You can't break bad habits.
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OK, first let's clarify: There are no bad habits.
There are useful habits, and habits that are no longer useful, or even harmful.
As with any habit, it's difficult to get rid of harmful habits if they provide clear and immediate benefits (even pleasure), and the harm is uncertain and somewhere in the future.
And most so-called bad habits are textbook examples of this:
? Smoke? Why not! The pleasure is immediate - the irritability, the crash, and lung cancer are all in the future
? Overeat? Of course! The emotional relief is instant - the rebound, the weight gain, and the long-term effects of overeating are not on the immediate horizon
It's difficult to quit bad habits.
The workaround?
Substitute harmful habits with habits that are useful
Of course, you need to find a habit that gives you an equivalent immediate benefit.
Alternately, you can create an equivalent immediate benefit by rewarding yourself with something you enjoy.
It's that simple.
But difficult as hell!
The devil is in the details.
It takes a combination of process, accountability, support, emotional self-regulation and more!
That's why people carry their bad habits to the grave.
Or maybe it's the other way around:
Bad habits carry people to their grave.
