What My Bad Habit Was
Using nicotine. I was a 1/2 pack a day customer.
How I Managed to Break It
I read an article regarding changing a person's life and it outlined 4 steps we had to take to make a lasting change. It was easy for me to change for 5 or 6 hours but I continually fell off the wagon. Anyway, the author presented a road to success was thru 4 steps which could lead me out. First and most important was a change of BELIEF, which would lead to a change of BEHAVIOR, followed by a change of RESULTS which lead to a NEW DIRECTION in life.
I had struggled with trying to change my behavior without first changing my belief about the situation. I guess I knew that smoking was bad for me but I never believed it. I started in-putting new information into my thought process accompanied by visuals about how this looked to outsiders. I, of course, knew how expensive this habit was but when I reframed this into how much a pound of cigarettes cost (over $100.00) (weigh a carton & do the math) it started dawning on me something was wrong in MY decision making process. (I wouldn't pay $10.00 a pound for steaks but I'd pay $110.00 a pound for smokes) Duh!
Trying to change a life style habit became do-able for me when I changed my belief about what I was doing. You can't try to quit. You either quit or you don't. Using the word "try" leaves the back door open for failure. How many times have you said "I tried that and it didn't work"?
Advice
- Take the word "try" out of your vocabulary. Understand that you either do something or you don't. Change your belief first, that's the first domino to fall.
