Everyone has a bad habit that must be broken, especially if it is a habit like smoking cigarettes or drinking too much alcohol on a regular basis, which can be detrimental to your health. However, if your bad habit is biting your nails or watching too much television, then you may want to stop because it is just simply annoying. No habit is easy to break, but these steps will help you in your journey to leave those bad habits behind.

1. Be conscious of your habits.

The first thing that is most important when breaking a bad habit is to realize you have one. You have to identify your bad habit and acknowledge why you are doing it. Ask yourself these questions: Why do I (Insert bad habit)? How do I feel while I am (insert bad habit)? What triggers me to (insert bad habit here)? What emotions are associated with (insert bad habit)? Answering all of these questions can help you become conscious about your bad habit.

2. Keep a record.

When you are biting your nails or watching television for countless hours, write it down. Keep a journal and record the times you are engaging in your bad habit for at least a week. Once you have a list, you can determine how many times you do it each day and figure out what times you tend to do it the most. You can also pin point what feelings are associated with your bad habit and where you find yourself doing it. Overall, recording the times in a journal is very beneficial because it will make you more conscious of your habit, which is an extension of the first step.

3. Find a substitute.

After you have identified your bad habit and become aware of your reasons for doing it, replace it with another habit, but be sure it is a good one. While breaking your bad habit, make it your duty to not pick up another bad habit in the process. For example, if your bad habit is biting your nails on a daily basis and you begin to chew gum to stop biting your nails, chewing gum all the time can be bad for your teeth. Chewing gum is not a bad habit. However, if you are getting lots of cavities and need to schedule multiple dentist appointments due to your frequent gum chewing, then your new habit can become a problem. If you identify your bad habit is watching too much television, try reading a book for an hour and add an hour of reading each day. Before you know it, you will read more each day and watch less television.

Once you successfully break your bad habit, use these steps to break another one. Be consistent with breaking your bad habits, and pretty soon you will be free of all your bad habits. Nonetheless, if you are not careful, you can easily revert back to your bad habits. To avoid this, I would suggest to practice your good habits everyday so you do not regress permanently. It is OK to slip up once, but do not make a habit out of it, otherwise you will regret it. People know that breaking bad habits can be challenging, but it is better for you to end it before it conquers you.