How To Break A Bad Habit - 7 Smart Ways

Looking to break a bad habit that just won’t leave you alone? These 7 strategies will help you ditch any habit that’s not a welcome part of your routine.

Read on for the best hacks that I personally use to kick my bad habits to the curb.

As humans, we are far from perfect, and while that is a sobering fact, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to improve ourselves. If aren’t working on getting better, are we even growing?

Whenever I am asked to dish out some tips on self-improvement, my response is always to work on your bad habits first before even thinking of adopting any good ones.

The reason is simple – A bad habit acts as a roadblock on your path to self-growth.

Some of the infamous examples include:

Staying glued to your phone
Waking up super late
Late bedtime
Eating too much sugar
Overthinking
Skipping meals

There is no end to this list because the human brain is a wicked little thing.

It has countless ways to indulge in toxic behavior and make you feel bad about your life, which it is not by the way.

Just because you’re struggling to break a bad habit, doesn’t mean it has to rule your life.

Fortunately for you and me both, if the brain is responsible for spinning a bad habit, then it is also the thing that will help you break out of it.

With the right steps and the right mindset, it is very much possible to break a bad habit and keep it away from your life.

In this post, we’ll look at 7 highly effective ways to break a bad habit.

I’ve used these tips time and again to free myself from a habit that just won’t bug out, and they work like charm.

Okay, let’s dive in!

How To Stop A Bad Habit Permanently

1. Understand The Root Cause

We often associate our worth with our habits, a mindset that works in our favor when the habits are good.

But it can also backfire when things are not going in our favor. A bad habit (or even a couple, for that matter) does not define you.

That’s why the first step to uprooting a bad habit should be to delve deeper and understand where the behavior is stemming from.

Getting to the root of the habit will help you take on an analytic perspective and avoid taking it personally.

I see a lot of people spending hours on social media and that’s most likely because they don’t cultivate good hobbies.

If you don’t have some go-to happy activities, the phone is naturally going to be your all-time BFF.

The solution is obvious. Find some hobbies that excite you and spend more time doing them instead of scrolling through your social media feed.

Apply the same approach to your every bad habit and distance yourself from it by finding solutions that target the root problem. Easy peasy!

2. List Your Reasons For Wanting To Quit

If you want to break out of a toxic pattern, your reasons for wanting to quit should be rock solid.

Otherwise, you might end up falling back into it mid-way through your self-improvement journey.

Sit down with a notepad and take a few minutes to straighten out your reasons. Answering the following questions might help:

How is your routine affected by this habit?
What areas of your life are suffering?
How will your life change once you break out of this habit?
What will become easier?

If you’re stuck with the habit of waking up too late, you might want to quit because:

It is an unproductive way to start your day
You are missing out on the benefits of the golden hour.
It makes you feel lazy and unhealthy.
Waking up earlier will uplift the tone of your day and make you more productive.

Straighten out your whys for wanting to quit and make sure to safe keep this list.

You can glance at it every time you find yourself slipping – which is quite normal because as we all know, growth isn’t linear.

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3. Remove Your Triggers

Whenever we indulge in a habit, certain behaviors, things, or actions become associated with it.

Coming into contact with these ‘triggers’ can lead to repeating your bad habit.

You might sit on the couch to grab a bite and end up staying all night watching the TV.

I’d know, considering I nearly went blind because of all the binging sprees I used to indulge in. Thankfully, I was able to realize the error of my ways and later shifted my meals to the dining table.

Once you recognize your triggers, it can be easy to remove them from your environment.

If a certain action sets the chain for an unproductive day, then make an active decision to not do it.

If your phone turns you into a night owl, then turn it off and tuck it away before bed.

Remove each and everything from your environment that triggers your bad habit. It’s the most practical and smartest way to break your bad patterns.

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4. Find Healthy Replacements

Sometimes, we end up slipping back into an unhealthy pattern because of a lack of better things to do.

It’s a problem that can be fixed promptly when approached with mindfulness.

