It can be difficult to make new habits stick, but there are a few things that can help. One of the most important things is to identify what triggers your habitual behavior. Once you know what causes you to act out in a particular way, you can start to try and avoid or deal with those triggers.
For some people, stress is a major trigger for bad habits. If you find that your habits tend to get worse when you’re stressed, then it might be helpful to try and find ways to relieve that stress. Other common triggers for bad habits include eating late at night, watching television excessively, and using caffeine or nicotine products.
If you know what triggers your bad habit, it will be easier to find ways to avoid or deal with those things. For example, if eating late at night is a big trigger for you, try going to bed earlier or setting an alarm so that you don’t eat too much food after dinner. You could also try cutting down on how much television you watch or limiting your caffeine intake.
If one of your triggers isn’t easy to change, then it might be helpful to develop a plan of action for dealing with it. For example, if smoking cigarettes is a big trigger for you, maybe create a plan for quitting smoking once and for all if that’s something that’s really important to you. Or maybe work on developing healthier alternatives to coping with stress (like exercise) so that you don’t need cigarettes in the first place.
