9. Replacing Bad Habits with Good Habits
If we try to understand how big a part our habits play in our lives, we would simply be flabbergasted. We are all creatures of habit. Whatever we do depends largely on our habits. If our habits are good, they help us succeed and step forward in life. If our habits are bad, they invariably cause failures. As they say, “Habit is either the best of servants or the worst of masters.”
Our positive habits pilot our success, helping us up the ladder while our bad habits, such as smoking or self-criticism, shorten our lives and cause failures and let-downs. Usually our bad habits are the hardest things to remove. They stick to us for a long time in spite of our repeated efforts to alleviate them.
Vain endeavors to modify them lessen our self-esteem.
So, how do we go about eliminating them?
The only way to break an old, bad habit would be to replace it with a good, more desirable habit. If a new habit is more acceptable, it can conveniently replace the unwanted habit. For instance, one could replace smoking with chewing gum.
Here are the steps to replace a bad habit with a good, more acceptable habit.
√ Identify your bad habit and decide firmly that you do not want it any more. You might consider asking your good friends to point out your undesirable habits.
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