Step 1 – What are the goals that you want to achieve? Really understand them to the point you can visualise yourself succeeding at them and what that will mean for you. Step 2 – To break bad habits you must understand them. What are the bad habits you want to break, how do they show themselves and what triggers them? Step 3 – Replace those bad habits with good ones that will help you achieve your goal. Swap that 2pm cigarette break for a ten minute meditation. Swap that end of week takeaway for an end of week spa treatment. Swap that extra Netflix episode for ticking two more things off your task list. Swap bad for good. Step 4 – Set your goals on a weekly basis and review them daily. Know exactly what you will achieve that day so there is no boredom and stress is minimised.

Replace Your Bad Habits With Habits That Bring Success

<img width="1024" height="1024" alt="Break bad habits" src="https://i1.wp.com/spurplanners.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/your-bad-habits.png?fit=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1" srcset="https://i1.wp.com/spurplanners.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/your-bad-habits.png?w=1080&amp;ssl=1 1080w, https://i1.wp.com/spurplanners.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/your-bad-habits.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/spurplanners.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/your-bad-habits.png?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/spurplanners.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/your-bad-habits.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i1.wp.com/spurplanners.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/your-bad-habits.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/spurplanners.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/your-bad-habits.png?resize=600%2C600&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i1.wp.com/spurplanners.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/your-bad-habits.png?resize=100%2C100&amp;ssl=1 100w">Introducing good habits is a great thing but what if you already have bad habits that you want to get rid of? In this article I will talk about how you break bad habits. Knowing how to break your bad habits can be the motivation for you to go on and create your own good habits in their place.<div>"The truth is, you don't break a bad habit; you replace it with a good one".</div><div>Denis Waitley</div><h2>What Causes Bad Habits?&nbsp;</h2>To know how to fix anything you need to know and understand what causes the problem. Knowing how to break bad habits is no different. Bad habits are caused by two main factors;<h3>Stress or boredom</h3>Bad habits often start or take hold during periods where you are stressed or bored. As I write this we are in lockdown so right now we are ticking both of those boxes hard! The science part is that eating junk food, smoking etc stimulates the release of dopamine which is a chemical that creates a good feeling in your body. The good feeling is nice, especially if you are stressed and/or bored so you keep doing it. Before you know it, it has become a habit. A bad habit.<h3>Repetition</h3>Your bad habit continues to exist because it becomes so ingrained into your day and what you do. You feed your bad habits almost without even thinking. It is like a reflex reaction. Think of all those smokers huddled together on a cold afternoon outside on their smoke break. As a non smoker the idea of poisoning myself makes no sense. Doing it while I risk catching pneumonia makes even less sense. Yet many do it, and they do it because it is what they do everyday regardless of the weather.Don’t just break bad habits, swap them for good habits and turn a negative into a positive.<h2>How Do You Break Bad Habits?</h2>Now you know how bad habits start, the real question you want to answer is how do you break bad habits and take control back? There is no one answer solves all here, you need to combine a few parts together;<h3>Know Your Triggers</h3>All habits, good and bad are triggered by something. The trigger will be different for different habits and for different people so you need to understand yours. If your habit is junk food then the next time you reach for a piece of junk food take a moment to understand why. At this point don’t necessarily stop yourself from having it but think about why you are having it. Is it because you have had a bad morning so want something yummy for lunch? Is it just you are bored so you had a chocolate bar or maybe you have a takeaway every Friday night because it’s just what you have always done? When you think you have spotted all of your triggers write them down.<h3>Don’t Stop, Replace</h3>Firstly, what you are doing is perfectly normal. You had a bad morning so you wanted something to make you feel better. You were bored so you wanted something to pick you up. It’s Friday night, don’t you deserve a takeaway for getting through the week? All normal. The clever bit about how you break bad habits is not to deny the feelings that you have but to replace them with something different and more positive.As most bad habits are triggered by stress, boredom or repetition you need to combat those elements. You need to introduce activities that motivate and excite you. Activities that will increase your physical and mental health and that will drive you forwards. You need to create powerful positive goals.<h3>Make Your Goals Stronger Than Your Need</h3>Let’s switch from the junk food example to a productivity example. You are failing to complete tasks because you spend too much time on social media and Netflix. The solution often given is to set a timer or work in a room away from your phone/TV. These work for some people but not for others so what can you do?You need to make the goal of whatever you are trying to achieve more compelling than the bad habit. If your goal is to get a better job you have to be able to visualise it. The goal must be clear. What job do you want? Why do you want it? What will it mean for you? Only when you really see and understand how the goal will improve your life will it truly motivate you. Once it truly motivates you the decision between scrolling on social media for 30 minutes or completing the next value add task on your list is no longer an issue. You will instinctively replace the bad habit with a good one.<h2>Steps To Success With Extra Tricks To Help.</h2>The above sounds easy when written down but is harder to implement in real life so here are some simple steps to follow with some extra useful tips;Step 1 – What are the goals that you want to achieve? Really understand them to the point you can visualise yourself succeeding at them and what that will mean for you.Step 2 – To break bad habits you must understand them. What are the bad habits you want to break, how do they show themselves and what triggers them?Step 3 – Replace those bad habits with good ones that will help you achieve your goal. Swap that 2pm cigarette break for a ten minute meditation. Swap that end of week takeaway for an end of week spa treatment. Swap that extra Netflix episode for ticking two more things off your task list. Swap bad for good.Step 4 – Set your goals on a weekly basis and review them daily. Know exactly what you will achieve that day so there is no boredom and stress is minimised.Step 5 – Visually show your progress. Have a calendar hung up and each day you succeed in your good habits over your bad mark a big tick. Keeping those ticks going will become a matter of both pride and motivation as you see them string together across the days and week.Step 6 – Reward yourself at set points for staying on track. Maintaining good habits over bad is not always easy so recognise your hard work regularly.Step 7 – Finally, don’t beat yourself up if you have a bad day. We all have them. Acknowledge it, be honest about why it happened then remember tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to excel.It isn’t easy to break bad habits. It takes commitment and motivation but the fact you have read this far means you have both of those things. Now you are on your way, find out how to make those good habits stick <a href="https://spurplanners.com/form-good-habits-in-8-steps/" dir="ltr">here</a>.<h3>Share this:</h3>

