8 Tips To Breaking Bad Habit And Becoming The Better You

It is the desire of every individual to be a better person as time progresses; we wish to look better, feel better, live more comfortable lives, put on better clothes, etc; but for some of us, it seems as though things become worse by the day.

Habits whether they be good or bad, play a major role in determining our path in life. As established from our previous post, 40% of everything we do is strictly done out of habits. And we came to the understanding that habit is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur unconsciously. We all have some habit we would like to develop and some we would love to break.

The easiest way to break a bad habit is to develop a new good habit as replacement. It is also interesting to know that developing just one new good habit can help you do away with more than one bad habits. Inasmuch as something has become a habit, it is possible to break it and replace it with a better one; it doesn’t matter the satisfaction you derive from a particular habit, the truth is “our bodies only have the ability to love what we let it get used to”.

As the Holy book says, “do not overcome evil with evil, but overcome evil with good”. The same principle applies to habits; you can only overcome a bad habit by developing a new good one. Just as bad habits are formed through repetition, good habits are formed through repetition. Give your body the right thing long enough, it won’t love the wrong thing anymore. Good habits have the power to defeat bad habits.


Since the aim is to become a better version of yourself, you need to concentrate on the good thing you want to do rather than the bad thing you want to stop doing. If only you can form the habit of eating healthy, you would not need to worry about going on a diet; or you form the habit of going to bed early, you won’t worry about waking up late. Permit me to go a bit deeper. There is so much sexual perversion in our society today and it seems to get worse by the day; if only we would develop the habit of restricting all sexual activities within the confines of marriage, we would not be disturbing ourselves our issues like premarital and extramarital sex, even the issue of homosexuality would be at its minimum; because let’s be honest with ourselves here, most of the people into these act would not get married to the people they are having an affair with.

Here are some tips to breaking bad habits and developing good habits:

1• Identify the bad habit you would love to break. You need to be honest with yourself here; if you are not willing to quit, don’t bother trying merely because someone pointed it out to you. You must have a personal desire to quit because this desire would be your driving force. Have a good enough reason to quit that bad habit

2• Count the cost and benefits: every habit, good or bad has its cost and benefits. Even for a bad habit, there was some sort of satisfaction you derived from it that is why you kept on doing it anyway. In the same way, it also has its price attached to it. Take the habit of smoking for example, one of its benefits is that it brings warmth to you but it has some cost attached to it like you may be avoided by non-smokers because of the offensive odour or worse case, you stand the risk of damaged lungs in the near future. We can also take a look at premarital and extramarital affairs, you stand the risk of unwanted pregnancies which may lead to abortion and the rest, or sexually transmitted diseases which may steal your physical and mental health or your finances, etc. The point here is to weigh the benefits against the cost. In the end, is it really worth it?

3• Believe you can change: just the same way you developed that habit on your own, you have the power to break it on your own. You were not born with any habit, so you don’t have to take any bad one to your grave.

4• Identify what triggers that habit: it could be when you are in a certain place or with a certain kind of people or when you see or hear a particular thing or when you are in a particular frame of mind; always do all you can to avoid those situations. Even if it means staying away from some of your friends or turning off your television or your phone, just do it.





5• Develop a new good habit as a replacement: Nature doesn’t tolerate vacuum. Find a better habit to replace the bad habit you want to break; if possible, a good habit that gives you the same reward that bad habit was giving you. Its easier to form the habit of eating healthy rather than going on a diet. Never replace a bad habit with another bad one! If you don’t replace that bad habit immediately, in only a matter of time, your body would begin to feel deprived of a particular satisfaction. I for instance developed the habit of writing because I discovered i was beginning to talk too much even to the point of saying things I didn’t plan to say. People who know me very well know I never had any interest in writing a couple of years ago. The truth is now, I derive the same satisfaction writing as I get from just talking endlessly; and now it is better because I have to put a lot of thoughts in what I write. The point is “if you concentrate on developing good habits, there won’t be any room left for the bad habit”. Your body would always adjust to what you expose and let it get used to. You may never know what you are capable of until you try.

6• Be patient: you did not do a bad thing once to get a bad habit so don’t expect to develop a good habit by doing a good thing once or twice. This is the reason why most of our breaking/developing habits end up as unfinished projects. Habits are formed by constant repetition so also is breaking them. It takes time as a matter of fact, it takes more time to break a habit. Be patient with yourself; even if you still find yourself doing it occasionally, it doesn’t mean you have failed. Never give up! When you stumble and fall, get up and keep moving forward, in a matter of time, you will get there. You should also consider placing reminder where u can easily bump into them. Discipline yourself.



7• Renew your mind: try to fix your mind on where you are going to, not where you are coming from. Never regret anything because regrets don’t do anything but steal the strength you need to gain your victory; it is a total waste of time. We all make mistakes, your bad habit was just a mistake you made and over time, developed into a habit. Think positively.

8• Start now: A wise man once said, “Procrastination is the grave where opportunities are buried”. There is no time as good as “now”. Don’t wait till tomorrow or  the first day of the coming month or coming year before you start. Start now!

Your habits have a lot to do with your personality and play a major role in your journey to becoming a better you. You have the power to make and break any habit anytime you please. Always remember “a stitch in time saves nine”. And like i will always say, "it is never too late to start doing the right thing".