Bad Habits. We all have them!

I bite my nails! There, I’ve said it! I have since I was a little kid.

That’s why I pay to get artificial ones!

They look good, but… I still catch myself putting my fingers in my mouth when I’m doing something that doesn’t take much thought, like watching TV.

Chewing my nails is a bad habit and I have tried many times to stop but, alas, it has gone on and on.

For years my mom promised to get me a manicure set for Christmas if only I would stop. I couldn’t!

As a teen, I found something that tasted awful and put it on all my nails… to no avail.

I have tried a lifetime of things and I still catch myself.

I gave up!

But then I read an article on how habits work – good or bad.

So I ‘admitted it would be a challenge.’

Now biting your nails isn’t life altering but it does stop me from feeling ‘pretty.’

When I was in cosmetology training, I came home and my Dad wondered how I gave manicures with those ‘elephant paws’!

He wasn’t hateful, but they were chewed so far down. As a professional how does that look?

Other people kicked the habit, so I knew I could too!

There is the ‘trigger,’ and you have to admit you have that bad habit!

It’s the thing we know or can see with our eyes, but it seems to involve more than one of our senses.

Then we have ‘behaviour.’

That doesn’t usually factor into my habit, but what about if it were over eating or procrastination?

Now there’s behaviour!

And lastly, it feels as though there is a ‘reward’!

It tasted good.

Or, I will get there even if I’m a bit late … see it didn’t make any difference if I was behind everyone else anyway!

It’s that dopamine in our brain that hits us every time – like a feel good credit card!

How badly do I want to break this habit anyway?

We have to find that elusive ‘trigger’. Ponder on it for a minute.

Then say it aloud, yes aloud, “ I don’t want to __________________ anymore!”

Give your brain a chance to catch up.

Then give the energy another focus. See what you can find to replace it.

When you do it reward yourself in some small way.

In the day, my Aunt quit smoking and she saved the funds she spent on cigarettes and bought a microwave oven!

Now at this time, a pack of cigarettes was around thirty cents and microwaves were just coming out and quite pricey!

You have to figure that one out… what would make it worth the ‘battle’ being fought in our brains?

Maybe you need someone to help you?

Find an ‘accountability partner’ or a group who battles the same thing.

We know that they work better than most anything!

Stay the course.

Don’t give up.

Do it again and again if you must, but don’t cave!

Most bad habits aren’t life threatening, but they do block our goals, and that’s what we don’t need.

I help folks with these things, and other folks help me!

That’s what I do.

I’m a Life Coach, and I can help.