We all have them. Some are good, others we wish we could stop, but habits are just that… habits. Not so easy to change. So what’s yours? Eating chocolate every day? Drinking too much alcohol? Biting your nails? Have a think about your bad habits, and decide which one you’d like to put your energy into changing. Notice I said energy. That’s right, it actually takes some work to break a habit.
They say it takes 30 days to break a habit. For most habits, that’s really not that long, for a lifetime change. Try having some sort of countdown for 30 days. Put 30 sticky notes on your door frame and take one off every day you’re successful in not doing your habit.
Do anything to distract yourself. If you bite your nails, chew gum. If you NEED chocolate, distract yourself with a healthy alternative. Whatever it takes to stop you from doing your habit, do it… of course within the confines of the law and basic morals…
Pay very close attention to your habit area. If you bite your nails, paint them everyday. Chocolate again, take a close look at the calories in it, and the negative affect it has on your body. You know the saying “Keep you friends close and your enemies closer”? It applies to bad habits too. How can you expect the successfully defeat your habit if you don’t know it inside and out!
I recently stopped picking at my finger nails and let them grow. It took about a month of special attention to my habit to break it, and now my nails are nice and long, apart from a couple that broke yesterday grrr. I carried a nail file and manicure kit in my purse, and whenever a piece of nail was starting to flake or chip, I filed it away. I know my habit well enough that I can’t leave any defect on my nails, or else it will get picked off, and the rest of the nail tends to come along with it. I also painted my nails every 2 or 3 days. I did fun patterns on them when I had the time, or just a few clear coats when I didn’t. This kept my nails looking clean and well kept, which made me want to continue looking after them. And now, a month on, my nails are long, and I’m no longer picking at them! I beat my habit!!
So, if you’ve got a habit, give these tricks a go and see if you can’t break it!
x Laura
Becoming Beautiful Today 