How to Easily Break Bad Habits

Everyone has some kind of bad habit that they want to break, whether it’s spending too much money, logging into social media too often, or nail-biting. Many bad habits can negatively affect your life in a variety of ways, but it can be hard to break them.

Here’s how to easily break bad habits:

1. Share your goal with someone else. If you know someone who’s trying to break a similar habit, make your goal together with that person. You can encourage each other along the way and check in with each other to report your progress.

Even if you don’t know anyone who has a similar goal, find someone to talk to about your goal. Ask them to follow up with you on your progress. Just make sure they will be supportive of you.

2. Make one small change at a time. If you try to make a complete lifestyle change all at once, you’ll likely give up after just a little while. Instead, implement several small changes, introducing them one at a time.

For instance, if you’re trying to give up unhealthy food, try eliminating just fried food at first. Then, once you’ve got the hang of that, eliminate excess sugar. Keep slowly eliminating unhealthy foods from your diet until you’ve reached your goal.

3. Create a vision board. Sometimes, when the going gets tough, looking at a visual representation of your goal can help you get by. Think about the positive changes or outcomes in your life that will occur as a result of you breaking your bad habits.

Cut out pictures from magazines, or write down inspirational quotes. Hang these pictures and quotes where you will see them often. This will keep you inspired to achieve your goals.

4. Figure out your triggers. Many bad habits are triggered by some kind of event or feeling. Figure out what this is for you, and try to eliminate that trigger in your life.

If you find yourself compulsively checking social media when you’re bored, find ways to keep busy so that you’re not bored as often. An accountability partner can help greatly with this. Tell a friend about the things in your life that trigger your bad habits, and ask for help in eliminating them.

5. Replace it with something better. If you simply eliminate a bad habit, it can leave a void. Fill that void with a good habit. If you find that you like to go shopping and spend too much money on non-necessities, try taking the amount you would have spent and put it in a savings account whenever you have the urge to shop. To make this more exciting, set a specific savings goal so that you’re more motivated to save.

6. Don’t give up. Breaking a bad habit takes a lot of time and effort. It’s okay to fail once in a while, as long as you don’t let that failure completely derail your goal. If you fall off the wagon, get back on as soon as possible, and don’t use it as an excuse to completely give up and go back to your bad habits. You can succeed, especially if you lean on supportive friends and family during weak times.