Breaking Bad Habits
Driving home, I knew something was seriously wrong. For two weeks, I’d been avoiding my engine light. I did what I always do, ignored it; I just didn’t want to deal. But now, driving home from Job #2 at eleven at night, I was finally scared. Every time I stepped on the gas, there was a noticeable lag.
“This can’t be goo-”
Before I could even finish my thought, the screen on my dashboard displayed a warning:
“ENGINE POWER DIMINISHED.”
My car gave up and stopped right in the middle of the street. I didn’t even have to wait for Road Side Assistance to come hours later to tell me what I already knew – I blew my car’s engine. I hadn’t had an oil change in a year. My bad habit? Procrastination. Acute, severe, Jesus-Fix-It degree Procrastination.
My terrible habit of putting things off has affected so many areas of my life. From my finances, relationships and spiritual walk with God, procrastination has taken small issues and have blown them into rather large and quite embarrassing episodes in my life.
Going into the New Year, there are so many things I’d like to accomplish, but the fact remains, if I can’t overcome procrastination, then all of my plans will never take flight. I need to break my bad habit of procrastination if I ever hope to progress past my current position to hit my life goals.
How can a person break a bad habit? It takes self awareness, strategy and commitment.
STEP 1: ADMIT THE BAD HABIT
A commitment to change means acknowledgment of a problem. We’ve I’ve got to target my bad habits, give them names. When we can identify what needs to be changed and our desire to change; then the first step begins. A good strategy is simple: pull out that old pen and paper. Make a list of bad habits. Once on paper, the bad habit becomes a real problem; one that needs to be addressed.
STEP 2: IDENTIFY TRIGGERS
Bad habits are symptomatic of a larger problem that needs to be unraveled. As such, identifying the triggers of bad habits is essential in correcting the problem. Why would I ignore my engine’s car light until my whole transmission blew up on me? Fear. Not wanting to deal with a problem because I feel powerless; I feel a lack of control in changing my circumstances. Fear triggers me. Know your triggers.
STEP 3: DEAL WITH TRIGGERS
Now that triggers have been identified, now its time to manage them. A trigger is essentially the root of the bad habit. By dealing with the trigger, a preemptive step is taken towards fixing the bad habit. Since fear is my trigger, then I need to overcome it by identifying it for what it is – then doing the exact opposite, which is not hide from an issue, but facing and dealing with it head on. As soon as that engine light came on, instead of hiding from what the bigger issue may have been, I should have taken it to the nearest mechanic, despite being afraid of what I might (know) hear about my lack of maintenance on the vehicle.
STEP 4: REPLACE THE BAD HABIT WITH A GOOD HABIT
Replacing bad habits with good ones isn’t going to happen overnight. It is done gradually, in doses. Let’s make it a point to find a good habit to replace the unhealthy one and set a goal to find a situation to implement the good habit at least twice a week. For instance, whenever I get an official looking letter in the mail (like those orange ones where you know there is a nice speeding ticket on camera to greet you), instead of putting the letter aside, I’d replace it with a good habit, which is opening the letter right away.
STEP 5: PERSISTENCE & PATIENCE
Persistence and patience is key. Unlearning a behavior is difficult to do. Contrary to the “21 days to change a habit” myth, it takes a while and varies by person and severity of the bad habit. A persistent approach means that you keep pushing through until the end result is change – despite the set backs that will occur on the journey. Patience is understanding that Rome wasn’t built in a day and the voyage to good habits wont happen in a day either.
Here’s to change in 2019!
What are the bad habits you need to break? Comment below!
Blissfully Yours Friends,
