7 Simple ways to change bad habits & bull; hello healthy

Changing habits is not easy. Often we find acute smokers wanting to quit smoking, but it doesn't work at the first opportunity. Habits are things that are formed, not just dropping from the sky. Changing it is not a simple thing, even though it looks easy. For example, on weekdays, we are able to wake up at 5 am, but on holidays getting up early is something that is difficult to do. When you want to change the habit of getting up during the day off, you are not necessarily successful the first time. Some are successful when it comes to urgent needs. When there is no sudden event, our brains immediately recognize that it is a holiday, already embedded in the concept of waking up in the afternoon.

When you have unhealthy habits, and they are associated with serious illness, you inevitably have to change your habits. It is not easy to change habits, even health professionals sometimes do not provide specific suggestions for changing habits. Even though there are patients who are successful, sometimes in the middle it will repeat itself. You don't need to be pessimistic, because something works, the way is with the strategy of applying new habits over and over. Then, what are the steps in changing habits?

7 steps to changing habits

Changing habits means changing what is in our concept. Before you live it, you need to identify, what habits you want to change and why. Surely you often don't hear the advice, "If you want to quit, remember why you did it." In order for new habits to last, what you have to change is an automatic system of habits. For example, if you wake up and usually take a shower immediately, the action becomes automatic, you no longer need to think. So when you are going to change your habits, you have to endure instilling this automatic system. Here are the steps:

1. Start with a habit

You can be sure that when we try to change all at once, the results don't always work. The right way to change habits is to change one habit. Because when we fail in the middle, we have to start over. Choose a new habit, for example, "drink a glass of water when you wake up." The easy way is before waking up, we imagine ourselves waking up immediately taking a glass of water. Imagine starting from getting up, sitting in bed, stepping out, getting a glass, pouring water, then drinking it. Keep doing this habit for three weeks in a row. After three weeks, things will get easier.

2. Find out who can trigger it

Choose what habits you want to change, then find the reasons and triggers. For example, suppose you want to change your habit of staying up late, and this usually happens because you frequently browse the internet at night. So, replace the habit by sleeping early, and getting up early to browse. You can look for triggers to go to sleep earlier, such as turning off the computer, the internet, or meditation that make you decide to go to sleep earlier. Find reasons why you have to change these habits, for example sleeping late makes you unable to do your work during the day, or causes health problems.

3. Commitment

After deciding to change your habit, try to commit to it. Write down when you should start and when you target the habit to change. Don't get hung up on thinking about anything hard in the process, like you want to quit smoking, don't think about how difficult it was going to be. Think about the reasons and triggers.

4. Do a different pattern

When doing something repeatedly for a certain time, people no longer think about doing it, this will go on autopilot in the brain. When on autopilot, people no longer focus all their thoughts on what they are doing. Often encountered in everyday life, when we eat, our brains sometimes think of other things such as work to be done next, conditions at home, looking to the past, or thinking about dreams in the future. Left unchecked, the mind will jump up and down frequently, causing all kinds of thoughts and anxieties.

An easy way to avoid an action being on autopilot is to do a different pattern every day, such as going home from work by taking a different route. If you usually go by private vehicle, occasionally try using public transportation. It also trains the brain to get used to change. Deep-rooted habits require extra effort and time to change.

5. Visualization alarm

Create a visualization alarm for when you can't stand old habits. For example, you can't bear to eat sugary foods, but you can't eat them for health reasons. So, you can imagine that you are eating a sweet meal and then being in the hospital room, waiting for a blood test to be taken because your blood sugar has soared.

6. Give rewards when successful

When you do it three weeks in a row, think about the rewards you will get. Surely this gift is not something against a new habit. Do not give a cigarette as a gift, if the habit you want to change is to quit smoking. Think about the items you want to buy, delay the purchase of these items until three weeks successfully change habits. This may motivate you to be stronger in the face of the challenges that come. If you have trouble committing, ask someone to watch over you and remind you.

7. Don't give up

Changing habits is not as easy as turning your palms. It takes determination and strong motivation to run it. Do not forget to also need support from closest relatives. When you meet a failure, don't just give up and say it can't be done. Remember, this is only part of how the brain works! Do it again and again. Find the triggers for failure and try to overcome them better.

What is the key to success in changing habits?

You need to do it over and over again to change the automatic action. Psychological researchers have shown that simple, repetitive activities can help change habits. Or can remember the TIP, that is

• Think (thinking): think and write down what you want to change
• Imagine (imagine): imagine a habit down to the details of how you change the habit. You can also imagine feelings, such as, “I feel embarrassed about speaking in public, but I need to do it so I can move forward. So, I will focus on what I think needs to be done. "
• Practice (practice): start doing it by trying the steps mentioned above.