We all have bad habits we wish we could eliminate. They could be biting nails, staying up surfing the internet, smoking or excessive drinking. However, breaking a habit isn't as easy as waking up one day and deciding to stop that specific behaviour. It takes time and effort. Also, it needs the dedication to make life-lasting changes in life. While there are studies that indicate it takes 21 days to break a habit, it can often take months and even years. It all depends on a lot of personal factors.
How Do We Develop Bad Habits?
Habits develop in circles. Specific cues remind you of the behaviour which causes you to perform the behaviour to yield a reward. That reward reinforces the desire to continue the behaviour further. This is how people develop bad habits and continue them in the long term. Here's how you can break the habit cycle.
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Bad habits develop in circles
Tips To Break Bad Habits And Stay Healthy
Here are some tips we are sharing with you if you are trying to break the bad habit cycle.
1. Aim For Small Changes
Working on one habit at a time helps you master your habitual activities well. You may have multiple bad habits, but to break the circle you have to be patient. To move forward for good changes in life, you have to aim at small and progressive things related to your bad habit. For example, if you have smoking issues, you cannot leave it overnight. You have to gradually reduce the count of cigarettes you intake in a day.
2. Stick With Your Progression
While a day or two slip-ups, don't let that affect your long term success. Once you master habitual activities, it can establish a pattern of consistency which can genuinely break your habit cycle in the long run. So, always try to stick to your success.
3. Replace Bad Habit With A Good One
Bad habits address a particular need in your life. Never thought about it that way, right? People say when they are anxious or nervous they bite nails. But nobody observes they may have mental health issues which make them suffer from anxiety or nervousness. Finding an alternative habit that satisfies the same need can be beneficial. In the nail-biting case, it can be meditation to boost mental strength.
Try to make your life better through these small steps to break your bad habits from today itself.
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