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Five Tips for Kicking Bad Habits

Bad habits can negatively affect your life in many ways. Drug habits and excessive eating can affect your health. Time management issues can affect your professional and personal life because you will constantly let yourself and others down. By kicking bad habits, you can improve your life and have a sense of pride that you have tackled and overcome a difficult problem.

  1. Acknowledge the Problem

    • You won't stop a bad habit unless you acknowledge that it is a problem. Others may bring it to your attention, but ultimately you have to decide that the habit is bad enough for you to discontinue it. You are not ready to stop If you feel the need to defend the habit. Most people decide to change when they acknowledge the negative effect bad habits have on themselves or those around them.

    Understand Your Habits

    • Bad habits are often a way of avoiding bad feelings such as stress, anger or fear. These feelings cause your life to feel chaotic, and your habits are familiar crutches to fall back on. Whenever you are tempted to indulge in a bad habit, ask yourself what feeling you are trying to avoid. Getting to the root of the problem is more effective than simply trying to use will power to stop the habit.

    Have a Plan

    • Decide how you will go about kicking your bad habit. You may do some research to determine how others with the same habit have overcome it. Setting a goal and a system of rewards helps as well. For example, if you want to stop smoking, reward yourself each day or each week you don't smoke. You may also decide to keep a diary to track your progress. The more progress you make, the more you will be encouraged to continue on the road to recovery.

    Get Support

    • Depending on the extent of your habit, you may or may not need the services of a professional counselor. However, it's a good idea to enlist the support of family and friends. Let them know what habit you are trying to quit and ask them to help keep you accountable. Have someone call you periodically to ask how you are doing, and call her when you are tempted to indulge in a bad habit.

    Forgive Yourself

    • Don't expect permanent change to happen overnight. Everyone makes mistakes, and you may return to your bad habit. Don't beat yourself up if this happens. Realize that it will take time to kick a bad habit, and resolve to get back on track. You may not get it right the first time, but each time you fall and get back up will give you more confidence that you will eventually succeed.

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