We all have at least one bad habit that we would like to kick. Whether it’s finger nail-biting, overthinking,  or procrastinating. The problem is that actually quitting them can be difficult a lot of times.

This makes sense though. Why wouldn’t it be? We continue these things because they offer some type of benefit to us.  If we feel rewarded for doing something, why would we want to stop?

For instance, people who are addicted to playing video games do so because it provides a source of dopamine. Dopamine is what makes the event pleasurable. Thus ensuring that we continue doing it.

Dopamine isn’t necessarily a bad thing though. It’s the things that release it that can be. You can get a rush of dopamine from listening to music, and eating good food. too.

 Fortunately, if you understand the reasons why you do these things, you will be less prone to doing them in the future. Let me explain.

The reasons that we form habits

The habits that we form are because of internal drivers. What we do, we do because we are trying to fill some type of desire.

The two main reasons that people form habits are because of boredom and stress. If you can figure out the reason that your habit keeps you coming back you can use that to your advantage.

  Better yet, you can cut what’s bad for you and replace it with a healthier alternative.

Example:

Bob has a habit of wasting time watching youtube.

He realizes that his behavior is initiated due to boredom.

To solve this problem he replaces youtube with working out.

The goal is to figure out the reason you have your habit and create a related but healthy habit to replace it.

Identify your cue

There are three stages to forming a habit.

• Cue
• Benefit
• Repetition

If you can figure out the cue, then quitting your bad habit will become much easier.

Let’s say you are in a habit of being on your phone for hours on end before you go to sleep. In this case, the cues are your phone and nighttime. 

Your phone prevents you from going to sleep. Therefore to overcome the habit you must figure out how to eliminate your phone usage at night.

A good example of that would be keeping your phone out of your reach.

Conclusion

To break a bad habit we must be aware of 3 things.

1. We form habits to relieve stress and boredom.
2. We can replace bad habits with related, healthier alternatives.
3. We need to find out what cues us to initiate our bad habits.

Once we understand these three things we will be much more likely to get rid of whatever habit we have fallen into.

Eliminating bad habits can be difficult, but with the right strategy, they don’t have to be. If all goes well, we can replace a bad habit with a good one. All the while, reaping the same benefits that we were from the beginning.