{"id":56,"date":"2026-04-18T16:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T16:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feyro.blog\/home-2\/?p=56"},"modified":"2026-04-21T03:09:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T03:09:09","slug":"how-do-you-actually-break-a-bad-habit-and-get-a-good-one-to-stick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feyro.blog\/home-2\/how-do-you-actually-break-a-bad-habit-and-get-a-good-one-to-stick\/","title":{"rendered":"How do you actually break a bad habit and get a good one to stick?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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So why do we keep doing them? And more importantly, is there anything you can really do about it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve talked before about the science of how habits get started, so now let’s focus on actually making changes in the real world. How can you get rid of your bad habits and stick to good ones instead?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I certainly don’t have all the answers, but keep reading and I’ll share what I’ve learned about how to break a bad habit.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what exactly makes us pick up bad habits?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, for most of us, bad habits usually come from two main things…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stress and boredom.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of the time, our bad habits are just how we try to cope with feeling stressed or bored. Think about it \u2013 whether it’s biting your nails, spending too much money when you go shopping, having a drink every weekend, or just wasting hours online, these can all be simple ways we react to stress and boredom.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But things don’t have to stay like that. You really can learn fresh, healthier ways to handle stress and boredom, and then use those instead of falling back on your bad habits.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, sometimes the stress or boredom we feel on the surface actually comes from something deeper. These underlying problems can be hard to face, but if you’re truly serious about changing things, you’ll need to be honest with yourself.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, are there specific beliefs or hidden reasons driving those bad habits? Is there something even deeper \u2013 maybe a fear, something that happened in the past, or a belief that holds you back \u2013 that’s making you cling to something you know isn’t good for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don’t eliminate a bad habit, you replace it. Every habit you have right now, good or bad, is there for a reason. These behaviors offer you some kind of benefit, even if they’re harmful in other aspects.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes the upside is biological, like what you see with smoking or drugs. Other times, it’s emotional, like sticking with a relationship that’s not good for you. And often, a bad habit is just your simple way of dealing with stress. Things like biting your nails, pulling your hair, tapping your foot, or clenching your jaw come to mind.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These kinds of “benefits” or reasons apply to even smaller bad habits too.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take, for instance, checking your email right when you start your computer; it might give you a sense of being connected. But, looking at all those messages at once actually kills your productivity, pulls your focus in different directions, and leaves you feeling really stressed. Still, it stops you from feeling like you’re “missing out” on something… and that’s why you keep doing it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since bad habits offer some kind of upside in your life, it’s really hard to just get rid of them completely. That’s also why simple advice, like “just stop doing it,” usually doesn’t work out.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you need to do instead is swap out a bad habit for a new one that gives you a similar good feeling or result.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Say, for example, you light up a cigarette every time you feel stressed. It’s not a good idea to just try to “stop smoking” then. You should instead find another way to handle that stress and do that new thing instead of reaching for a cigarette.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basically, bad habits meet specific needs you have. Because of that, it’s smarter to swap your bad habits for healthier actions that take care of those same needs. If you just try to get rid of bad habits without putting something else in their place, you’ll end up with certain needs that aren’t met. Then it’ll be really tough to stick to a “just don’t do it” routine for any real length of time.<\/strong>Knowing what’s really behind your bad habits is super important if you want to get past them<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So why do we keep doing them? And more importantly, is there anything you can really do about it? I’ve talked before about the science of how habits get started, so now let’s focus on actually making changes in the real world. How can you get rid of your bad habits and stick to good […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/feyro.blog\/home-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/feyro.blog\/home-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/feyro.blog\/home-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feyro.blog\/home-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feyro.blog\/home-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/feyro.blog\/home-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71,"href":"https:\/\/feyro.blog\/home-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56\/revisions\/71"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/feyro.blog\/home-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feyro.blog\/home-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feyro.blog\/home-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}