The Secret to Breaking a Bad Habit - Push Past THE CRUNCH POINT

Say you really want to break a bad habit.

You understand that your behavior is causing horrible downsides.

Maybe it's damaging relationships. Maybe it's damaging your health.

You know what you should be doing instead.

You're motivated to try hard.

But at first, you often forget to do what you know you should be doing.

Automatically, you engage the old habit instead.

That's because the new way isn't an ingrained habit yet.

And the old way is.

When you do remember, the new way feels awkward.

Your efforts aren't polished.

It feels unnatural. You make mistakes.

You're having way more failures than successes.

You feel discouraged.

You think, "This doesn't feel right. Maybe this won't work for me."

You think maybe you should go back to your old, comfortable habit.

Just give up.

This is called THE CRUNCH POINT.

It happens to everyone who tries to change their behavior.

And for sure, most people really do give up and go back to the old way.

That old bad habit feels so easy and natural, after all.

The secret to success is simple: KEEP TRYING.

If you do, your success rate will slowly improve.

Yes, I said slowly.

It took a while to ingrain that old, bad habit.

It will take a while to replace that old habit with a new one.

You have to persist and be patient with yourself.

Because the more you do it, the easier it will get.

The more you do it, the more natural the new routine will feel.

You'll enjoy the rewards you experience when you're successful.

Before long, you'll have more successes than shortfalls.

And if you keep track of your improving success rate, you'll feel encouraged.

Each time you practice the new way, the brain cells involved in the action will be stimulated to connect.

Eventually, your brain will wire itself for the new habit or the new skill.

At that point, you'll own it.

You'll do it without thinking about it, without having to consciously decide to do it.

The new behavior pattern will have become habitual.

It will become a part of what you do - and who you are.

Remember, the secret to changing a habit is simple: DON'T GIVE UP.

Post by Dennis E. Coates, Ph.D., Copyright 2012. Building Personal Strength .