Quitting a bad habit raises your chances of happiness because you not only make room for good things but your getting rid of whatever’s dragging you down. But Old habits die hard and there are reasons why these habits are so hard to break.

All of the habits that you have right now whether good or bad are in your life for a reason. In some way, these behaviors provide a benefit to you, even if they are bad for you in other ways.

• Impulsive behaviors
• Feel-good inducers
• Stress relievers
• Some are biology-based

Sometimes the benefit is biological like alcoholism, smoking, or drugs. Sometimes it’s emotional like staying in a toxic relationship. Most commonly it is an escape to cope with stress.

Bad Habits That Keep You From Getting Ahead

1. Postponing your goals
2. Living a mediocre life
3. Never Feeling Good Enough
4. Self-sabotaging
5. Running from your problems
6. Worrying about your flaws
7. Trying to control everything
8. Doing Too Much, Pushing Too Hard
9. Blaming others
10. Fear Is in the Driver’s Seat
11. Emotionally Tone-Deaf
12. When No Job Is Good Enough
13. Lacking a Sense of Boundaries
14. Trying to be someone you are not
15. Living in the past or in the future
16. Constant complaining

Understanding Why you Want to Change

Why do you want to change a certain habit? Research suggests that it’s easier to change a bad habit when the change is valuable or beneficial to you.

So take the time to consider why you want to break the habit and what benefits it will bring to your life. Writing things down will give you a better perspective and may even help you think of a few other things that you need to do to change your life.

The Easy Way to Replace a Bad Habit.

Don’t eliminate a bad habit instead replace it. You might have an easier time breaking a habit if you replace the unwanted behavior with a healthier behavior that addresses that same need.

Cutting out a bad habit leaves you with unmet needs thus, sticking to a “just don’t do it” goal, often fails. So plan ahead, choose a substitute for your bad habit, observe your impulses, and understand the triggers and the rewards that come with them.

Try the 5-second rule by Mel Robbins. You can use the Rule and its countdown method to break any bad habits, interrupt self-doubt and negative self-talk, and push yourself to take the actions that will change your life.

Practice Makes a Habit

Reality states you’ll probably slip up a few times when trying to break and change a habit. Most likely you’ll end up changing your plans now and then to see what works for you while preventing feelings of frustration and failure.

Start small. I know we all want the fast effects, and the shortcuts, but trying to kick multiple habits in the same go is not the solution, the pressure will leave you discouraged. Start with one or two habits at a time. Try attainable goals, you can also try habit stacking. The point is to make the experience pleasurable by consistent small wins.

Change your Environment. Your surroundings can sometimes have a big impact on your habits. If you want to be healthy then prepare your meals instead of fast foods or takeout. The point is to clean up your environment so you can have a clean and healthy life.

Cut out as many triggers as possible. If you’re a shopaholic then limit your exposure to material things by staying away from shops (online and offline). Also, If you smoke when you drink, then don’t go to the bar.

Join forces with somebody. Find your Inspirations. It’s hard to be motivated at all times but when you pair up with someone who is on the same path it’s much easier to navigate through the challenges. 

Surround yourself with people who live the way you want to live. If you want more positive, inspiring friends then slowly disengage from unhealthy relationships.

Visualize yourself succeeding. Takes steps to build your skills that you can later use to build a career or business.

Mind your Self-talk. It’s easy to judge yourself when your expectations are not met. Every time you slip up or make a mistake, it’s easy to tell yourself you are hopeless. Whenever that happens, finish the sentence with “but”…

• “I’m broke, but things could change at any moment since I’m applying for a job”

Rewards are important. Breaking a habit can be incredibly difficult. Make sure to acknowledge how far you’ve come, celebrate small wins, and give yourself rewards for a job well done. This is a great motivator.

Give it time. According to research, it can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days for a person to form a new habit and an average of 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic.

Yes, there is no shortcut to building habits. But if you want to be the best version of yourself then don’t hold back because once it becomes a habit then the behavior should be automatic.

At the end of the day, most of us are Good People with Bad Habits, and with some tweaks, your life can change for the better.