How often have you wondered whether you locked the door? You checked again and it turned out the door was indeed locked. It’s an action that has become so automatic that we often don’t think about it. You just do it. Why? Because you’ve developed the habit of thinking, “Every time I leave the house, I lock the door.” When you’re in a situation that triggers your habit, you simply act. Use this knowledge to eliminate bad habits and replace them with a healthier lifestyle. Try to follow healthy habits.
1. Allocate Time for a New Habit
You’ve probably identified the times and factors that trigger your habits. For example, you brush your teeth before and after sleep. These two moments lead you to the bathroom automatically. Maybe you’ve experienced waking up at 6 a.m. on weekdays and still waking up at that time on Saturdays? That’s the power of habit. Your body does something automatically—you don’t have to think about it. Use this insight when adopting a good habit, like exercising at the gym or at home. Decide exactly when you want to train and stick to it. If you decide to train on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m., your body will remind you automatically after a while. If, for some reason, you do not go to the gym, you will feel uncomfortable—it is Tuesday, 7:00 p.m., and you should be at the gym. You can also establish a routine at home, for example when circumstances such as the pandemic make this necessary. Ignoring your internal clock causes problems. It is like going to bed without brushing your teeth—it feels wrong.
2. Change the Circumstances to Break a Bad Habit
If you know that you tend to binge eat while sitting on the couch watching Netflix or Amazon Prime in the evening, change your evening ritual. Listen to music, go for a walk, or read a book instead of streaming. If you automatically buy junk food while shopping, go to a different store and head straight to the healthy food section. After some time, you’ll get used to it. If you always smoke a cigarette while drinking coffee, swap coffee for yerba mate or drink it indoors where you can’t smoke. Avoid situations that trigger a bad habit.
3. Define the Trigger for Your New Habit
Tell yourself, for example: Whenever I’m on a bus or train, I listen to an audiobook or read to use the time creatively. Or: Every time I wake up, I drink water with lemon. The goal is to create automatic, useful actions in recurring situations.
4. The Power of Associations
Humans function in a simple way – we try to avoid pain at all costs and seek pleasure. So if you associate eating fries with pleasure and exercising at the gym with suffering, it’s no surprise that you’ll choose the first. When thinking about a bad habit, remind yourself what’s really negative about it—regret, lowered self-esteem from being overweight, or fear of stepping on the scale. When thinking about working out, focus on your best moments—your favorite exercise, someone complimenting you, or the good feeling after training when the first results become visible.
5. Replace Bad Habits with a Better Lifestyle
We can’t replace something as strong as a habit with nothing. You wouldn’t go to bed without brushing your teeth unless you had another way to feel clean. Similarly, we must replace bad habits with good ones that also fulfill a need. When we have a lot of time and feel bored, we often do things we’re not proud of—scrolling through social media, watching TV, eating snacks. The goal is to find good habits that also entertain and occupy us. Tell yourself: Instead of scrolling, I’ll meet someone, read about motivation, or practice football tricks. In this way, the new behavior becomes automatic: “I have time, I am bored—so, as always, I go for a walk.”
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