Liberate yourself from your habits
We are creatures of our own habits. Habits make us or break us. If
they make us, they are good, if not its time to liberate ourselves
from our habits.
We develop our habits knowingly and unknowingly. We develop our
individual way of thinking, doing and saying things, become quite
content with that and the way we are. Habits become so much part of
our personality that we find so hard to get rid of them. Soon they
become a necessity and we become slaves to our habits.
Our success in career, life and everything we do depends so much on
our habits. Our happiness, our competency, our effectiveness are all
results of our habits. Bad habits weigh us down, pull us back and
prevent us from achieving our full potential. They make us totally
unhappy and unproductive.
If we want to lead healthy, thrilling and productive lives we need
to cultivate in ourselves healthy habits, habits that will build up
our personality.
Bad habits are like comfortable beds, easy to get into but hard to
get out of. Man has always sought a way to ease his pain, forget his
hunger and loneliness and find short cut to happiness through
drinking, smoking or taking drugs. Many of these addictive habits
today have attained social respectability inspite of the dangers
involved in them.
Media has made bad habits signs of sophisticated, attractive and
glamorous living. Young people think of it as a sign of maturity and
adulthood.
Once a drunkard wanted to get rid of his habit of drinking. But he
soon fell into the same trap.
"What about your promise?" asked his wife.
The man answered that he was trying his best to give up drinking but
proceeding in stages. It was just like chopping off the
word `habit', he explained. When you cut off the initial `h' from
the word `habit' `a bit' persists. Knock off `a' and the `bit'
remains. Knock off `b', yet `it' remains.
Habit is like a web. We weave a thread of it everyday and at last we
are caught up in it so much that we cannot break it.
Here are some ways to break your habits before they break you.
1. Have high self-esteem
We are addicted to bad habits because of our poor self-esteem.
People with high self-image and self-acceptance never fall prey to
such habits. Those who are scared of their own self, those who try
to escape from the problems of life and those who are cowards often
land up in the lap of these seductive habits and die there. Develop
high self-esteem if you want to win the battle. Get into good habits
and you will feel good about yourself.
2. Decide now
Make a decision to quit now. Become aware of the advantages of
quitting as compared with the temporary satisfaction of being under
this habit. Never postpone your desire to quit. Never allow your
habits to take control of you; rather you take control of them and
decide now itself to quit.
3. Have goals
Goals can give you enthusiasm and energy to overcome addictions.
Goals boost you with self-esteem and self-acceptance. Congratulate
yourself whenever you achieve something; when you are able to throw
away a bad habit, celebrate your victory.
4. Take responsibility
You can choose to be good or bad; you can choose to be happy or sad;
you can choose to be fit or unfit; you can also choose to be a
person of good habit or bad habit. If you take responsibility for
your actions you will groom yourself well.
5. Keep good people around you
"Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who are." We are
influenced a lot by people who are around us. If those who are with
us are addicted to bad habits we too are going to be like them soon.
Select your friends and have strong will power not to become a
victim of peer pressure. Be a master of yourself; never allow others
to control your life.
6. The Rule of 21
Use the rule of 21.Try to avoid a bad habit for 21 days and you are
sure to overcome your slavery. Try to do something good for 21 days
and it will become part of you even without you knowing it. The
Bible tells: "just as a dog returns to his own vomit so does a fool
repeat his own folly under the influence of his habits." Repeat good
deeds and shun bad deeds like a plague.
7. Do a good deed a day
If you want to get addicted get addicted to doing a good deed a day.
Commit yourself to values, true ideals, socially useful activities
and these will keep you occupied and happy. When you are busy doing
good things for others you have no time for bad habits.
8. Get the help of others
We can't solve our problems alone. We need the help of others
especially when faced with bad habits. Solve your problems getting
help from professionals if needed and groom yourself properly with
the help of others. Establish good relationships with parents,
partners, relatives and friends. Love and get love from others.
However the best way to stop a bad habit is never to begin it.
Rajendra.Deshpande. .(.Sales. Trainer.)
