Quitting a bad habit or addiction

We all have bad habits, some worse than others. Some people like the bad habits, so much that they become impossible to quit, they are then an addiction. The key to quitting a bad habit is in self motivation and restraint. The power to quit is in the mind, and if you don't truly want to and believe that you can quit, then you won't be able to, you will just succumb to your desires and run right back to the addiction.

I am going to use smoking for an example here. My best friend is trying to quit smoking, she smokes about a pack every day, so it is going to be very hard for her to quit. Also, my parents used to smoke, one still does and so I can talk about it more than any other addiction or bad habit.

The steps to take to quit smoking, or whatever bad habit you have is to mentally prepare yourself. You need to tell yourself that you don't need it, that it won't help you. You have to want to get rid of it, you have to believe that you can. One of my bad habits is biting my nails. You are probably thinking "so what, I do it all the time?" but I take it to the extreme. I bite my nails so short that they bleed and get chapped and hurt like crazy, but as soon as they heal I do it again. My solution to it is to just paint my fingernails and get myself into the habit of not biting them until I can go without the nail polish. Usually, there are other solutions or ways to help ease the tension and stress with quitting a bad habit.

One way to stop is to try and hypnotize yourself. Tell yourself that you don't need it, that you don't want it, that you want to stop. Hypnotizing yourself is quite simple really. First, get yourself into a relaxed position, laying down or leaning up against something. Then, meditate for a while and clear your mind. Once you have successfully cleared your mind then take time to relax each body part, starting at your head and relaxing your eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and then work your way down your body, relaxing each individual body part. Imagine your muscles relaxing and the tension leaving your body until you are completely relaxed. The whole time you are doing this, keep telling yourself that you are getting more and more relaxed. Finally, once you are completely relaxed then tell yourself that you are tired of the addiction, that you are sick of it, that you don't want to or need to do it anymore. Do this again and again while you are in that vunerable trance, and once you feel you are ready then allow your body to come out of the trance. This isn't supposed to make you completely immune to the habit or addiction, but it should make it easier.

Now, another step to quitting your habit or addiction is to find another hobby, or a good habit. if you are a smoker, then try drinking a lot of tea or chewing gum. There are some anti smoking gums and teas. Try finding some of the herbs and making a tea out of it or chewing on the leaves. There are a lot of solutions, but the main one is to just tell yourself that you are done. Your mind is the key, your willpower. You truly have to want to quit, otherwise you will not be able to overcome your addiction or habit.

I hope I helped and gave you some ideas for where to start. Good luck with overcoming your bad habits and addictions. Blessed be!