Tips to help you quit bad habits.
We all have some bad habits in our lives that we fail to quit. Perhaps ever new year, we make resolutions to break these habits, such as smoking, biting our nails, being late to meetings, or constantly checking our phones. Sometimes, we can go days or weeks without succumbing to these bad habits. But, gradually, we start to slip back into our old ways. While it may not seem like it, habits are actually automatic behaviors rather than well-considered decisions. To help you kick bad habits once and for all, take a look at these 3 science-backed tricks to hack your brain.
Find the core
Finding out why your habit exists in the first place is less intimidating than it sounds. Every habit has three basic parts:
- The cue – the feeling or time that triggers the habit
- The routine – the habit itself
- The reward – the craving the habit satisfies
The next time you find yourself doing your bad habit, take a moment to recognize what triggered it and the reward you feel. Once you understand your bad habit, you are in a better position to break it.
Change your environment
The ‘cue’ that triggers your habit is the key to breaking it. Without the cut, you won’t be promoted to go through the routine in the first place. The key, then, is to change your environment. For example, if your habit is to scroll through your phone at night once you’ve turned off your light, you can change the environment by placing the light elsewhere in the room, leaving your phone outside your room, or refraining from turning the light on altogether.
Find a replacement
Rather than eliminate the habit, you can be more successful in breaking it by replacing it with a like alternative. For example, if you crave social interaction once you’ve turned off your bedside light, call a friend or write in a journal to express yourself. Once you find your new, healthier routine, make an effort to do it each time the cue and craving hit.
We hope these tips help you to break bad habits! Taking care of your health and wellbeing should be your first priority. Contact the insurance professionals at Donald Weiss Insurance Services in Santa Monica for all of your health care coverage needs throughout Southern California.
