Do you have any bad habits that you can't break? (Habits) Let's talk about how to change these!

We do some things in our lives just like that, without thinking about anything, right? Imagine, when you are stressed, you unknowingly drink a cup of tea with too much sugar, or you pick up your phone and scroll through social media . These are the things we do without realizing it, and we call them 'habits'. Sometimes these are good, but most of the time they can be an obstacle to our goals. So, today we will talk about how to develop these good habits and give up bad habits.

What exactly is a habit?

Simply put, a habit is a learned 'shortcut' in your brain. It's something that makes you do something automatically, without thinking about it. It's not like the 'resolutions' we make for the New Year.

A good example is typing on a computer. When you first learned to type, you typed letter by letter, didn't you? But now? Your fingers run over the keyboard without even thinking. If I asked you to say the letters in the middle row of the keyboard in order, you probably wouldn't be able to say them right away. That's because it's a habit of yours, rather than something you remember.

Experts say that about 43% of what we do each day, or nearly half of it, is done unconsciously, out of habit. We do the same things we've done in the past over and over again. That means there are times when we don't even realize what we're doing.

Why can't you change habits with just 'willpower'?

Many people think that all it takes to break a bad habit is a lot of willpower . But that's not the truth.

Habits are deeply ingrained in our brains. Those memories persist even when we don't remember why we started them. So even when the willpower wanes, the habit remains. Most of the time, our willpower doesn't last long enough to change a habit. That's why we always think, "I'll exercise tomorrow," but we can't do it. It's not your fault, it's the nature of habits.

Before changing your habits, identify what your habits are.

To change a habit, you first need to be aware that you have that habit. It's like looking at your life from a side perspective, paying attention to what you're doing without realizing it. We call this ' mindfulness '.

See if you do these things:

• Do you eat something sweet when you are stressed?
• Do you play a game on your phone after a little rest? Or do you check social media?
• When you come home after a hard day, do you just sit on the sofa and watch TV?

Recognizing these things is the first step.

Let's make good habits easy, and bad habits difficult!

The secret to changing habits is to create an environment that supports you. That is, making it easy to form good habits and difficult to form bad habits.

Make way for doing the right thing.

Imagine that you want to start exercising in the morning. You can do this by laying out your workout clothes before you go to bed at night and leaving them by your bed. Put your shoes by the door. Then, when you wake up in the morning, there are fewer obstacles to getting to exercise. All you have to do is get dressed and go.

It's also a bad habit. If you want to reduce watching TV at night, put the TV remote in a closet and close it. Then you'll feel a little lazy about turning on the TV. That little distraction is what will help you break the habit.

Use that 'inconvenience'

It's very normal to feel a little uncomfortable or difficult when starting something new or changing a habit. Many people do something else to escape from that discomfort. For example, when they feel like they're having a hard time doing something, they pick up the PH one.

Instead, when you feel that discomfort, think: " Okay, this is my time to improve. This difficulty is because I'm learning something new. " Let that discomfort be the motivation that pushes you forward.

Make a clear plan.

If you don't have a clear plan for your day, you can waste your valuable time on a variety of things. So, plan out what you're going to do and when during the day. This is also called 'timeboxing'.

Sure, you won't always be able to stick to your plan. Things can happen that you don't expect. But having a plan will save you from wasting time unnecessarily. If you have to do something you want to do regularly, like checking social media, set aside a specific time of day for it.

Start spending your time the way you want. Read, exercise, get enough sleep, and spend time with your family. Once you understand what is important to you and what is distracting you from it, good habits will naturally form.

Habits, bad habits, good habits, habit change, willpower, mental health, lifestyle