Bad habits are quite enticing, and that's why many people only realise they have developed a bad habit when it's already deeply ingrained in their system. Any bad habit you develop hinders you from realising who you are, the potential you have and where you are going. A habit is something you do or practice repeatedly, and breaking one isn't an easy task. A bad habit consumes much of your time, resources and energy, and can eventually detour you from your goals in life. A professional counsellor knows how to handle people willing to break a bad habit. So what steps will a counsellor use to help you win the battle against a bad habit? Continue reading!

Identify the Habit You Intend To Change

According to most counsellors, it's hard to fight what you don't know. Winning a battle against a bad habit starts with defining it. Having a broader objective such as staying healthy is a brilliant idea, but it doesn't provide the specific details to focus on. You should have concrete details of what you want to change if the change will be felt. A counsellor will help you set a specific and achievable objective as you fight the bad habit. For instance, decide that you will smoke two fewer cigarettes a day, and do anything possible to make it so.

Don't Say 'I Can't'; Instead Say 'I Don't'

If you want to break a bad habit successfully, you must learn to say 'I don't' and not 'I can't'. Though the bad habit you intend to break may have negatively affected your life in a big way, don't give up the fight; just say it's the beginning of the best part of your life. For instance, someone struggling with drug addiction and intends to break the habit should start saying 'I don't take drugs' since it shows the finality with which you have decided to break the habit. When you say you can't, you might think you can if conditions are favourable or if something else happens.

Know What Triggers the Bad Habit

It is one thing to identify what you do and when you do it, but it is another thing to identify why you do it. Any bad habit you develop has certain triggers behind it. Find out if your peers, colleagues, relatives or friends encourage you to maintain the bad habit. Most people struggle to break bad habits due to the action involved or the feeling that accompanies it. Visiting a counsellor will help you know whether the bad habit has anything to do with your location and suggest what you should do.

Many counsellors also ask individuals trying to break bad habits to go slow, make small changes and measure their progress. If you assume you will break that bad habit on your own, you will take forever to do it. Seek help from a counsellor today.