When people try to quit drugs and undertake new habits instead of indulging in addiction, they often fail miserably.
But, why?
It’s because, with so many years of indulging in a habit, things can be challenging physically, mentally, socially, and economically when you try to replace them.
The NYC detox Ascendant is a detox Long Island that takes care of people’s old habits of consuming drugs and helps them replace them with new, healthier ones. This detox center is also popular to help people with many other bad habits too.
So, if you have an old and destructive habit that you want to replace with a new one, keep scrolling down this article.
7 Steps To Break A Habit And Build A New One
We know that breaking an old habit and making a new one is not as simple as it sounds. It takes patience, commitment, dedication, and hard work. However, we have highlighted the top 7 steps that can help you quit an old habit right now and develop a new one.
Let’s check them out:
1. Set A New Goal
When you try to quit a bad habit, you must be aware of the fact that setting a new goal is essential. Your goal should be a positive statement so that whenever you look at it, you get the new motivation to complete the goal.
For example, you are trying to quit binge-eating. Focus on affirming your goal with a positive connotation. So, instead of saying, ‘I’ll stop eating snacks from today,’ display ‘I’ll practice healthy eating from today.
If your goals have a positive sense, it helps you commit to the process more effectively than you can imagine.
2. Decide The Replacement Behavior
As we have said, whenever you try to break an old habit and make a new one, that replacement behavior should be your goal.
So, don’t just focus on stopping eating unhealthy snacks, but concentrate on eating a healthy diet as well. Your commitment will doubly increase if your replacement behavior is as rewarding as the old habit.
For example, you can remind yourself that the binge eating habit has contributed to your weight gain in the past few months. So, remind yourself how the new pattern of healthy eating will help you lose weight and help you fit into those old skinny jeans once again.
3. Know Your Triggers
Behavior patterns are correlated, and they can never exist independently. So, for example, if you want to stop binge-eating and practice healthy eating, some triggers must provoke you to indulge in this bad habit.
You may watch some favorite serials late at night and prefer snacking side by side. But unfortunately, for some people, the habit of late-night reading also forces them to snack on unhealthy junk foods.
If you know these triggers will provoke you once again to fall victim to the old habits, make sure you avoid them. You can change your reading time or keep some healthy snacks at the bedside table so that you don’t have to walk to the fridge.
4. Give Reminders To Yourself
Keeping notes for yourself is another helpful way to break an old habit and make a new one. As we have said, if you want to quit the binge-snacking behavior, you can leave notes on places where the snacking usually occurs.
For example, you can keep a note on the fridge or the mirror in your room so that when you take a look at yourself, you remember to quit the unhealthy snacking behavior.
You can also set daily or weekly reminders for you, and once you cross that threshold, set new, monthly timelines. In this way, your old behavior will break in no time.
5. Take Help From People
It goes without saying that it becomes a lot easier when you take help from others to get a job done. In addition, if you inform other people about your goal, they will act as human reminders whenever you are about to fall into the trap of old habits.
For example, you can inform your best friend so that when you are in school, she can take care of your snacking habit and remind you once in a while if you coop next to the vending machine.
You can also inform your family members, and they may help you by shifting the snacks to other places that you will not find so easily. Thus, your old habit of snacking will gradually disappear.
6. Write Daily Affirmations
No matter how childish it sounds, writing your positive affirmations helps you commit to the goal. For example, if you pass one day without snacking, write it in your journal.
Keep daily records of your behaviors, and with each passing day, your healthy habits will slowly take the place of the unhealthy ones.Â
Don’t just write it for the sake of record-keeping. Instead, write 10 times a day, and if you have more urge to snack someday, write 2 times more as a punishment to yourself. If you think that following these punishments won’t be possible for you, inform someone who will supervise how you keep the record.
7. Reward Yourself
Focus on the goal, but don’t shy away from rewarding yourself with a small treat when you commit to the process.
Even if they are not expensive, if you incentivize yourself with something as silly as a chocolate mousse, your 1 monthly journey of quitting snacking will have a result.
On top of that, you can also buy new clothes or new books for yourself if you commit to the process. It will give you a sense of newfound joy and motivate you to go through the process next month.
Enjoy The Success!!!
Once you follow all these steps, we are positive that you will notice some significant changes in your behavior. Your old habits will not seem so provocative anymore, and they will be a part of your subconscious as you spend every day.
Therefore, breaking an old habit and making a new one may not be so tough after all. Your behavioral pattern will change once you pass a month following these steps. Even you will notice changes in your physical or mental outlook.