As an example, let’s talk about excess sugar consumption – something that I personally struggled with for a long time.

Now, to be clear, eating sugary thingies is not a bad habit. I love my chocolate cookies and wouldn’t give them up for anything in the world.

But there was a time when I used to binge eat sweet stuff, and it gave me some serious health issues.

After deciding to quit this habit, I turned to healthier replacements to fill the gaps in my diet.

Eating fruits, nuts, jaggery, juice, and dark chocolate really helped. It didn’t take long to train my mind to turn to healthier food options instead of craving sugar all the time.

For each bad habit that you have to discard, look for alternative good habits that you can use to replace them with.

It’s a simple thing but will make the process of quitting less lonely and more wholesome for you.

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5. Journal Your Progress

We are all too familiar with the process of starting enthusiastically and quitting due to a lack of motivation.

It happens every time we are trying to build new habits and routines.

Something similar happens when you are attempting to unlearn a habit.

You might be able to go a few days without indulging in a bad habit, only to fall back into its clutches.

Why does that happen exactly?

Because you forget to keep track!

When you’re turning over a new leaf, it’s really important to hold yourself accountable and stay motivated to keep going.

The simplest way to do this is to journal your progress on a regular basis.

If you’re working on ditching your habit of sleeping late, then you should be journaling your sleep schedule consistently.

Record your bedtime and your number of sleeping hours for each night, and throw in a few words of motivation to keep yourself going.

You can also re-write your reasons for wanting to quit this habit.

Use your regular journal or a spare notebook for this. If you don’t want to put too much time into this, simply open your phone’s notepad and type your daily progress.

6. Get A Friend Onboard For Support

I am a glutton for punishment, so I tell my most stern friend about a goal I’m trying to work on, and then have no choice but to give it my best.

It’s a hack that I use as a last resort to give up a habit and it works brilliantly.

Before breaking up with a bad habit, tell a friend about your plans and dish out all the reasons why you’re better off without it.

Ask her to help you out by asking for weekly reports, and follow through by keeping her updated.

Nothing gets you going quite like the gaze of a friend watching over you. Might as well call in the support and use it to stay focused on your wellness mission.

Make sure you are picking someone who you trust to support you on your growth journey.

Their good vibes for you, combined with your determination to create a better life, will help you succeed.

Must Read: 10 Simple Everyday Habits To Improve Your Mental Health

7. Set Rewards For Yourself

Don’t you just love rewarding yourself after a job done right? It’s a cute little trick to praise yourself and become a self-motivator.

When you’re preparing yourself mentally to let go of a habit, pencil in a reward ceremony after a certain amount of time.

You could tell yourself something like, ‘If I go a week without eating any junk food, I’ll buy the pendant that I’ve been eying for ages.’

Try to select rewards that encourage you to stay away from the habit that you’re trying to quit.

If you are looking to quit your habit of binging shows and movies, you can gift yourself a book or a mini self-care kit.

Basically, pick something that will accelerate your growth and give you a positive boost in your journey.

I recently got myself an affirmations deck after quitting my lazy habit of working in bed. Every time I look at my deck, it makes me super happy and inspires me to work from my desk.

This tip will turn you into your own cheerleader, nurture a sense of self-love, and make you ditch your bad habit like the girl boss that you are.

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Break Up With Your Bad Habits

Take a moment to examine your bad habits and use these 7 tips to get rid of them.

Say, you want to give up your addiction to social media.

Start by understanding the root causes of this habit, straighten out your reasons for wanting to quit it, and get rid of anything that triggers you to open your social media app.

Replace this habit with healthier options like reading, journaling, or going out with a friend. Keep track of my daily social media consumption and work on reducing it every week.

Enlist a friend to support you and reward yourself at regular intervals to stay motivated.

Using this guide, you can expect to break a bad habit in about 21 days. All the very best to you!

If there’s more that I can help you with, reach out to me in the comment box. I am always up for new suggestions and long discussions.

How To Break A Bad Habit – 7 Smart Ways