Every human being’s life depends on habits, which are actions we repeat daily that make our life easier. However, good things come with accompanying bad ones; addictions are one of those bad habits. Good news: since they must be carried out consciously, they can be modified or eliminated. This article comes as an invitation to change your habits.
Everyone has some bad habit, and it is mostly not easy to break. The first step to change this situation is when the individual realizes that he/she has a bad habit, then tries to find what triggers it and what rewards it causes when it is carried out.
After these steps, the person must create a positive routine to control the bad habit. However, this whole process is not easy. The individual needs a lot of motivation and determination to make the change, in addition to making plans, setting deadlines, etc. But after all, how can all this be made possible?
Continue reading to better understand how changing habits can happen and what its benefits are for a happier life!
How important is it to change habits to be happy?
By birth and throughout our lives, we gather a set of habits, which are good in some and not so good in others. Exercising, managing our finances and planning are examples of what can be termed positive habits that promote health, happiness, and personal fulfillment.
Then, we have not-so-good habits: not moving and even the lack of financial control as well as the lack of direction and attitude in order to achieve what we are after. These habits make a man feel let down and even think they cannot achieve anything.
In this regard, one can truly come out of such a situation only by determining to change. After all, no one other than you can decide how to change your lifestyle habits. People are only responsible for themselves and what they do, and thereby it is up to them to really choose to change their pattern of life.
As hard as changing habits may seem, it is a step that will reward you with an even more ordered life, a relaxed and cheerful one. In point of fact, it is important to realize that you always have time to take that step, regardless of how many years you have lived differently.
7 tips to promote a change of habits in your life
Are you motivated to change your habits? Check out the tips!
1. List the habits you want to change
First, write down the habits that you want to change. To do this, create a list and write them down on a pad of paper. This exercise is great for getting to know oneself better and starting to draw up a plan for change. Reflect on the habits that have been causing bad results in different areas of your life. This might be about your life, studies, professional life, financial situation, health, diet, and more.
2. Determine what triggers each of them
After you’ve made a list of the behaviors you wish to break, it’s time to figure out what causes each one. For example, you can develop a tendency of consuming processed foods because you don’t have time to prepare meals or because you believe dining out is expensive. Write this information down. It is good to know the source of your bad habits, that is, the triggers which trigger them.
3. Solutions to each cause
The final step is to find solutions to each bad habit. Let us go back to the previous example. One solution, for instance is to set aside one day of the week to prepare quick recipes and freeze them to eat over the next 5 or 7 days. I swear, for every obstacle you’ll encounter to not changing a habit, there’s a solution. Of course, there won’t always be as easy examples as in the example below, but organization and determination will get you there!
4. Change bad habit
It’s easier to replace a habit with a positive action than to simply eliminate it. Here are some examples:
- Do some physical activity when you feel anxious and used to go shopping;
- Eat a piece of fruit instead of overdoing it on sweets;
- Read a book instead of spending hours on social media.
An interesting fact is that, generally, one change “pulls” the other. For example: if you start doing physical activities to lose weight, you will automatically become more selective about your eating habits. So, when you think about how difficult it is to lose calories, you will probably think twice before eating something fatty.
5. Start with simple changes
You can’t change your whole routine overnight. The changes have to occur in time to be sustainable. So, choose one or two habits that you are going to change at a time, always starting slowly but of course without stopping. Do not try to change jobs, renovate your house, start boxing, learn to invest in the stock market, and study French all at once. You will get emotionally and physically drained, and frustrated because you seem unable to get anywhere.
6. Be patient with yourself
During the course of all of this, it is quite natural that you’ll have a few setbacks. You’ve been acting a particular way for years, and suddenly you’re modifying. If something occurs, don’t hold yourself responsible; instead, pick yourself up and carry on. The least thing you will do is go off diet the first day, for example. Therefore, do not be too rigid or extreme when changing your behavior. Relieve yourself from stress and forgive yourself when you fail. You are still human!
7. Reward your dedication
Finally, remember that the human brain works on the basis of rewards. So, use this strategically in your habit-changing project. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you’ll reward yourself with a bad habit, right? If, for example, you exercise 3 times a week as planned, on Saturday you can wake up a little later. Set rewards that make sense to you, as long as they’re not inconsistent with your new lifestyle.