Everyone wants to live a long and healthy life, but making this happen takes work. The problem is that it’s so easy to fall into behaviors that can harm your health. From drinking to excess to taking drugs, there are many different habits that can have a direct impact on your health.
While no one wants to be faced with health problems, tackling the issues that cause them is rarely easy. Habits are so much easier to form than break. So, even though you know they aren’t good for you, stopping them completely can be really tough.
With this in mind, here are some ideas that could help you to break away from harmful habits and to get your health back on track:
Consider the Impact
You probably find that you spend a large chunk of your time thinking about your addiction. It may consume your thoughts all day, and be the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning. This shows that your addiction has a large impact on your daily life and it likely prevents you from doing so many things.
Taking some time to consider the impact of your unhealthy habits on your life and then considering the potential benefits that could be gained if you stop these habits is really helpful. Thinking about all the money you could save to spend on other things, the ways that you could use your time, and the positive impact that breaking your habits would have on your relationships can really put things into perspective and provide the incentive you need to change your habits once and for all.
Find a New Focus
Often, one of the hardest parts of deal with breaking away from a harmful habit is stopping yourself from thinking about the very thing you’re trying to break away from. For example, you may find your mind wandering onto thoughts such as, ‘how long do shrooms take to hit?’ Or, ‘maybe I’ll be okay to have just one drink.’ To keep these kinds of thoughts at bay it’s helpful to introduce a new focus to your life. This could be exercising, a new hobby, or even learning a new skill. Each of these activities are really constructive ways to use your time. So, as well as keeping intrusive thoughts about your addictions at bay, they also ensure you use your time in a positive, productive way.
Prepare to Succeed
It’s undeniable to changing your behavior is hard. You may have attempted to give up your unhealthy habit before, but found yourself giving up after a short space of time. To make things different this time, you need to prepare to succeed. Consider what went wrong last time you tried to give up and how you can avoid the same thing happening again. Keep monitoring your progress, take the pressure off yourself, and congratulate yourself on the small wins you make along the way and you will be on your way to habit-breaking success.
