These posts are meant to lead you be your most empowered self and help you overcome those things that are holding you back from reaching your goals. Some of this might resonate with you, or not, and I’m not here to judge anyone or their actions, only to give you something to think about.

Show of hands, who has bad habits that they wish they could better control? We ALL do. It could be something like biting your fingernails or even substance abuse or even junk food binging or maybe you are addicted to scrolling on your mobile phone. Whatever your bad habit is, minor or major, it has a significant impact on your life. Instead of you controlling it, it controls you. It has your power.

Breaking bad habits empowers you by changing the trajectory of your life’s path, moving it in a more useful direction. Think of how much time you waste on your bad habits and what you could be doing that is much more productive. I had a bad habit of binging on potato chips and it was impacting my health in a negative way, by changing my habit and finding my trigger I was able to better control it. It turns out that it was helping my stress, but I found a different stress outlet – exercise and then I did not want the chips as much anymore.

So where to start? Some great advice stated, “in order to successfully stop a bad habit, you need to break the unconscious automatic hold it is having on your life. You do this by activating the conscious thinking part of your brain. In other words, the first step to overcoming your bad habit is to start thinking about it and why you are doing it.” In essence, you need to find what the trigger is, why you are doing what you do and what reward you get out of it. It will help you determine why you keep repeating it.

Empowering yourself will mean eliminating the bad habit and replacing it with a good habit that gives you a similar reward. You are in control. You have the power.

Where to start:

• Identify what triggers your bad habits (event, emotion, etc).
• Identify what reward you receive from your bad habit (ex: a child find comfort in sucking their thumb)
• Reflect on what you can do to deal with the trigger in a more positive productive way.
• Replace the bad habit with a good habit.

Affirmation & Gratitude:

As with all empowering actions, affirmation and gratitude play a large part in getting you back on track. In the morning, before you start your day, affirm that “I will replace [bad habit] with [good habit]. In the evening be grateful for your successes and the lessons learned.

“First we form habits; then they form us.
Conquer your bad habits or they will conquer you.”

[Robert Gilbert]

Your Takeaway

1. Bad habits are part of every one’s life. This repetitive behavior is usually triggered by an event or emotion and provides some sort of reward.
2. Breaking a bad habit will result in you taking back your control in power and improve the trajectory of you life’s path.
3. Identifying what triggers your bad habit and what the resulting reward is will allow you to understand it better.
4. Determine if there is anything that you can do about the trigger to help minimize the impact it has on your life.
5. Eliminating the bad habit by replacing it with a good habit that gives you a similar reward gives you back your power and control.

TRY THIS: Write down one bad habit in your journal. Each time you do it put a mark and write down what triggered it and what you got out of it. Do it each time until you figure out the “why” and then make a plan to change.

POST IT NOTE: I will create good habits that empower me

Click for recorded segment exclusively on BlastTheRadio.com: BAD HABITS [8:12 mins]

READERS: What are your thoughts on this? Please share in the comments!

One.Step.At.A.Time.

Suzie