Turn The Bad Habits Into Good Habits
No one is perfect. We all have a few bad habits. And most of us would like to get rid of those bad habits. But getting rid of bad habits is not easy. Those pesky bad habits seem to sneak up on us and become a significant part of our daily lives. They become a part of our daily routines. We do them without even thinking about it. But to get rid of them, we have to think about them and remind ourselves not to do them. Not an easy task.
The most significant causes of bad habits are boredom and stress. It is quite amazing the things we find ourselves doing over and over and all because we are bored or stressed. And we don't even seem to realize that hey, we might be bored or stressed right now. We could find better alternatives if we stop and think about why we are stressed or bored.
Some bad habits can affect your health, like fast food and smoking. Anything that affects our health should be the first bad habit we eliminate.
Some bad habits are a total waste of our time, like constantly checking our phones and endless scrolling through social media over and over throughout the day. There are plenty of much more productive and probably more enjoyable things we could be doing.
Some bad habits can be expensive, like shopping out of boredom and racking up the credit cards. And fast food, cigarettes, and alcohol are not cheap.
Here is a list of some of the bad habits that I am sure we can all relate to and quite possibly are guilty of doing.
Nail-biting
Smoking
Swearing
Alcohol
Fast food
Spending
Stress eating
Being late
Being negative
Phone obsession
Social Media
Not exercising
So, what can we do to change our bad habits? How about replacing those bad habits with new good habits and changing up your routine a bit.
Junk food and bad eating habits? Keep junk food out of the house and replace it with fruits and vegetables and protein shakes or protein bars. Keep healthy foods readily available and in plain sight. Grabbing a piece of fruit instead of sugary foods will soon become your new habit.
If stress eating is a problem, try taking a walk or doing some sort of exercise. It will not only help with the stress but will stop the overeating.
If your bad habit is social media, try unplugging. Shut down the computer at a set time. Put your phone out of reach. Read a book, do some exercise, clean out a closet. Find other more productive things to do.
If your bad habit is ignoring exercise, put those walking shoes next to the door. Ask a friend to walk with you. Try new things. Find some form of exercise that you enjoy. Have an exercise partner to hold you accountable.
If you have more than one bad habit, conquer one and then move on to the next one.
Keep in mind that you will falter now and there. Patience and persistence are required. But it will get easier.
And when you have kicked a bad habit out of your life. Celebrate your success. And remember that if you swapped that bad habit for a good one, it's a double win for you.