Conquering A Bad Habit

"First we form habits, then they form us. Conquer your bad habits or they will conquer you." Rob Gilbert

For the last few weeks I have been writing about the power of habits, how habits are developed and how we can keep the healthy habits going. What we haven’t talked much about is the bad habits in our lives and how we go about getting rid of them. Whether smoking cigarettes, eating junk food, watching too much television, drinking too much, spending too much time on the computer, biting our nails, or clicking our ball point pens; we all have bad habits. 

As you no doubt remember, our habits are created through a loop (cue, routine, reward). In his book, The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg’s says that when we have a habit over an extended period of time…that habit or routine becomes a craving…  a craving?

Somehow I see the word ‘routine’ as being kind of a gentle fluffy word;  mundane, even mindless at times….  But the word ‘craving’; now that sounds more like a crocodile with razor sharp teeth.

Once I look at a bad habit as a ‘craving’,   I realize that the artillery I need to combat that annoying human failing has to be more than just my fly swatter. I am thinking I need something more like a cannon; a weapon that can blow resistance right out of the water!  'Conquer it, or it will conquer you!'

Duhigg says, "We know that a habit cannot be eradicated--it must instead, be replaced. And we know that habits are more malleable when the Golden Rule of habit change is applied: If we keep the same cue and the same reward, a new routine can be inserted."

So let me get this straight:   If I like to eat a sandwich for lunch and often toss in some potato chips and a soda…over time I not only want the sandwich, but begin to crave the chips and soda with it.  So if I want to break my bad habit of eating the chips and drinking the soda, then I need to view the deadly duo (chips and soda) as not just a habit, but as a craving?  Sounds like harder work to me…  but I’m willing to listen

O.k.  so now what?

We go back to the cue, the routine and the reward.  Once we are aware of what our cue and reward are, we can look at changing the routine.  So if I want to stop eating chips and sodas, then first I look at the cue, which is; it's lunchtime and I'm hungry, the routine; is the intake of the sandwich, chips and soda, and the reward; is that my craving for food has been satisfied.  So in order to  change my routine, I'll stop making a sandwich and instead I will have a salad, leftovers from the night before, or a bowl of soup.  (none of which sound good with chips and a soda).  And I'll still get my reward of a satisfied tummy.

Listen to Charles Duhigg talk about his bad habit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H0fTwtPLfo
 

As we talked about before, we also need to plan ahead.  And since we now know that if we have a bad habit, it has morphed into a craving, so we can bet our fly swatter,  that resistance is in the shadows waiting to pounce at the first sign of decrease in our will power.  But since I have now adopted the boy scout motto 'be prepared', I'll be ready. I'll rid my home of chips and sodas so they don't tempt me, and I'll buy plenty of healthy food instead.  

But enough about me; how are you feeling about taking on a challenge?  Are you ready to conquer the world.. or how about just conquering one bad habit?

If you're interested in more information on getting rid of bad habits, try this website:

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/healthcare/photos/how-break-bad-habits#0

Post your comments on the blog or email me at: smallsteps4bigresults@yahoo.com