Letting go of Unhealthy Habits

 

 

 

 

We all have healthy habits that we have acquired over the years.

Getting regular exercise, eating well or finding the discipline to start and finish a course of study are all habits that benefit us emotionally, physically and spiritually.  When habits begin to affect our wellbeing adversely and we feel that we have lost our control in the driver’s seat of our lives and we are now a passenger being driven by negative habits, then it is time to make an assessment of our activities and decide whether we are ready to initiate positive change.

 

Ironically, it is the bad habits that are easy to develop but hard to break. Many people start smoking, drinking or indulging in a lifestyle that they know does not serve them, but find it easier to stay with it even though their body and environment is giving them the signal that it is time for change.

 

It is believed that it takes 21 days to change a habit, but for some it can take as long as a year.  Changing a habit means letting go of a pattern that has become part of our daily existence for most of our lives.  In order to break a bad habit, one has to find a healthy one that can take its place.

 

If you consider breaking a caffeine habit because you know that coffee isn’t good for you anymore, then it is important to find another habit that replaces the existing one.  A habit is probably part of our daily routine, so changing that routine may also play an important role in initiating change. Many love that first cup of coffee in the morning when they wake up, so they need to find something else to do when they wake up so that they do not associate that cup of coffee with waking up. The coffee in turn can be substituted with another warm drink in the morning, but at another time of the morning.

 

Self-discipline and awareness is required for change to take place and you may have to be forgiving of yourself if you do break your commitment to yourself in the beginning. The first step requires honesty about the habit and how it affects your life and the lives of those around you. Developing awareness and understanding of how the habit affects your world will help you to make the decision of whether you are ready to release the habit.

 

Write down the benefits that accompany the changes that you want to make once you have decided to break the unhealthy behavior, and deal with one habit at a time. Take it one day at a time, but keep an eye on your final outcome by constantly visualizing how your life would be without the negative pattern.