Do you know how to break bad habits? You replace them with good habits. Follow our simple steps to smashing those bad habits.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

Introducing good habits is a great thing but what if you already have bad habits that you want to get rid of? In this article I will talk about how you break bad habits. Knowing how to break your bad habits can be the motivation for you to go on and create your own good habits in their place.

To know how to fix anything you need to know and understand what causes the problem. Knowing how to break bad habits is no different. Bad habits are caused by two main factors;

Bad habits often start or take hold during periods where you are stressed or bored. As I write this we are in lockdown so right now we are ticking both of those boxes hard! The science part is that eating junk food, smoking etc stimulates the release of dopamine which is a chemical that creates a good feeling in your body. The good feeling is nice, especially if you are stressed and/or bored so you keep doing it. Before you know it, it has become a habit. A bad habit.

Your bad habit continues to exist because it becomes so ingrained into your day and what you do. You feed your bad habits almost without even thinking. It is like a reflex reaction. Think of all those smokers huddled together on a cold afternoon outside on their smoke break. As a non smoker the idea of poisoning myself makes no sense. Doing it while I risk catching pneumonia makes even less sense. Yet many do it, and they do it because it is what they do everyday regardless of the weather.

Don’t just break bad habits, swap them for good habits and turn a negative into a positive.

Now you know how bad habits start, the real question you want to answer is how do you break bad habits and take control back? There is no one answer solves all here, you need to combine a few parts together;

All habits, good and bad are triggered by something. The trigger will be different for different habits and for different people so you need to understand yours. If your habit is junk food then the next time you reach for a piece of junk food take a moment to understand why. At this point don’t necessarily stop yourself from having it but think about why you are having it. Is it because you have had a bad morning so want something yummy for lunch? Is it just you are bored so you had a chocolate bar or maybe you have a takeaway every Friday night because it’s just what you have always done? When you think you have spotted all of your triggers write them down.

Firstly, what you are doing is perfectly normal. You had a bad morning so you wanted something to make you feel better. You were bored so you wanted something to pick you up. It’s Friday night, don’t you deserve a takeaway for getting through the week? All normal. The clever bit about how you break bad habits is not to deny the feelings that you have but to replace them with something different and more positive.

As most bad habits are triggered by stress, boredom or repetition you need to combat those elements. You need to introduce activities that motivate and excite you. Activities that will increase your physical and mental health and that will drive you forwards. You need to create powerful positive goals.

Let’s switch from the junk food example to a productivity example. You are failing to complete tasks because you spend too much time on social media and Netflix. The solution often given is to set a timer or work in a room away from your phone/TV. These work for some people but not for others so what can you do?

You need to make the goal of whatever you are trying to achieve more compelling than the bad habit. If your goal is to get a better job you have to be able to visualise it. The goal must be clear. What job do you want? Why do you want it? What will it mean for you? Only when you really see and understand how the goal will improve your life will it truly motivate you. Once it truly motivates you the decision between scrolling on social media for 30 minutes or completing the next value add task on your list is no longer an issue. You will instinctively replace the bad habit with a good one.

Steps To Success With Extra Tricks To Help.

The above sounds easy when written down but is harder to implement in real life so here are some simple steps to follow with some extra useful tips;

Step 1 – What are the goals that you want to achieve? Really understand them to the point you can visualise yourself succeeding at them and what that will mean for you.

Step 2 – To break bad habits you must understand them. What are the bad habits you want to break, how do they show themselves and what triggers them?

Step 3 – Replace those bad habits with good ones that will help you achieve your goal. Swap that 2pm cigarette break for a ten minute meditation. Swap that end of week takeaway for an end of week spa treatment. Swap that extra Netflix episode for ticking two more things off your task list. Swap bad for good.

Step 4 – Set your goals on a weekly basis and review them daily. Know exactly what you will achieve that day so there is no boredom and stress is minimised.

Step 5 – Visually show your progress. Have a calendar hung up and each day you succeed in your good habits over your bad mark a big tick. Keeping those ticks going will become a matter of both pride and motivation as you see them string together across the days and week.

Step 6 – Reward yourself at set points for staying on track. Maintaining good habits over bad is not always easy so recognise your hard work regularly.

Step 7 – Finally, don’t beat yourself up if you have a bad day. We all have them. Acknowledge it, be honest about why it happened then remember tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to excel.

It isn’t easy to break bad habits. It takes commitment and motivation but the fact you have read this far means you have both of those things. Now you are on your way, find out how to make those good habits stick <a href="https://spurplanners.com/form-good-habits-in-8-steps/">here </a>.

How To Break Bad Habits - Spur Planners

Replace Your Bad Habits With Habits That Bring Success

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