Quitting a Bad Habit

Habits are good for you. They help streamline your day by making certain activities almost automatic. But along with good habits, we all have bad habits and those can be tough to break.

A few habits we've seen people crushing in the Water Warrior Group this week include: eating ice cream or playing on the phone right before bed, drinking soda, smoking, putting off chores.

If you’re wanting to crush these habits and live life to the fullest check out these ways to quit below!

Figure out your Why

The first and most important step is to figure out your “why.” Why you need to break this habit.

Do you want stop eating fast food to be a healthier you so you can run around with your kids? Do you want to stop watching TV before bed to sleep better at night? Once you know this you can remind yourself of it and you will be unstoppable.

Visualize yourself succeeding 

Once you know your why, keep picturing it. Kickstart your motivation by recognizing who you want to be and envisioning yourself as that person. It's soo exciting to imagine everything you’re capable of!

We all have those sluggish days, and on those days use that imagery to power through.

Pro tip: Make a vision board! (click here to read our article onsuccessfully making your own vision board!)

Choose a substitute for your bad habit 

If you want to give up soda or coffee maybe try English tea or fruit infused water instead! If you have these ready to go it will be easier to make the choice.

Reward yourself

Many habits, like smoking or eating a lot of sugar, are rooted in the brain’s dopamine system. Dopamine is a “feel-good” chemical that transmits signals in the brain. If this is the case for you, it would be helpful to reward yourself for NOT doing the habit. That way you still get the feeling without the bad habit.

Surround yourself with people who live the way you want to live 

You are who you hang around. It's a basic fact of life. Choose people who empower you and who want to see you succeed. You can also get help from social motivation through things like Facebook, Instagram, or email!

Start small if you need to

If you need to go from 5 cigarettes a day to 3 that's totally fine! You don’t have to quit cold turkey, you can do this gradually. Any progress is awesome progress.

Let go of the all or nothing mindset

Quitting a habit is hard! We will all have slip-ups. But don’t allow one slip up to make you give up. You only fail if you quit.

Be honest with yourself

Only you can do this for yourself. You have to face the music and face yourself. There are plenty of excuses to not quit, you have to be honest about what's valid and what isn’t. Hold yourself accountable to your actions and decisions.

Old habits don’t have to die hard, you can do absolutely anything you set your mind to. As cheesy as it sounds, you just have to believe in yourself.
Do everything with mindfulness and intention and you will succeed.

We're rooting for you! ❤