How we unlearn bad habits.
We all have a bad habit which we must unlearn as it is detrimental to our health, productivity or even both. This could be the thing holding us back from reaching our full potential and succeeding.
What is a bad habit?
A bad habit is a behaviour or action we repeatedly do that does not benefit us in any way and is perceived as negative. Examples of these habits are procrastinating, drinking lots of alcohol and constantly binge eating on junk food.
How do we break out of these habits?
Unlearning a habit can be quite difficult but this is why I have studied how we can break free from the ones that are undesirable to us and prevent us from reaching our full potential. Habits are conducted almost involuntarily hence why they can be tricky to break from. We begin to unlearn habits by identifying the ones which do not benefit us.
Identify your issue
Begin by asking yourself which habit is the undesirable one. This is different from person to person so really dig deep and see which habits hold you back from success. Personally, I can say my biggest hold back is procrastinating. This is where I will mentally highlight procrastination as a bad habit.
Figure out the trigger
Ask yourself why you do this habit. Is there a reason behind this habit that is holding you back from doing what you need to do? Unravel why. Is the environment you are situated in the reason why? Is this the distractions surrounded by you such as a phone the reason? Is it because you don't actually believe you can do it? Whatever this may be, it is important to discover whether there is a trigger to your habit and then deal with the trigger appropriately.
Set goals and develop a plan
Create a goal for yourself to achieve and plan on ways to work towards unlearning this habit. Make sure this goal is realistic and achievable. To ensure you get the most out of this goal, follow the SMART framework. This means making your goal - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time specific. Plan this goal out well and you will be on the road of defeating this bad habit. Make sure you take it a step at a time. Know that this does not happen overnight and you must stick with the plan.
Find an accountability partner
An accountability partner is someone who supports you with staying committed to your goals. This is often someone close to you such as a friend or family member who can keep you accountable for your goal. They will often ask you on how that goal is getting along and the progress of your goal. Having someone besides yourself accountable for your goal can be a huge help as they act as a motivating force for you to go ahead with the goal.
Do not give up on yourself!
Finally, I would like to add that you should not give up on yourself. As I have mentioned earlier, unlearning a habit can be tricky and you may have some slip ups here and there. Accepting that this habit it undesirable is the first step which *round of an applause* you are trying to break free from and I am proud of you for that! Do not allow one slip up demolish all the progress you have made. Keep striving towards freeing yourself from this bad habit and with time it will be achieved. It is all about believing you can and you will! "You are what you think you are. Think more of yourself and there is more of you." - David J Schwartz. Allow your mindset to be positive and truly have faith.
What is your undesirable habit?
Will you be trying out any of these steps to unlearning bad habits?
I will leave off on a quote and wish you the best!
" Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." - Barack Obama
Best Wishes,
Lucy Lu x
Thank you to all my readers so far! This is my first week of writing back to back blogs and this journey will live on.
