In life, many people oftentimes find themselves engaging in acts which, after a considerate amount of sober reflection, are seen improper or gruesome. They are seen this way because they always have negative consequences, either to one’s health or how one is perceived in the society. We really don’t want to continue with these acts. Surprisingly, we still go back to engage ourselves in them. These acts are known as bad habits. And the three things people can do to start changing these bad habits are to identify the routine, identify and isolate the cue and experiment with rewards.
It is often said and well understood that whenever a habit or thing is identified a problem, then it is no longer a problem. Because the first step in solving a problem is in agreeing with oneself that there is one, then the solutions to it can’t be farfetched. For example; In the case of someone that always likes to get drunk, masturbate, smoke, or over eat to list a few, once the doer can agree with himself that this habit is bad, then he has taken a first step in doing out with this bad habit. And these bad habits are also known routines. In a February 2019 life hack publication titled “how to break bad habits” Leon Hoconfessed; “For me, I was sitting most of the day in front of my customer at work in a slouching position. I drank coke every single day in an attempt to stay awake. I put off any kind of exercise regime because I felt that it was better to just relax and have fun after a whole day at work.” This consequently had negative effects on his health; weighty gain and back pains. So, the too much drinking of coke and avoidance of exercises were his routines. Once he was able to identify the habits as a problem, he made a great step towards changing them. Therefore, identifying the routine you want to change is one of the three things to start changing a bad habit.
Every bad habit is intended to be a temporary solution for a particular situation we can find ourselves as humans orunknowingly created because we see others do it. When we are in a worrisome situation and we decide to choose an unhealthy action as a temporary solution to neutralise or satisfy the feelings, if this action is continuously repeated, then our brain will be used to identifying it as the right solution for that situation. This action will unknowinglybecome our habit. Our brains are like a rough pathway, as it has been said, the more we pass through it the more it becomes wider and smooth. So when we repeatedly practise an act then it becomes a habit. So a situation for which a habit is created is the trigger or cue for that habit. And it is said that science has shown that almost all triggers can be found in the following categories; location, time, emotional state, other people, immediately preceding action. This can be easily confirmed by the confession of a friend to masturbation: He said he used to have the urge to masturbate when he was alone in his room. Being alone his room, in another word, hislocation was his trigger to masturbation. So the second thing to start changing a bad habit is to identify the cue that brings about this bad habit. And once this is identified and isolated, the problem is half solved.
There are always alternatives to solving a problem. Once we determine to change our bad habit, we need to find a good alternative action that will later become our new habit. And this new habit will provide us with the exact results we do get from the old habit. So in finding these alternatives, we should be able to provide answers to the following questions; have I identified the trigger? What feelings am I trying to neutralise or satisfying? Is there any other action I can engage myself inthat will give me the same result I get from using my old habit? Once these are honestly answered, we will realise that there is always a good alternative action to every bad ones. Mind you, if the first action you choose does not give the result you expect, you leave it and try another ones till you get the one with the expected results. This process is calledexperimenting with rewards. That is, you start trying every available good alternative to find the one that will give the result of your old habit. For example, if loneliness is your trigger, you can try meeting with new friends. And if meeting new friends does not solve it, then you should try other good alternative actions till you discover the one that can give the result of the old habit. We will discover that at end of the experiments we will find a good action, and if repeated continuously, this will become our new habit that will successfully replace the bad habit. Though, as supported by Leon Ho in his publication mentioned above; “Decide on something you will do once you feel triggered to go back to your old habits”. If you continuously engage yourself in this new habit, your old habit will be completely replaced.
Every bad habit is intended to be a temporary solution for a particular situation we can find ourselves as humans orunknowingly created because we see others do it. When we are in a worrisome situation and we decide to choose an unhealthy action as a temporary solution to neutralise or satisfy the feelings, if this action is continuously repeated, then our brain will be used to identifying it as the right solution for that situation. This action will unknowinglybecome our habit. Our brains are like a rough pathway, as it has been said, the more we pass through it the more it becomes wider and smooth. So when we repeatedly practise an act then it becomes a habit. So a situation for which a habit is created is the trigger or cue for that habit. And it is said that science has shown that almost all triggers can be found in the following categories; location, time, emotional state, other people, immediately preceding action. This can be easily confirmed by the confession of a friend to masturbation: He said he used to have the urge to masturbate when he was alone in his room. Being alone his room, in another word, hislocation was his trigger to masturbation. So the second thing to start changing a bad habit is to identify the cue that brings about this bad habit. And once this is identified and isolated, the problem is half solved.
There are always alternatives to solving a problem. Once we determine to change our bad habit, we need to find a good alternative action that will later become our new habit. And this new habit will provide us with the exact results we do get from the old habit. So in finding these alternatives, we should be able to provide answers to the following questions; have I identified the trigger? What feelings am I trying to neutralise or satisfying? Is there any other action I can engage myself inthat will give me the same result I get from using my old habit? Once these are honestly answered, we will realise that there is always a good alternative action to every bad ones. Mind you, if the first action you choose does not give the result you expect, you leave it and try another ones till you get the one with the expected results. This process is calledexperimenting with rewards. That is, you start trying every available good alternative to find the one that will give the result of your old habit. For example, if loneliness is your trigger, you can try meeting with new friends. And if meeting new friends does not solve it, then you should try other good alternative actions till you discover the one that can give the result of the old habit. We will discover that at end of the experiments we will find a good action, and if repeated continuously, this will become our new habit that will successfully replace the bad habit. Though, as supported by Leon Ho in his publication mentioned above; “Decide on something you will do once you feel triggered to go back to your old habits”. If you continuously engage yourself in this new habit, your old habit will be completely replaced.
In conclusion, no matter how obsessed we are with ahabit, once this habit is identified a bad one and we determine to stop it, we will definitely do so. So, therefore, the three things one can do to start changing a bad habit, if followed to the letter, are to identify the routine, identify and isolate the cue, and experiment with rewards, then that bad habit will become something of the past.
