How To Break Bad Habits and Create New Habits In 5 Easy Steps
Today I'm going to teach you how to break your bad habits and create new ones instead.
By following the five simple steps I have for you, you're going to start breaking those bad habits and replacing them with newer, better ones, right away.
How to break bad habits and create new habits in five easy steps:
Step #1: ask why and ask it twice!
Number one is to ask yourself why you have the bad habit, and ask it twice. The reason we want to ask why and ask it twice, is we want to get to the real root of the problem here.
For example, if your bad habit is that you oversleep in the morning, or you press snooze too many times, the problem isn't necessarily just that you're oversleeping. If that's what your bad habit is, ask yourself why you have it. Why do you oversleep? Why do you press snooze?
Your answer might be because you're tired. You're just too tired to wake up that early.
But that's also not really the root of this. Ask yourself why one more time. Why are you too tired in the morning? The answer might because you stay up too late.
You just simply stay up too late, so you're too tired that early in the morning. That's the real why. That's the real issue here.
Step #2: identify the solution.
Step number two is to identify the new habit you need to create. In our earlier example, where maybe the real root of the problem is you stay up too late, the new habit we need to form is going to bed early.
Ask yourself this about your bad habit: Now that you know the main problem, what's the solution? What is the new habit you need to form to counteract that?
Step #3: prepare for success.
Step number three is to prepare for success. Now that we know the new habit you need to form, how can you prepare yourself to do it.
Again, going back to the example of oversleeping. The new habit is going to sleep earlier. So some suggestions I would have for actually preparing for success would be, set a reminder or an alarm on your phone at night to go off when it's time to get ready for bed.
If this is a whole new concept for you, and you just suddenly start working on things, or you're reading, or you binge watch a show, set a reminder 30 minutes before you want to start getting ready for bed. It kind of prepares you, lets you finish what you're doing and enjoy it, but it will still put it on your brain. I'd say set an alarm for 30 minutes before you want to get ready for bed. Then when it's time to get ready for bed, another alarm. Then when it's actually time to get off of your phone and go to sleep, another alarm.
As you progress through creating this new habit, you can probably get rid of those alarms, or some of them at least. But at the very beginning, this is hard. It's not easy. So you want to be reminded.
Maybe your bad habit is eating bad. Maybe the night before or the day before, you can prep multiple meals that are healthy. Portion them. Put them in a lunch bag. Put them in the fridge.
What can you do to prepare yourself for success? You've got to help yourself out here. It's not just going to happen on its own. But it doesn't have to be super complicated. Set those reminders. Put those sticky notes. Surround yourself with positive thoughts, and you'll start to experience that success much easier!
Step #4: track it!
Step number four is to track your new habit. Tracking your new habit is essential to making it last.
Print out a monthly, quarterly, or yearly calendar, and hang it up somewhere on your wall. I'm talking just a one-page, really simple, little boxes for every day. Hang it up somewhere you're going to see all the time.
For me, mine is hanging in the bathroom, because I see it every day. But when I have guests over at my house, they don't see it. So it's kind of the best of both worlds. But the purpose of it is to track one thing, and that is when you successfully complete your new habit.
What you'll want to do is hang it up somewhere. Have a marker or highlighter or something nearby. Whenever you achieve or accomplish your new habit, every day, go ahead and fill it in.
For me, my habit that I track is working out, and I have certain goals for it. Every day I work out, I grab my highlighter that's right there on the counter, and I just fill in the day. If you follow me on Instagram, you have seen this tracker in action, because I will sometimes share when I'm filling it in, to just hold myself accountable.
That's really the whole purpose. I get to see it at a glance, and see my progress over the long run. It's really, really motivational to see it at a glance like that.
I've actually created a yearly blank undated calendar for you to go ahead and download right now to start tracking your own habits. So don't forget to download it for free right now!
Step #5: reward yourself.
Step number five is to reward yourself. Rewards are extremely motivational. Set a goal for yourself with this new habit. Maybe it's working out three times a week, or maybe it's waking up at a certain time five days a week, or going to bed at a certain time five days a week. Whatever your habit is, set a goal around it. Then establish what you'll reward yourself with once you do it.
My habit is working out. I have a goal that if I work out a certain number of times a week for like a whole month, I will reward myself with buying something new. Usually it's clothes. I love buying new clothes, but I don't do it very often. So it's a good reward for me. I usually will, over the month, have like one item. Maybe it's a new pair of tennis shoes, a new blouse, a new hair dryer, whatever it is, kind of this one thing that I want to buy, and I'll just think about it.
When I'm looking at my habit tracker, and if I'm meeting that goal or not, it's really motivating, because I can just say, "Wow, just 20 to 30 minutes of doing this one thing gets me one step closer to my reward."
Figure out what will motivate you. Maybe it's not shopping. Maybe it's getting a massage. Or maybe it's going on a date, or going to see a movie, or I don't even know.
But think of a reward that will motivate you, and establish one.
It could be for a month. It could be for a week. Depends on where you're at and what your goals are with this new habit. But when you're just starting out, I'd say a month is a good time frame.
Give yourself a reward that will motivate you to keep going!
Now you know how to break your bad habits and create new ones instead! But you can't do this if you're not tracking your habits. So be sure to download my undated yearly habit tracker for free below:
Now it's time to hear from you!
What bad habits are you trying to get rid of?
I know it can be vulnerable to share, but I think if we all share them in the comments below, it's going to help us hold each other accountable. It's going to make you actually take action to get rid of them. Someone might even have tips for you on how to break your habit!
Make sure you download the free habit tracker I created for you, so you can start tracking your habits right away.
If you enjoyed this video, don't forget to subscribe, share it with your friends, and hit the like button. I'll see you in the next one!
