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” Every child is special. Kota me IIT ki taiyaari krne aaya hai, toh pehle apni aadatein badal. Mess ka khana achha nhi lagrha? Ghar ki yaad aarhi? Padhai nhi kiya jarha? Ye problems har saal hazaro bachcho ke sath hoti hai. Tujhe kuchh ban na hai toh tu challenge accept krr. Mess ka khana achha nhi lagta firr bhi kha. Der tak padhai nhi ho pata, firr bhi padh. 21 din ka khel hai ye, beta. Ek baar aadat lag gyi na toh track pe aajayega. ”
Translation – ” Every child is special. You have come to Kota to prepare for the IIT, then you got to first change your habits. You don’t like Mess Food? You don’t feel like studying? Thousands of students face similar problems every year. Accept the challenge if you want to achieve something. Eat mess food even if you don’t like it. Sit to study even if you don’t feel like studying for long hours. This is a game of 21 days, son! You shall be on the track once you get into the habit. “
Habits are very essential things. They can make or break our probability of achieving targets or our long-term goals. Our habits govern our day-to-day lifestyle. They intrinsically mold us into the personality that we are. The good ones can benefit us, while the bad ones can harm our personality. In other words, our overall personality is a total of our good and bad habits.
And yet despite this, we pay little attention to our habits, particularly when it comes to eliminating the bad ones.
Good habits like exercising daily or maintaining a good sleep cycle can prove very beneficial to our health. Or, good habits like switching off lights & fans while leaving the room can contribute to personal as well as a public good. On the flip side, bad habits like increased consumption of fast food or doing no physical activity could lead to obesity or health complications in the long run.
But before we jump on how to break any habit? Let’s first understand how are habits formed?
Habit Formation
Psychological researchers have proven that when we repeat an action or behavior time and again. This repetition of our actions leads to the formation of our habits. Habits can also be acquired unintentionally, without the person intending to acquire them. And, good habits can be acquired with the person putting deliberate and consistent efforts.
Therefore, if we understand how habits take shape, this shall prove helpful in eliminating and replacing them.
How to Break a Habit
Following are some golden ideas for breaking your bad habits and replacing them with good ones.
If REPETITION can form habits, then REPETITION can break habits!
Humans are good at changing and adapting. Identify what are those bad habits that you want to eliminate, and keep yourself conscious of them. Make a list of it on a notepad and remind yourself again and again. Like it could be anything like biting your nails or tapping your foot.
Some bad habits are hard to do away with. Try to substitute bad habits with good habits. For example, do not smoke when you feel stressed, rather how about doing breathing exercises instead, or going for a walk.
Make Use of stickers, sticky notes, or other visual reminders. For example, how to remind yourself to turn off lights when you leave a room? You should stick a note for yourself on the switchboard or door.
Practicing self-discipline is crucial to achieving tough goals that you set for yourself. Practice restraint. Remove temptations.
The experts believe that it takes 21 days to inculcate a new habit or break an old one. But if you take longer than this, don’t stress out. Perhaps, you need to revisit your approach or consider seeking help from experts.
