Name three of your good habits
Name three of your bad habits
Can you change your habits? How do you do this? How long does it take to form a habit?
Impulse and reaction. Separation (space) between the impulse and the reaction.
Substitution vs. Elimination
One brilliant way to change a bad habit is by substitution. Instead of focusing on not doing something undesirable, try to replace the activity with a preferable one.
For instance, if you are like me, you love to snack at night. After dinner, when my kids are in bed, I often used to come downstairs, turn on a movie, and make myself a big bowl of popcorn. Sometimes, I would eat the entire bowl by myself.
I knew this wouldn’t be great for my health if I continued to do it for many years so I tried to stop. At first, I thought I could just NOT EAT THE POPCORN. This didn’t work well at all. My body craved the salty crunch of that delicious snack. I needed different tactics.
So, I did some research. When you realize how many fruits and green, leafy vegetables are necessary to get all of the vitamins and minerals you need on a daily basis, it becomes overwhelming. Taking a once-daily vitamin doesn’t give you the same quality as consuming whole foods packed with those same vitamins.
So, I decided I would try to consume more healthful foods and at night. Instead of popcorn, I ate raw carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, or apples. It took some time to get used to it. And none of those foods are a great substitute for popcorn. But they satisfied my cravings, which went away after about 20 minutes of snacking.