How to Break Unwanted Habits

Dated: August 2020

It’s no surprise that as a nation we are drinking more alcohol, consuming more social media and snacking on unhealthy foods as a way to cope with the sudden disruption in our day-to-day life caused by the pandemic. With healthy habits being replaced with soothing behaviours to make us feel better, it has resulted in a third (33%) of the population eating less healthy, 23% of adults increasing their alcohol consumption, while 30% have become less active.

Most bad habits are caused by two things; stress and boredom. In my experience as a clinical hypnotherapist specialising in addictive behaviours, quite often the bad habit itself is a symptom of much deeper issues occurring below the surface. Recognising the cause of the bad habit plays an important part in overcoming them.

There are lots of reasons why addictive behaviours begin, yet all habits, ‘good or bad’ ones, are in our life quite simply to provide us with a ‘benefit’. Habits are what make our life more efficient, when a habit is automatic it requires less mental energy. [45% of our behaviours are actions that you repeat every day, such as; brushing our teeth, tying laces, walking etc.] So, whether you bite your nails, smoke, comfort eat or drink a couple of glasses of wine each night, the benefit a habit loop provides is actually what makes it much harder to break.

Habits also provide us with a short-term reward. Enjoyable behaviours prompt the brain to release a feel-good chemical called dopamine. Your brain is a reward detector. By doing something over and over again increases dopamine levels, which strengthens the habit, causing the brains reward centres to keep craving the things we are trying so hard to resist.

In recent months many people have consciously stated their desire to free themselves of those newly formed unhealthy habits. While there are healthier ways to channel that ‘stress and boredom,’ here are some practical steps you can take to kick start those positive changes:

Step 1. Know Your ‘WHY’

To break a habit, you need to have a clearly defined reason as to WHY. If a particular action requires more physical or mental effort than you are willing to expend, then you won’t do it. Your success really depends on your motivation so give yourself an empowering reason to quit. The stronger the emotional driving force to breaking the habit the more chance you have of success.

Step 2. Identify the ‘TRIGGERS’

Triggers are the first indication that we're close to a reward, which naturally leads to a craving. What you crave is not the habit itself but the change in state it delivers. For example, you do not crave smoking a cigarette, you crave the feeling of relief it provides. Once you have identified the cue that initiates the habit loop you can interrupt the thought.

Step 3. Make a ‘PLAN’

Alan Lakein said; ‘Failing to plan is planning to fail.’

When we have a clear plan the task of quitting feels less daunting. We start out with good intentions and a strong desire only to slip back into old, bad-habit ways. The brain loves what is familiar so will try to pull you back but with a clear plan you can set yourself up for the best chance of success.

Step 4. Exercise your WILLPOWER

Willpower is like a muscle, similar in going to the gym you can train Willpower through consistency. Create a daily routine that is manageable, through repetition your willpower will increase, and it will make the familiar habit loop unfamiliar.

Step 5. ‘PICTURE’ the person you want to become

All meaningful and lasting change starts inside your imagination. Through meditation practices and visualisation, you can reprogram the minds thought patterns, thus making it easier to free yourself from unwanted behaviours.

Step 6. ‘REWARD’ Yourself

Forming new habits can use up a lot of energy so reward plays an important role in maintaining a new healthy lifestyle. Studies show that people who don’t reward themselves begin to feel deprived and miserable. By rewarding yourself you release dopamine which then associates the new habit as pleasure rather than pain.

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