We are creatures of our own habits. Habits make us or break us. If
they make us, they are good, if not its time to liberate ourselves
from our habits.
We develop our habits knowingly and unknowingly. We develop our
individual way of thinking, doing and saying things, become quite
content with that and the way we are. Habits become so much part of
our personality that we find so hard to get rid of them. Soon they
become a necessity and we become slaves to our habits.
Our success in career, life and everything we do depends so much on
our habits. Our happiness, our competency, our effectiveness are all
results of our habits. Bad habits weigh us down, pull us back and
prevent us from achieving our full potential. They make us totally
unhappy and unproductive.
If we want to lead healthy, thrilling and productive lives we need
to cultivate in ourselves healthy habits, habits that will build up
our personality.
Bad habits are like comfortable beds, easy to get into but hard to
get out of. Man has always sought a way to ease his pain, forget his
hunger and loneliness and find short cut to happiness through
drinking, smoking or taking drugs. Many of these addictive habits
today have attained social respectability inspite of the dangers
involved in them.
Media has made bad habits signs of sophisticated, attractive and
glamorous living. Young people think of it as a sign of maturity and
adulthood.
Once a drunkard wanted to get rid of his habit of drinking. But he
soon fell into the same trap.
"What about your promise?" asked his wife.
The man answered that he was trying his best to give up drinking but
proceeding in stages. It was just like chopping off the
word `habit', he explained. When you cut off the initial `h' from
the word `habit' `a bit' persists. Knock off `a' and the `bit'
remains. Knock off `b', yet `it' remains.
Habit is like a web. We weave a thread of it everyday and at last we
are caught up in it so much that we cannot break it.
Here are some ways to break your habits before they break you.
1. Have high self-esteem
We are addicted to bad habits because of our poor self-esteem.
People with high self-image and self-acceptance never fall prey to
such habits. Those who are scared of their own self, those who try
to escape from the problems of life and those who are cowards often
land up in the lap of these seductive habits and die there. Develop
high self-esteem if you want to win the battle. Get into good habits
and you will feel good about yourself.
2. Decide now
Make a decision to quit now. Become aware of the advantages of
quitting as compared with the temporary satisfaction of being under
this habit. Never postpone your desire to quit. Never allow your
habits to take control of you; rather you take control of them and
decide now itself to quit.
3. Have goals
Goals can give you enthusiasm and energy to overcome addictions.
Goals boost you with self-esteem and self-acceptance. Congratulate
yourself whenever you achieve something; when you are able to throw
away a bad habit, celebrate your victory.
4. Take responsibility
You can choose to be good or bad; you can choose to be happy or sad;
you can choose to be fit or unfit; you can also choose to be a
person of good habit or bad habit. If you take responsibility for
your actions you will groom yourself well.
5. Keep good people around you
"Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who are." We are
influenced a lot by people who are around us. If those who are with
us are addicted to bad habits we too are going to be like them soon.
Select your friends and have strong will power not to become a
victim of peer pressure. Be a master of yourself; never allow others
to control your life.
6. The Rule of 21
Use the rule of 21.Try to avoid a bad habit for 21 days and you are
sure to overcome your slavery. Try to do something good for 21 days
and it will become part of you even without you knowing it. The
Bible tells: "just as a dog returns to his own vomit so does a fool
repeat his own folly under the influence of his habits." Repeat good
deeds and shun bad deeds like a plague.
7. Do a good deed a day
If you want to get addicted get addicted to doing a good deed a day.
Commit yourself to values, true ideals, socially useful activities
and these will keep you occupied and happy. When you are busy doing
good things for others you have no time for bad habits.
8. Get the help of others
We can't solve our problems alone. We need the help of others
especially when faced with bad habits. Solve your problems getting
help from professionals if needed and groom yourself properly with
the help of others. Establish good relationships with parents,
partners, relatives and friends. Love and get love from others.
However the best way to stop a bad habit is never to begin it.
Rajendra.Deshpande. .(.Sales. Trainer.)