Lately the word habit has been heard frequently and even more is written about this term a lot and it is found as a fundamental ingredient to achieve what we want.
For example; habits to incorporate sport into your daily life, habits to integrate healthy foods into your life habits to improve self-esteem, but what does the word habit suggest to you?
A habit is a behavior that we carry out in our daily lives, it is part of our routine and we run it on autopilot, without questioning it.
There are healthy habits such as applying body cream after showering. However, our routine is made up of bad habits or unhealthy habits that when carried out on autopilot, we generally do not question them since we do not even realize that we are carrying out that specific behavior.
Unhealthy habits are those that are harmful to health and are generated by underlying problems, these problems are generally emotional. That is, due to poorly managed negative emotions.
Negative habits that harm us
Currently the most common negative emotions are stress and anxiety. Without ruling out frustration, worry, envy…
These emotions lead to non-beneficial habits, such as biting nails, smoking, checking social networks insistently and frequently, eating between meals when we are not hungry, that is, out of gluttony, among many other routines that do not contribute anything positive to our lives.
Steps and strategies to quit a bad habit
Has it happened to you or is it happening to you? Are you tired of these bad habits? Do you want to change these habits and don’t know how?
In this article I encourage you to implement the strategies and exercises that I propose to replace unhealthy habits for healthy, positive, beneficial and productive habits, so if you want: here and now we start!
1. Identify a habit that you don’t like and that you don’t feel good about
The first step seems obvious, but it is crucial We must detect what exactly that habit is that is limiting our life and that we want to eliminate from our life. Once we know exactly what it is, everything that follows is much simpler.
2. Decide to change
To get rid of a bad habit you have to be aware of the damage it is doing to you, writing down its consequences To reinforce this decision, write down the benefits you will obtain when you have gotten rid of the bad habit.
Remember that changing and freeing yourself from a bad habit is not achieved with just the decision, it takes work, effort, willpower and carrying out the steps that I propose, so don’t stop reading.
3. How many times does the bad habit appear?
Write down how many times you repeat the bad habit throughout the day and record it for 21 days.
Identify, observe, be aware of what or who gives life to your bad habit and write it down Do you feel anxious every time you have to speak in public and this makes you drink a lot of coffee? Do you feel anxious every time you have to face a job interview and this makes you smoke more? Do you overeat without hunger as a scheduled family gathering approaches? Do you make constant complaints and criticisms when you visit social networks? Do you eat between meals when you are nervous?
Taking the last case as an example: the unhealthy habit is eating between meals and what gives it life is this state of nervousness. Write down what or who generates this state of nervousness in you.
5. Replace the unhealthy habit
Replace, change the bad habit with a healthy habit this way it is less difficult since the habit, being a behavior and therefore a routine, takes up part of our time.
Eliminating the bad habit without further ado is impossible since we will have a feeling of emptiness and this can make us fall back into the bad habit. Therefore, it is important to choose a healthy habit that replaces the bad habit and behave as we really want.
6. Reward yourself
As you acquire the desired habit, reward yourself. Apart from feeling and experiencing the benefits of the healthy habit, Congratulate yourself by rewarding yourself with something that is gratifying for achieving what you set out to do
Now with these six exercises you are prepared to eliminate any habit that you do not like, that does not make you feel good, that is not beneficial for your health and replace it with a habit, a routine, a healthy, beneficial and constructive behavior.
Remember, with one day of training in the gym you will not obtain the desired physical results, the same happens with the mind and emotions, work daily, be tenacious, have willpower and be persistent to achieve the healthy life you want and deserve. .
