bad habits

Type in the term “bad habits” into Google and you’ll get pages and pages of articles teaching you how to break those bad habits. While it sounds like a great idea to get rid of your bad habits, it’s creating a rather unhealthy attitude around what people consider to be good and bad habits. It’s getting to a point where it’s starting to affect our mental health, especially if we find it hard to break off from a certain habit of ours.

But there might be a different approach to these kinds of problems. Instead of thinking too much about your bad habits, embracing and learning to control them might be a much better alternative that is overall healthier for both the body and mind.

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Failing to break a bad habit sucks and makes you feel like you’ve wasted time

One of the biggest problems with trying to break a bad habit such as smoking or drinking is that it makes you feel awful when you try and fail for the 10th time. It’s much better to try and fail than to never try at all, but given that there are entire industries built around helping people get off these products, it can end up being extremely expensive, time-consuming, and perhaps worse off for your health than if you just continued your bad habits in moderation.

As such, you should always try to break off a bad habit. However, you should start by controlling it and lowering the frequency that you rely on it instead of just outright trying to remove it from your life. Going cold turkey never works, but gradually shifting it out of your life (if you choose to) can do wonders.

There are ways to control your habits if you just embrace that it’s a part of who you are

There are certainly ways to control your bad habits if you’re willing to accept them as part of who you are.

A great example of this is smoking. You could try to avoid smoking by not buying any cigarettes or carrying anything with you, but it’s just going to end up giving you withdrawal symptoms. A great solution to this is to buy yourself a premium joint case. This allows you to store a certain number of cigarettes or joints, then you can consider that your daily limit.

People aren’t perfect and we should never feel forced into another person’s ideals

There’s this stigma against people that drink, smoke, or even engage in other perceived “bad” habits. The thing is, people aren’t perfect. Everyone has their vice and people need something to help blow off steam, relax, or unwind. Some people rely on video games, other people might smoke. Some people drink a bit too much, others engage in stress eating.

Embracing these bad habits as part of who we are can actually help us overcome them. Instead of just avoiding them outright, it’s a good idea to accept that we have these issues, understand why we engage in them, then slowly work out how we can control those urges and reduce the chances of it happening in the future.

Thank you for reading!

Being able to break a habit is a lot easier said than done. Usually, these habits are something you’ve done for a while, and any habit can become addictive in its own way. Here are four ways to help you break a habit.

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Take It A Day At A Time

The main thing to think about when you’re trying to break a habit is that it’s all about taking it a day at a time. There’s going to be days where you struggle and the odd day or several where you fall off the wagon, and your old habit starts again. This is something you just need to get used to because it’s going to take time. The most addictive habits can often take years to kick, like smoking, or perhaps having too much alcohol every week. Cutting down and then eventually cutting it out can be difficult, so don’t beat yourself up if you’re having a tough time of it. Take it day by day where you can, and if you fall off, just dust yourself off and get back on it again.

Try Hypnotherapy

There are alternative methods out there to beating a habit, and a lot of the time, it really is mind over matter. Your body will trick you into thinking it needs something when, in reality, it doesn’t. The only reason why it’s making you feel this is because whatever the habit is, it’s conditioned you to feel like you need it. That without it, you’re going to suffer in some way. Hypnotherapy is a great way of getting yourself mentally in the mindset to kick a habit for good. It’s been proven to work on previous patients, but it all depends on how you approach it and whether the person doing it for you is going to have the knowledge and ability to train your brain to feel differently about the habit you have.

Find The Triggers

There’s normally a trigger to any habit, and it’s a good thing to find that trigger so you can stop it from happening. Normally, it might be something or someone that causes the trigger, perhaps it’s work and the stress that makes you smoke. Or maybe it’s seeing certain people that fill you with nerves and then you end up biting your nails as a result. Whatever the trigger, locate it and try to avoid it where you can.

Choose A Healthy Substitute

Finally, while you’re trying to beat a habit, it’s a good thing to find a healthy substitute for said habit. If you’re trying to quit smoking, trying cutting down less and trying vaping. If it’s alcohol, try replacing it with alcohol-free drinks, so you still have the taste.

These four ways are just a few examples of how you can try and beat a habit. Be patient with yourself and trust yourself that you will end up tackling it one day. It might take time, but you’ll get there eventually and be better for it.

•How do you try to break your bad habits?

This post was a collaboration.

Embracing Your Bad Habits and How To Control Them

Four Ways To Break A Habit