How To Break Bad Habits In 4 Steps: Guide To Improve Your Lifestyle

“Without struggle, no progress and no result. Every breaking of habit produces a change in the machine.”- George Gurdjjeff

Do you ever feel like you are stuck in a cycle of bad habits that seem impossible to break? It could be that you feel you are spending too much time on your phone, procrastinating way more than necessary, relying on poor diets, lack of exercise, or feeling negative.

Does it resonate with you?

It totally does with me. I don’t know about you, but experiencing bad habits makes me feel unhealthy and trapped in a vicious cycle. You start with one bad habit, and before you know it, it seems you are stuck with many of them.

The reality is these habits can hold us back from achieving true success in life. If you’ve felt the same, don’t worry! There is a solution to make these bad habits a thing of the past.

In this post, I will discuss how to break bad habits and improve your lifestyle. I will include practical steps you can incorporate to make lasting changes.

How to break bad habits? To do so, follow the below steps.

•  Start small, one step at a time
• Replace the bad habits with healthier ones
• Track your progress
• Be mindful of your environment

1. Start small, one step at a time

Now that you’ve decided to break the habits holding you back, start small. One step at a time. Start by identifying one bad habit you would like to break and focus on that first.

Why do you have to start small? So you don’t get overwhelmed especially if you have a long list of habits to break.

How do you take it slow? By following these tips.

Tip 1: Identify one habit you would like to start with and focus on that first.

Tip 2: Understand the trigger by analysing what causes you to fall into this habit. Do you think it’s due to stress, boredom, or social circumstances? For instance, stress can make some people eat anything they can find while others forget to eat. So the trigger to forgetting to eat in this case is stress. 

Tip 3: Understand what you wish to achieve and define it as a goal to motivate you. For instance, it could be that you want to exercise every day. Then this would be your goal.

The idea here is to pick one bad habit and focus on getting rid of that one alone first. Committing to changing just one habit can make the process more manageable, helping you build momentum. Use the New Habits Builder from our free tools to get started.

So, start small and see how far you can go.

2. Replace the bad habit with a healthier one

By now, you’ve identified the habit that you want to break and its trigger. The next step is to find a healthy habit to substitute. You want to consider an alternative to replace your old bad habit. 

How do you do this? By following the below easy tips.

Tip 1: Identify a positive or healthier behaviour to replace your bad habit. For instance, if you are trying to stop eating late-night snacks, you might decide to drink herbal tea, read a book or meditate instead.

Tip 2: Create a plan to implement your new behaviour. Set achievable goals, such as “I will read for 30 minutes before bed instead of snacking” using the Intention Organiser.

Tip 3: Be kind to yourself and remember that setbacks are normal. The key is to keep trying.

Tip 4: Practice consistency to succeed. It takes time to break bad habits. So, keep practising positive responses, and eventually, they will become your new habits.

You really want to find a new behaviour that is possible in your situation so you can follow it through. Breaking habits can be challenging, I know. However, it’s gratifying when you manage to replace them with good habits.

3. Track your progress

To help you see how far you’ve come, track your progress. This will inspire you to keep going. If you overlook tracking your progress, you run the risk of feeling like you’re not making any progress at all, which can be demotivating.

How to keep track of your journey? Follow the below tips.

Tip 1: Record and document the change of habits’ journey and what you’ve completed so far. For instance, you can record the actions taken and the time they occurred. This help with the visualisation. Also, why not do this in a notepad, a journal or a digital task management tool. 

Tip 2: Evaluate your progress by returning to your old entries to see how far you’ve come. Remember to also compare your progress against your expected goals, which can help you adjust as required.

Tip 3: Make adjustments if you’re not meeting your goals by identifying the issues and adjusting your strategies. It’s okay!

Tip 4: Reward yourself when you’re successful to boost your morale and keep you motivated. Celebrate your wins, no matter how small!

The idea here is to record your actions, so you are able to look back at what you’ve achieved so far. So, find the time to record the steps even if you are busy.

Keeping track of your accomplishments can help you realize how much you’ve achieved. What’s more, even when you hit a rough patch or experience setbacks, being able to look back on your progress will keep you motivated.

4. Be mindful of your environment

Now you are working on sticking to good habits, you need to find a way to avoid falling back into your bad habits. It may happen even when you’ve committed yourself to change.

How to prevent this from happening? Staying mindful of your environment will help you avoid triggers that could lead you down the wrong path.

Remember when you had to identify your bad habit and trigger before? Well, this is why you have to know your triggers. For example, knowing that a particular place or person tends to push you toward unhealthy choices will help you be proactive.

Tip 1: You’ve identified your triggers by now, and you recognize the situations, places, or even people that incite your bad habits. This could be as simple as a specific room in your house or a certain time of the day.

Tip 2: Create an action plan to deal with your triggers effectively. You can choose to alter your environment to eliminate these triggers. For instance, if you know you will want a night snack anytime you are in the kitchen, then avoid the kitchen altogether. That’s what I try to do.

The idea here is to be intentional and aware of your surroundings for the best chance to succeed in breaking bad habits.

Next steps

Now you know you’ve identified the habit you want to replace with a good one, you know your triggers, and you’ve picked one to start with.

What’s next?

The journey doesn’t stop here! You’ve checked your tracker and realized that you can do it. You are even more motivated than ever before. You can’t wait to move on and tackle another bad habit. All great news, right?

Now it’s time to

Tip 1: Give yourself a break and celebrate your success. Rely on the tracker mentioned earlier in the article. By now, you’ve probably mark-checked one bad habit and replaced it with a healthy one. Give yourself a tap on the back or a high 5 and celebrate your win. You deserve it! Remember to celebrate each victory, big or small!

Tip 2: It’s time for you to pick the next goal and repeat the process with the next one. Remember, the goal is continuous self-improvement. Therefore, think about the other bad habit you want to break.

The idea is to break the bad habit one step at a time. Remember? So take the time to celebrate your win, even if it seems small.

Breaking a bad habit will give you the boost to break the next one on your list. So take a moment to celebrate your accomplishment and use that positive energy to fuel your next action.

Bottom Line

Breaking a bad habit isn’t an easy process. However, remember that sticking to a good habit can improve your lifestyle enormously.

So, once you’ve chosen to break that bad habit, remember to be consistent and stick to your commitment. Ultimately, it will be worth it, so try it out!w

I hope this post helps you break the bad habits in your life! Share with us in the comments below: what strategies have helped you build new habits?