Five Things To Do To Change Habits Permanently

I will be discussing five things to do to change habits permanently; if you have ever tried to change something that was more than a bit challenging, then you know that it is more than tempting to give up or throw in the towel and let yourself believe that you can’t do it.

The truth is that change in any area is complex and uncomfortable, but if you give things time, usually things get easier, and six months down the road, you are likely to not even remember how hard it was to change that habit.

This is what this article is all about helping people who want to succeed at changing a habit that they just do not have the know-how.

I will cover in this article what a habit is and then give you five ways to change any habit permanently. When you are done reading this post, you should be feeling more confident about taking on that new habit challenge that you have been dreading.

What Is A Habit:

What is a habit? It’s something you repeatedly do or without thought. Most of us have daily habits such as getting up and dressed or brushing our teeth. But, whether you read a book or listen to the radio in a day or listen to the radio in today is usually unique to the individual.

Habits such as exercising every day or spending time with someone special to you are habits that we as individuals tend to cherish and consider healthy. Overeating or not getting enough sleep daily are habits you may want to change. 

If you struggle with changing habits, it is important to point out that you are not alone. We all work in these areas. The difference between people who succeed and those who do not is a matter of sticking with the plan or not.

This brings me to how you can start finding success. Let me begin with my breakdown of the five things you can do to set your goal.

Step one: Set Your Goal

Setting your goal is a very important part of the process. However, when you start this process, you must be honest. Can you really do what it will take to achieve the goal that you want to achieve? 

Many people tend to set unrealistic goals. If this is you, then keep in mind you will likely only be setting yourself up to fail since it is more than likely that you will give up before you can achieve the goal at hand.

 Again make the goal realistic. Once you have done that, then create a plan.

Step Two: Make A Realistic Plan

Again the plan must be realistic and doable. Layout actions or steps that you can take over a 30,60, or 90-day period that will help you achieve the end result that you are looking for. An example of this could be a weight loss plan.

In this scenario, you would want to start eating smaller portions of food and start a lite but fun exercise plan for the first 30 days, then raise the challenge to take certain food completely out of your diet and start adding more resistance to your exercise routine for the next 30 to 60 days at which point you would start seeing change and likely reach your overall goal.

If that layout makes sense to you and you can make a realistic plan for yourself, the next step would be to eliminate all temptation.

Step Three: Get Rid Of Temptation

This is the best way to give yourself a fighting chance at success. But unfortunately, it makes it even more challenging for most people to be around things they find tempting when trying to change a habit.

I have known several people who gave themselves 30 days to change a habit and then challenged themselves to be around that temptation without giving in to it.

However, to have the temptation around you at the beginning is probably not a good idea since you will likely give in.

Again, giving yourself a fighting chance for success is important to get rid of that temptation.

Once you have made a plan and gotten rid of all that temptation, the next step would be to start replacing your bad habit with a good one.

Step Four: Replace Habit With Something Health

The worse thing you can do is set yourself up to go from one bad habit to another. It is important to your success that you replace your bad habit with something healthy, aka good.

 Again in the weight loss scenario, that would be replacing overeating with more minor potions and daily exercise. If your goal is to stop eating processed sugar products, then replace processed sugar with fresh fruit, just as some examples.

You will simply save time and hard work by replacing bad habits with good ones. 

Step Five: Be Kind To Yourself

The final step is to remember to be kind to yourself and give yourself lots of love and patience. 

You will mess up, especially at first, but if you just tell yourself that you are doing great and that you will just try to do it better next time, you will be more open to there being a next time. 

With this approach to yourself, you will find that things will not seem quite so hard, and then before you know it really will not be hard. This will lead to your success.

Final Thoughts:

Again changing habits is hard at first for everyone. So if you find lots of success in your goal and challenge list, then this article likely did not teach you much, but if you are like thousands of people all over the world that struggle to find success, then this article is just what you needed. 

Follow these steps, and in no time, you will see just how these five things will change your success level and habits permanently.

 If you enjoyed this article and found it informative, please let me know by giving it a like or leaving a comment below. Also, if you know someone who could benefit from this article, please share it with them. Until next week, Namaste.