Cutting Back on Those Bad Habits
January 24th, 2008 by aaks
Everyone has bad habits. It’s all part of being human. A bad habit is manifested in many forms. It could be smoking, drinking, nail-biting, or even chewing one’s hair - the list could go on and on. Whatever your bad habit is, it’s nothing more than a quirk, and there’s nothing wrong with being quirky, as long as it’s done in moderation. But if you feel that your bad habit is already getting out of hand and turning into an addiction, it’s time to take matters into your own hands. With the right mindset, you can turn an addiction back into no more than a quirk - just the way it should be.
Make A Decision
The first thing you should do to keep your habit under control is to decide to do so. It’s not as easy as it sounds. You may easily verbalize your intention, but actually internalizing it to convince both your conscious and subconscious to go through with it is another story.
A good way to do it is to take the time to focus on your intentions and envisioning what you want to achieve and believing that you can achieve it. You can also make your goal more tangible by writing it down. This way, you have something physical that will remind you of your goal, whether it’s cutting back on smoking or drinking, or to stop picking your nose in public.
Start Small
Rome wasn’t built in a day. A gargantuan task like cutting back on a habit or giving it up altogether wouldn’t be done in a day either. It also doesn’t help to jump into the task head-on. A sudden change will result in both your mind and body rebelling against it. As a result, no change is made at all.
As a fact, change is a gradual process, meaning if you want to cut back on bad habits, you have to start small. For example, instead of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, you can reduce to half a pack this week and a fourth of a pack the next. You can spend less time carrying around a pencil - or maybe even switch to using pens altogether - if you’re likely to chew on it.
Distraction and Motivation
In order to cut back on bad habits, you also need to be motivated. You have to be doing it for a very good reason, a reason that you feel you can really stand up for. Without the right healthy motivation, you’ll find yourself faced with a lost cause.
Distraction also helps. This is pretty much replacing your bad habit with another habit, albeit a healthier and a better one. You can start developing a liking for fruit juices and drink them by the buckets, instead of always knocking back spirits. You can chew on fruit candies to take the taste of cigarettes out of your mouth and reduce craving, or to stop chewing on your cuticles.
Indeed, no bad habit is too hard to break with the right approach and a foolproof strategy. You’ll be surprised to find out one day that you’ve kicked it for good.
To cut back, you don’t only have to put away those flasks. You have to put away those money clips too to avoid temptation. Take up a hobby instead, like making personalized gifts. Visit ExecutiveGiftShoppe.com today.
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