each other accountable and break the habit together. ^{[33] X Research Sources}
Any method you take to break the chain of events that often lead to unexpected behavior should help. For example, if you’re trying to stop smoking, you can store your cigarettes in another room. If you want to stop using Facebook during business hours, you can disconnect from the network or use an available application to block access to a website similar to this one. ^{[34] X Sources of Research} Even if you can easily overcome obstacles, sometimes they are just what you need to break the behavioral framework that leads to unwanted behavior. ^{[35] X Research Source}
Set small “penalties” for mistakes. For example, you can use a swear jar for this process: every time you go back to your old habits, put 10,000 dong (or more) in a tin or jar. Put in the jar the amount of money you don’t want to give up each time you give in to the urge, and stick to this rule. When you succeed in kicking the habit, you can use that money to buy a reward or donate to charity.
Or, if you’re trying to stop overeating, you can add 10 minutes of exercise each time you overeat. Behavioral punishment is likely to be the most effective measure. ^{[36] X Research Source}

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Start with small steps. Some habits, such as procrastination, can be difficult to change because the solution can seem daunting. “Stop procrastinating” would be such a huge task that it would be impossible to complete. Try breaking your goal down into small achievable steps. You will get a “reward” for being aware that you will succeed quickly, and your brain will be less likely to see your end goal as “too big” and unachievable. . Instead of saying, “I’m going to stop snacking,” say, “I’m going to have a healthy breakfast.” Instead of saying, “I’m going to the gym more often,” say, “I’m going to yoga class every Saturday morning.” Once you’ve succeeded in each of those small steps, you can gradually increase to reach your ultimate goal. ^{[37] X Research Source}

For example, instead of saying, “I’ll stop procrastinating today,” set a goal for yourself like, “Today, I’ll focus on working for 30 minutes.”
The popular “time management (pomodoro) method” can help. Use a timer and set the amount of time that you will spend focusing on work and nothing else. Set short intervals, no longer than 45 minutes. This can be as long as 20 minutes. The goal is that you should set up a task that is appropriate and easy to do. ^{[38] X Research Sources}
After you’ve finished that amount of time, you can get some rest! Do some fun activity, surf Facebook, check messages. Then continue to put in another amount of time to work.
This technique can “trick” your brain into establishing new, better habits because you notice immediate success (something your brain likes).

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Reward yourself for your own success. Habits are formed when behavior is rewarded in some way, so a great way to form new habits is to reward yourself for good behavior. ^{[39] X Research Sources}

The most successful reward will be the one that occurs immediately after you perform the desired behavior, and this is the behavior that you really want or enjoy.
For example, if you’re trying to break the habit of being late for work, you can treat yourself to a special cup of coffee every day when you get to work on time until you no longer need the reward. ^{[40] X Research Source}

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Look for the substitution element. Try to replace your habits with something new and positive in your life. The key here is that you have to plan for an alternative action when you want to engage in a bad habit. ^{[41] X Research Source}

For example, if you’re trying to stop smoking, you could suck on a lollipop, do a breathing exercise, or take a walk around the block when you want to light a cigarette. Filling in the gaps of old habits with another activity will help you avoid falling.
Make sure the alternative action won’t be boring or unappealing. If you can make the new habit something you really want to do, something you enjoy, or something that has obvious (and ideally, immediate) positive results, ie), you should be able to easily make changes. ^{[42] X Research Source}

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Please be patient. Correcting behavior is a long process, and it takes time for you to break the habit, so you need to stick with it. You should be patient and kind to yourself.

Common sense and self-help books state that it takes 28 days to break a habit. The truth is more complicated, as recent research has shown that the rate at which change occurs depends on the individual and on each person’s habits, and can take as little as 18 days. or at most about 245 days for this process. ^{[43] X Research Source}
Even if the process is different for everyone, you can be sure that the first few days will be the hardest. Many neuroscientists have recommended that people go through a “detox” process for the first 2 weeks, because our nervous system will have difficulty changing the chemical that stimulates the “brain” signaling center. reward” of the brain. ^{[44] X Research Source}

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Be kind to yourself. Telling yourself that you can’t do something is a bad cognitive habit, because it reinforces the belief that you can’t do it. Remember: being too hard on yourself during a difficult time or when you make a mistake won’t help you, and it can make bad habits worse. ^{[45] X Trusted Source Greater Good Magazine Go to Source}

If you find yourself criticizing yourself, remember that seemingly contradictory things can coexist. For example, you want to break the habit of eating unhealthy food, but you “give up” and have a bag of chips ready for lunch. You can easily blame yourself for taking this action. However, being kind to yourself will help you see your mistakes and realize that this is not a failure. You don’t have to keep giving up just because you made a mistake once.
Try to add words and phrases to your statement and plan positively when facing challenges in the future. For example: “I ate that bag of chips for lunch. I’m so sad that I acted like that, AND I can help myself by bringing snacks to work so the vending machines can’t tempt me.”
You can also add “but” and follow it with a positive statement, for example, “I messed up everything, BUT everyone makes mistakes from time to time.” ^{[46] X Research Source}

Advice

When things are getting tough, you should think about what will happen in the future when you finally get over your bad habit.
Deal with one habit at a time, at most two at once. More than this amount will leave you feeling confused.
Many people find it easier to gradually reduce familiar behavior, while others prefer to stop “suddenly,” stopping all actions at once. You should try to determine the method that works for you, even if that means you have to put in the effort to try several methods. ^{[47] X Research Source}
If you have a habit of biting your nails, paint your nails. This way, your nails will look so cute that you can’t even bite them, plus the taste of the nail polish will be pretty bad.

Warning

See a mental health professional (psychologist, psychiatrist, or counselor) if you can’t control your habits, especially if they’re dangerous.
Substance abuse, eating disorders, self-harm, or self-destructive actions can be signs of addiction or a mental disorder. You should seek professional help to be able to combat these behaviors.

Steps

Change your mind

Behavior change

Advice

Warning

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