One question I come across often during my Group Seminar and individual coaching sessions is, “How do I overcome unhealthy habits”?
Many of us fully know that some of the things that we do aren’t actually helping us. They are slowly crippling our life one day at a time and despite of knowing these things, we continue to do them.
This leads to increased guilt and despair… which in turn causes trouble in other areas of our life.
Is there hope? Is there a way out?
The answer is YES
… And it comes down to taking total responsibility for your health and well-being. We are responsible for our habits. We are responsible for what we do day in and day out.
You can’t absolve yourself off responsibility and put the blame on God, your friends, family or anybody. When you do that, you’re just creating another scapegoat that you can point all your frustrations and failures at.
None of us are born with these habits. We can let go off them if we decide and continually practice.
Just about 7 years ago, I used to smoke at least 40 cigarettes a day. Now – its been seven years since I have touched one.
How did this happen?
Constant practice.
With that said, here are a few strategies you can use to overcome your unhealthy habits and break free…
Identify Them First:
If you want to eliminate your bad habits, the first step is to identify what they are. You need to get your finger on the pulse, first before you do anything. Think about all the unhealthy things that you do day in and day out.
What is hurting you the most? Pick one and let’s get rid of that one first. And then we’ll work on removing the other habits.
Once you’ve picked the habit that you want to overcome, get clear on why you really want to get rid of this habit.
What are the positive consequences of continuing this habit for another 3 -5 years? What are the negative consequences of continuing the habit for another 3 – 5 years?
How would your life change in the next 3 – 5 years if you were to drop this habit right now completely? How will people react to you? How will you feel emotionally when that happens?
What will you be doing instead of this habit?
Get very crystal clear on how your life will change once the habit is destroyed completely.
Plan and eliminate nonsense:
There are some people who create long exhaustive plans that they want to follow in order to overcome such habits. Even though these exhaustive plans are pretty good, they rarely follow them.
Plans are only valuable if you put them to use. There’s literally no point in sitting down and creating an exhaustive plan to overcome your bad habits if you won’t follow them for even a day.
Just answer this one question, “What conditions do I have to set up in my life so I don’t engage in this habit for the next 30 days?”
And then the following, “What else can I do whenever I am tempted to indulge in “X” habit over the next 30 days”?
Setup Powerful Conditions:
Let me say this again… If you’re really serious about overcoming your bad habits, there’s only one thing that you have to do – Setup Powerful Conditions (Physical, Emotional or Mental) so you cannot do the habit at all.
As humans, we are naturally designed to evolve with the environment around us.
If you come home tired and find a bag of chips near the fridge, you are going to pick it up regardless of whether you feel it’s right or wrong.
For a day or two, you may be able to resist the temptation. But one day or another – you will give in and you will naturally develop the negative habit of eating junk food often.
The key – To throw out all kinds of junk food and keep your refrigerator stocked with healthy food.
And for the next 30 days, carry the healthy food with you and eat it whenever you find yourselves tempted to order a donut at the food court.
Throwing out junk food from your house and carrying healthy food with you is an example of a physical condition.
Got a smoking problem? Throw out all cigarette packets and buy only one cigarette at a time to begin with.
Make sure that you park your car at least a mile away from the cigarette store, walk to the store, buy the cigarette and then smoke it near your car. You’ll think twice before walking back to buy the second cigarette.
Or make a deal with your spouse and have them give you only one cigarette a day – which he/she buys from the store. Don’t carry any money to the office. Put enough fuel in your car and drive home straight from work.
Over a period of time, you’ll give up the habit all together.
Start Now, Not Later:
When it comes to eliminating unhealthy habits and sticking with new ones, there are only two things that are essential – Start Now, Don’t Deviate.
Once you get momentum, it’s incredibly easy to stick with healthy habits. And getting the momentum requires consistent practice for 1 – 2 months. This is why you should never deviate once you decide to get rid of an unhealthy habit.
So think carefully. Don’t make empty promises and fail on them. Pick one habit and think about powerful conditions that you can setup to make the bad habit hard and the healthy habit easy.
Make the change right now, grab the initiative and in less than a month, you’ll be living a completely new life.
If you’re looking to get some leverage on yourself, you’re in the right place. Working with a professional coach who can listen to your frustrations non-judgmentally and support you through the process can help you get results faster. Go here to sign up:
https://satishrao.in/strategy4
I will help create an effective roadmap that you can follow to overcome unhealthy habits and create healthy ones that truly support you and your life.
https://satishrao.in/strategy4
Besides working with clients 1 on 1, I also engage with corporate teams through my Group Wellness Sessions. Through these sessions, your team will be able to…
- Overcome their unhealthy habits
- Improve their physical and emotional well being
- Channelize their energy and improve their productivity
Are you an executive who’s looking to increase your team’s performance? Then go here right now to get in touch with me…
https://satishrao.in/groupstrategy
Yours Sincerely,
Satish Rao
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