It takes a lot of willpower to try and overcome a bad habit, especially if it’s something you’ve done for a very long time. Some people might even think that breaking bad habits is practically impossible. Luckily, this isn’t the case, and it all comes down to how you handle the process of breaking that habit. We tend to make mistakes when trying to break bad habits, which is natural. We’re only human. But here are a few missteps you should try to avoid.
Trying To Stop Too Many Habits at Once
If you get the urge to break your bad habits, don’t try to tackle them all at once. If you rarely exercise, keep buying things you don’t need, and get takeout food every night, it’s going to be extremely difficult to suddenly start exercising, cooking, and becoming frugal all at the same time. Huge changes in our daily lives are tough to handle, and you’ll set yourself up for failure by trying to change too much at once.
Expecting Immediate Success
One of the worst mistakes you can make when trying to break habits is expecting immediate results. If you start exercising a few days a week to break your habit of being too sedentary, you aren’t going to see massive health improvements within your first week or two. Remember, you’re trying to make new, good habits, which takes time and commitment. Trying to break a habit just to see instant results will only make you fall back into them quicker when you don’t immediately succeed.
Rewarding Yourself Improperly
Far too many people fall into the trap of trying to reward themselves for not indulging in a bad habit. Sometimes, they’ll even reward themselves by doing the very thing they’re trying to stop. For example, if you’re trying to break a junk food habit, rewarding a week of clean eating with a day of fast food and chips is not the best way to break the habit. It’s important to understand that slipping up is part of the process. You won’t always be able to fully drop a bad habit without falling back into it accidentally. However, turning that bad habit into a reward will make it harder to break.
Not Making It Easier on Yourself
We’re not going to sugarcoat it; breaking bad habits is challenging. That doesn’t mean you can’t make it easier on yourself. Breaking a bad habit of eating poorly is much more difficult if you have junk food in all the cabinets. It is much harder to break the habit of always being on your phone if you keep it right next to you or in your pocket all day. Changing your environment to suit your goals will help prevent you from falling back into those negative habits.
