When we talk about habits, one thing is quite clear that not all habits are good and vice versa. But those bad habits have the potential to significantly impact our lives in a negative way. On the other hand, various good habits have the potential to lead us towards a successful life, in the shorter and longer run. Suppose a person loves to drink alcohol after work each day. When he does that continuously, it will become a bad habit that will definitely be hard to break. In addition, there is a high chance that consumption increases over time as well.
On the other hand, if a person has a daily habit of hitting the gym after work, then it is certainly a good habit because it not only makes the person fit but also keeps him away from stress which is extremely necessary to be productive at work. In both cases, one of the main purposes is to get rid of that work stress, but one habit is beneficial and the other is harmful, regardless of their effectiveness in reducing stress.
So, the key question is how to develop a good habit and how to replace them with some bad ones? To help you out with that, we have created all the tips that can help you build good habits and their impact will certainly help you replace them with the bad ones.
1 - Start with Small Adjustments.
Most people have a mindset to achieve everything in a single day which ends up getting them nothing in the end. Instead of going for fixing everything in a small amount of time, it is better to make small, yet effective adjustments so that your mind can handle these gradual positive changes in a proper way. For example, if you want to lose weight then the best way to do it is not by switching straight away to a healthy diet overnight because this can cause various health issues, when not done right. The reason behind this is the fact that it takes a decent amount of amount of willpower, determination, interest, knowledge, and practice to develop a new habit and if you use all you try and do it all overnight, you are most likely to get tired of it. So, it’s better to start small.
2 - be positive.
Whenever you decide to develop any good habits in you, one of the key elements is to stay optimistic. Positive thinking not only helps you to overcome negative feelings but also enables you to deal with stress-related issues in an effective manner. Positive thinking doesn’t mean ignoring all the things and continuing with your daily activities but it’s about reacting positively to all the unpleasant things. If your thoughts are mostly negative about changing your habits, then it will be very difficult to adopt the new good change in your life. Whereas, if your thoughts are positive towards it, it becomes easy for your mind to accept it. So, be positive and let go of the negative thoughts. You can do anything if you put your mind to it!
3 - once you make the decision, stick to it.
Well, it may sound easy to most but it is actually not as easy as it sounds. Commitment is not only a promise that you make with yourself to achieve something, but it’s also the dedication to give your time and energy to a specific job, enthusiastically. If you stay committed to practice good habits, then the chances of success greatly increase. It’s not like you don’t face any obstacle and challenge. They will come and go but you will have to stay determined and manage all the challenges with a positive attitude. Keep your focus on your main goal which is to make that good habit a part of your life.
4 - IDENTIFY ALL YOUR TRIGGERS AND OBSTACLES.
In order to develop a good habit, you must have a clear idea about all the triggers and obstacles. If you don’t do that, then you are likely to face failure. When you start to form a good habit, there will certainly be many bad days but that doesn’t mean that you should come back to old bad habits to deal with them. For example, if you want to quit alcohol but had a bad day at the office, that should not push you back to touching alcohol just to get over it. It can destroy all the efforts that you have put in so far to get rid of that bad habit. Instead of this, try to have a better way to alleviate stress like exercising, meditation, or something productive that helps you reduce stress and cheers you up.
5 - TAKE TIME TO THINK ABOUT WHAT IS HOLDING YOU BACK.
Sometimes, it’s not the good habit that is a challenge to adopt but it is all the things that are attached to it that make it a hassle holding you back from practicing that good habit. Once you identify the things that hold you back, then it becomes easy to come up with a perfect solution to overcome these problems. Let’s say, you want to work out because you know the benefits that it brings to your health, but the gym is quite far away from your home. In that situation, instead of making excuses about not being able to go to the gym, if you bring some basic exercise stuff to your home and start things off, then it would become easy to practice this habit. It may also help you get the motivation to hit the gym in any case.