I have been trying to retrain my brain against some bad habits this year. I had a terrible habit of “stress eating”, & all that was doing was stressing me out! Not good for the mind or the body. So I learned that the way to change my behavior was to replace the “bad” behavior with a better one. When I feel stressed or emotional or whatever, instead of heading for the food, I head straight to something that gives me great satisfaction without the guilt! There is something you may not know about me… I am an avid crafter! I absolutely love to create things, and find good deals. So my new habit when I am stressed is organizing (I know I know… sick) or crafting. I have been on an absolute roll lately. In order to keep on track, I added some crafting that would benefit my business also, just for good measure.

Usually our bad habits are a result of stress or boredom. Sometimes they’re caused by deeper issues. These issues are hard to face sometimes but if you really want to change then you must get real with yourself. What is causing you to hold on to these bad habits even though you know they’re not good for you. When you recognize the cause of the habit, you can finally start to overcome them.

Bad habits do alleviate some need we have in our lives, thats why it is very difficult to just stop them. I used to think that it was more important just to “NOT” do the bad behavior (over eating, smoking, etc). What I realized is that over time I could stop for a while just to start up again later. I had not replaced that bad habit, I just put it on vacation for a bit, and as soon as I was stressed, emotional, angry, or even happy I was back to eating unhealthy food and further from my personal health goals. Which got me further from all my other goals as well. You cannot just expect yourself to stop bad habits cold turkey without replacing them otherwise it will be very had to stay the course and it wont last long.

Here are some tips to help you get rid of those bad habits and replace them with new good ones!

1- Choose a replacement habit. When you start to feel stressed or bored, you need to know what you will do next! (instead of the old bad habit) Example: When I feel stressed, instead of reaching for some sugar or other form of food, I start a small organizing project. Even if it only one junk drawer. When I am finished, not only do I feel great satisfaction but NO guilt! Plus I have a super clean junk drawer. 🙂

2- Remove yourself from situations that trigger your bad habit response. Take away the bad choices and start to “child proof” your environment. Making it harder to give in to your usual responses will give you more time to think things through and make better choices.

3- Stop all the negative self talk. Telling yourself that you are a loser and are a failure are a surefire way to not succeed. Think about the way you speak to yourself and if that were a child you were speaking to you would change your tune. Encourage yourself and know that you will screw up and revert at times. It happens to everyone, forgive yourself and move on.

4- Visualize yourself succeeding. When you visualize your goals, it activates your subconscious which will start taking steps to achieving your goal. Sit quietly for a few moments each day and in as much detail as possible, imagine looking at yourself as if you were already where you want to be.

5- Surround yourself with support. Make sure the people you are spending time with don’t support your bad habits, they encourage your good ones. Be careful of the people you hang around with… if they are not lifting you up to a higher level, and push you further, make you want to reach a little higher, then you need some new friends. You should surround yourself with people that are living the way you want to live.

Breaking bad habits can be very hard but very rewarding. Keep in mind that these habits did not appear overnight, and they wont go away that way either. But they are keeping you from the life you were meant to live, and are definitely holding you back from coming into your greatness. What bad habits do you want to break? Comment and let me know what is helping you to overcome them! I would appreciate it if you share this message if you know someone that needs to hear this.