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How to Break Bad Habits
If you can break bad habits, you will be much more successful.
For example, bad spending habits block your financial success. Procrastination reduces your income. Acting like a victim makes people avoid you.
Bad health is often caused by smoking, drinking, drugs, poor eating habits or a lack of exercise. When you break these bad habits, you feel better and live longer.
Bad marriages are often caused by bad habits like dishonesty, disrespect and cheating. When you break these habits, you and your spouse enjoy a happier marriage.
Low income is often caused by bad habits like poor concentration, mood swings and laziness. When you break these habits, you get more done in less time which is essential to increasing your pay.
From smoking to lying, disorganization to gambling, you can stop any behavior that is bad for you and your success.
Taking Control
You can control yourself. For example, you are the one who controls your arms and legs. You decide what you say. You are the final decision-maker on where your body goes.
In other words, habits are not forced on you by others. Habits are a matter of self-control.
"Control may be subdivided into three separate parts. These parts are start, change and stop."
"A habit is simply something one cannot stop."
"When one loses the ability to stop something, that thing to some degree has become his master."
"Franticness, helplessness, incompetence, inefficiency and other undesirable factors in a job are all traceable to inabilities to start, change and stop things." -- L. Ron Hubbard from The Problems of Work.
If you cannot control a habit, the habit becomes your master.
For example, you decide to stop eating sugar. You think you can start, change and stop the habit without any trouble. So you go for two days without eating sugar. You feel in control.
But then the urge takes over and you are no longer in charge. Donuts for breakfast, candy with lunch, cake after dinner and cookies in front of the television at night. You just can't stop eating sugar. The urge to eat sugar is your master.
Control a Habit to Break a Habit
"Control consists entirely of starting, changing and stopping. There are no other factors in positive control. If one can start something, change its position in space or existence in time and stop it, all at will, he can be said to control it, whatever it may be." -- L. Ron Hubbard
So how can you increase your self-control? Improve your ability to start, change or stop yourself.
What can you start about the bad habit? For example, you decide to start eating sugar at noon one day, 2:00 PM the next day and 9:00 AM the third day. You decide when to start eating sugar for the day.
Next, change some things about the bad habit. You eat more honey and fruit. You eat candy for breakfast or donuts before dinner. You successfully change the habit.
Finally, you find ways to stop the habit. For example, stop eating donuts forever. Stop eating cookies at night for one night. Eat only half of a candy bar and then throw it away. You successfully stop the habit in various ways.
As you continue to start, change and stop the habit, it gets easier and easier. You notice you have more control of the habit until you realize you have mastered the habit. You then break the habit forever. Recommendation
We have assembled a web service you can use to break your habits using start, change and stop. It is free and does not require registration.
Go to www.tipsforsuccesscoaching.org to learn more about control. Or you can begin taking control of a bad habit right now by going to the "Planning Section."
Start!
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