I see the qualities of you in me every day. The further I try to escape from you, the more I run into you. Sometimes, when I look in the mirror there you are staring back at me…
I know so many of us have had this issue, the issue of becoming the person we said we would never be. As hard as we may try to become the opposite of someone, sometimes we just end up on that path
So, what do we do when we no longer want to follow a person’s path, and we want to create our own path? Well, down below I have created a list of tips to stop bad habits. These are just a few of the many I have been trying.
1. FIRST, before anything, you want to create a list of these bad habits you notice. Maybe, you don’t even notice them, but you have noticed you are becoming like a particular person you don’t like. You can find their bad habits and character qualities you dislike and see if you have some of those habits. Making a list of what you or others have noticed can be helpful, because remember you need to admit and detect your problems in order to fix your qualities.
2. Next, you should create a cons and pros list. This will help you have the motivation to change. You could create a con list with how these habits affect you on a daily basis and how they affect others around you. I know for me I wanted to change for someone I loved because it was affecting them. I was becoming the person I never wanted to become. Maybe, someone you love or care about is affected by your behavior, write on the cons list how much it affects them. Then, you have the pros list where you could gather all the benefits of changing. One benefit might be you would make someone else or yourself incredibly happy. Write all possible pros because everyone matters. You will need this for visual motivation everyday so you can continue to remind yourself why you want to change. Let’s just say one day you had a really bad day and feel like quitting because you feel it is way too hard to change, well you can look at this pros and cons list to kick in your motivation.
3. Next, you should look at this list examining each quality and workout what you might be able to do in order to fix the problems. You might even consider partnering up with someone in what some would call accountability partners. You may need someone like a close relative or good friend to point out when your bad habits kick in this way you can control them. It is easier to work with someone then alone. You may be so used to your bad habit that you never notice it, but someone else would be more subject to noticing.
4. After you work out what you could possibly do to help your bad habits, you can now put it in practice. A good idea would be to have the pros and cons list on your wall or fridge as a vision board. This would continue to remind you of your goal every day and the reason you are working towards it.
5. Lastly, the biggest thing that would help you change would be to remember, just like me, you aren’t perfect. This needs to be kept in mind because you are going to fail and fall back into to your habits but the biggest secret to success is being able to forgive yourself and try harder. Do not beat yourself up if you fail a couple times because habits are hard to break. Continue to work your hardest to change your habits and if you fall get back up again.