Changing Bad Habits into Good Habits

A toxic lifestyle can mean different things to different people. It could be bad physical habits, bad mental habits, bad social habits, or even bad financial habits. Worse, a combination of all of them. Toxic lifestyles can wreak havoc onto your life. They can damage your relationships, cause you to miss out on opportunities, or even put a toll on your health.

The good thing is, in life, nothing is permanent, and you can break free from your toxic lifestyle.

How to beat bad habits 

The first step in breaking free from bad habits is acknowledging that you have them in the first place. Admitting that you are in a toxic place in life and that you need help is actually a good thing! It means you’re ready and willing to change. You can’t address a problem if you don’t acknowledge that you have one, right? 

Next, figure out which bad habits you want to stop. 

Toxic habits that you want to remove from your life may include:

• Comparing yourself to others constantly

• Not taking care of your body

• Having bad eating habits

• Not taking accountability for your mistakes

• Being fearful of growth

• Living beyond your means

When dealing with bad habits to remove in our lives, remember that you don’t have to tackle them all at once! That would be impossible, too. Focus on changing one bad habit to a good habit at a time to make the change more sustainable.

For example, you can focus on eating better this month and then work on quitting your vices the next. Baby steps is better than trying to do things all at once only to fall back into old habits. Remember, the goal is to work towards a better, healthier lifestyle. So don’t feel pressured to knock everything off your list in one go.

If you’re a visual person who gets motivation by seeing progress on a chart, there are certain apps you can download to stop your bad habits.

• Momentum Habit Tracker is an iOS app that allows users to monitor their chosen habits and even export them to an Excel file. You can set weekly targets and take notes to see how far you’ve gotten.

• StickK was developed by behavioral economists at Yale University. With StickK, you can even literally bet money on yourself. It even allows you to link the app with a friend or family member for added accountability.

• Streaks is an app built around a 12-day system, so users are encouraged into building the habit through the app’s colorful interface. For those with health-related habits, this app allows you to sync your data with your phone’s health app, making it even more accurate.

A final note 

Remember, when it comes to changing toxic habits, one small step is always better than no step at all. Even if it doesn’t seem like much, a little progress a day adds up to a huge amount by the end of a year. Don’t feel discouraged if you don’t feel like you’re doing much, or you aren’t seeing results as quickly as you’d like. Just keep going at it and trust the process!