Everyone has some bad habit. It is in our nature. Unfortunately, if you do nothing about your bad habits, they can, in the long run, have a highly negative influence on your personal life, health, and career prospects too. Habits are persistent and it is never easy to get rid of the bad ones. So here is a step-by-step guide on how to break a bad habit once and for all.
This text is based on a LinkedIn Pulse article.
First of all, identify your bad habits
The first step is identifying the bad habits, which need not be as easy as it might seem. Consider the core of the problems you are facing, and what bad habits of yours are to blame for these problems.
Set up targets you want to achieve
What are your goals? Do you want to eliminate the habit altogether, or just reduce it? Can your goal be expressed exactly, in numbers? It is always better to proceed according to a system than blindly.
Make changes gradually
Don't turn your life upside down all at once. Proceed step by step, and only after successfully making a small change, proceed further. Efforts to change everything all in one go will most likely end in failure.
Consider what will replace the bad habit
Before making a change, think about what you will be doing from then on instead of the bad habit. If you leave a void space in lieu of it, you are likely to lapse into the bad habit again. People often make the mistake of focusing too much on what not to do without having any plan for what they will do instead.
Be in touch with someone you trust
The more the merrier. If you are serious about making a change in your habits, you should discuss the situation with someone and continuously track developments. This person might be a colleague, acquaintance, family member or professional coach.
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