We all have good and bad habits, but when they dominate our lives, it’s time to reflect, take responsibility and make changes to get life in balance.
Many people discuss changing bad habits in the New Year by planning New Year’s resolutions. Still, we all know from evidence from previous years that these plans fail to achieve the desired results at the beginning of the year because people run out of willpower or get distracted.
Are you struggling with a habit that you want to change this year? Have you tried to change the bad habit before but fell along the wayside?
Hypnosis can help you to get the right balance of habits.
Why am I thinking about bad habits?
Well, yesterday, I received an email from someone living abroad who wants help to stop nail biting with hypnotherapy. (Hypnosis helps people stop nail biting).
Nail biting is a prevalent habit affecting young people and older people of all backgrounds, economic status and educational levels. It’s a problem that can last for a few months or, more often, a problem that lasts for years.
Some people can identify the start of nail-biting, but many can’t.
Nail biting often starts with emotions, such as anxiety.
The odd nibble at a nail isn’t a habit. When people bite their nails, the skin around their nails becomes unsightly, painful and sometimes infected.
I want to help this person with their habit of nail-biting because this is a bad habit causing that person distress and possible health problems.
What are bad habits?
We all have habits, some of which are bad, but we often fail to recognise them unless they become a problem.
Some people don’t think they have a problem, but society says they do. For example, if someone has a habit of not washing regularly, they may start to smell, and others won’t like it. The person won’t notice their smell, so they aren’t bothered until others criticise them.
A cue triggers terrible habits, and they are relentless. For example, someone who eats too many biscuits and is overweight will see the biscuits in the cupboard, which is the cue to eat.
Bad habits cause emotional and sometimes physical pain, but people think that they can’t stop them.
The problem is that neural pathways are developed that often bring a sense of satisfaction immediately after performing the habit. Nevertheless, that positive feeling will turn into a negative thought and feeling when they wish that they could stop.
So, habits need a trigger, the right environment or emotion and offer a brief reward.
What causes a bad habit?
Habits are often triggered during an emotional time.
The next time that you get that cue, you might start the bad habit again.
You then do something that is comforting to you, like smoking or biting your nails. The more you do it, the more rewarding it becomes, and an unconscious pattern starts.
This is why hypnosis can help.
What are good habits?
Good habits are about being polite to others. That might mean saying please and thank you.
Good habits are about getting a balance between work and your personal life. It’s called self-care to consider your mental and physical state.
Regular exercise is a good habit.
Eating healthy food in the right portions for you is a good habit.
Furthermore, when you replace a bad habit with a good one, you get that sense of achievement, which triggers a positive response to continue the same new habit.
Examples of bad habits
Here is a list of some bad habits. Some are related to work, some are about personal things such as nail-biting, and some are about home life and relationships.
- Nail-biting
- Picking at spots, eyebrows or other parts of the body
- Smoking cigarettes, rolling tobacco or vaping
- Eating the wrong foods
- Sniffing or coughing without a medical cause
- Procrastinating
- Constantly checking your mobile phone, apps and social media
- Inconsistent sleep routines
- Skipping meals or drinks (Non-alcoholic)
- Self-sabotaging through illegal drug taking, drinking alcohol in excess
- Committing crimes
- Shouting at people
- Not exercising
How to break a bad habits
According to James Clear and Atomic Habits, changing bad habits starts with small steps.
It’s about focusing on the process more than the final goal by removing the trigger or moving your focus away. Then, you need to make it difficult or unsatisfying.
One thing I ask clients to do who want to come and see me to stop smoking is to ask them to smoke the week before the appointment in different places or use the opposite hand to hold the cigarette. This makes the smoking habit unfamiliar and challenging.
With a nail-biter, I might ask them if they would like to do a hobby like knitting because they use their hands to do something different.
How can hypnosis help?
Hypnosis can be delivered as self-hypnosis, with a hypnotherapist, or both.
First, information is provided, consent is gained, and we get to know each other.
Although I have helped people with one session, I prefer to offer a few more sessions to ensure that I address the emotional barriers and that the new, good habit continues. I may suggest three or four sessions.
During the sessions, you are guided to a hypnotic state, and positive suggestions and reframing take place. As a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) practitioner, I may also use CBT.
Book a free consultation and learn how I can help you with hypnotherapy, or visit my website for more information about my services.
