Lately, the word habit is heard frequently and even more so, much of this term is written about and found as a fundamental ingredient to achieve what we want.

For example; habits to incorporate sport into your daily life, habits to integrate healthy food into your life , habits to improve self-esteem, but what does the word habit suggest to you?

What exactly is a habit?

A habit is a behaviour that we carry out in our day-to-day life, it is part of our routine and we run it on automatic pilot, without questioning it.

There are healthy habits such as applying body cream after a shower. However, our routine is made up of bad habits or unhealthy habits that when done on autopilot, we usually do not question them since we do not even realize that we are performing that particular behavior.

Unhealthy habits are those that are detrimental to health and are generated by underlying problems , these problems are generally emotional. That is to say, by poorly managed negative emotions.

Negative habits that harm us

Currently the most common negative emotions are stress and anxiety. Not to mention frustration, worry, envy…

These emotions lead to non-beneficial habits, such as biting your nails, smoking , checking social networks insistently and frequently, eating between meals when you are not hungry, that is, for gluttony, among many other routines that do not contribute anything positive to our lives.

Steps and strategies for quitting a bad habit

Has it happened to you or is it happening to you? Are you tired of these bad habits? Do you want to change these habits and don’t know how?

In this article I encourage you to implement the strategies and exercises I propose to replace unhealthy habits with healthy, positive, beneficial and productive habits, so if you want: here and now we start!

1. Identify a habit you don’t like and don’t feel good about

The first step seems obvious, but it is crucial . We must detect exactly what is that habit that is limiting our life and that we wish to eliminate from our life. Once we know exactly what it is, everything that follows is much simpler.

2. Decides to change

To break a bad habit you have to be aware of the damage it is doing to you, writing down its consequences . To reinforce this decision write down the benefits you will get when you have broken the bad habit.

Remember that changing and getting rid of a bad habit is not only achieved by decision, it takes work, effort, will power and carrying out the steps I propose, so do not stop reading.

3. How many times does the bad habit appear?

Write down how many times you repeat the bad habit throughout the day and record it for 21 days.

4. What or who gives life to your bad habit?

Identify, observe, be aware of what or who gives life to your bad habit and write down or . Do you feel anxiety every time you have to speak in public and this makes you drink a lot of coffee? Do you feel anxious every time you have to face a job interview and this makes you smoke more? Do you eat excessively without being hungry as a scheduled family meeting approaches? Do you constantly complain and criticize when you visit social networks? Do you eat between meals when you are nervous?

Taking the last case as an example: the unhealthy habit is to eat between meals and what gives life is this state of nervousness. Make a note of what or who makes you nervous.

5. Replace unhealthy habit

It replaces, changes the bad habit with a healthy habit , so it is less difficult since the habit, being a behavior and therefore a routine, occupies part of our time.

Eliminating the bad habit without further ado is impossible as we will have a sense of emptiness and this may cause us to fall back into the bad habit. That is why it is important to choose a healthy habit that replaces the bad habit and to behave as we really want to.

6. Reward yourself

As you get into the desired habit, reward yourself. Apart from feeling and experiencing the benefits of the healthy habit, congratulate yourself by rewarding yourself with something you find rewarding for achieving what you set out to do .

Now with these 6 exercises you are ready to eliminate any habit that you do not like, that does not make you feel good, that is not beneficial to your health and replace it with a habit, a routine, a healthy, beneficial and constructive behavior.

Remember, with a day of training at the gym you do not get the desired physical results, the same goes for the mind and emotions, work daily be tenacious, have willpower and be persistent to get the healthy life you want and deserve.