Did you know that 61% of Americans are trying to break a pandemic habit? That's right, in 2023, we're still stuck in some of those habits we created for ourselves back in 2020! Most of these habits were probably formed because we were confined to our homes without routine and the lack of social engagement didn't help..
Here are some of the top "pandemic habits" that Americans are struggling with today:---
-Too much screen time
-Sleeping too little or too much
-Unhealthy eating
-Alcohol consumption
Since covid, many have admitted to a struggle with mental health & work life balance as well..
But, before I go into some strategies to break some of the bad habits you may be struggling with, let me set us in a more positive tone by saying studies show that a lot of good habits were formed due to the pandemic! Here are a few:
-Staying in touch with family
-Hand washing
-Staying home when sick
We often forget about the good habits & get caught up in the bad. Why? Well, did you know that 7 out of 10 Americans say that they tend to judge themselves more than other people. Remember to give yourself GRACE. It’s ok if you have a couple of bad habits. The first step is to always take a good look at how harmful that bad habit is to see if it’s something that is affecting your life in a negative way and needs to be immediately addressed. If you decide it is, let’s focus in on some easy steps to break that habit.
Now one of the most important things to remember as you go through this process is that your habits are hardwired into your brain. Your brain is actually going to be against this change, BUT your brain is also just like a muscle. When we practice willpower, we are able to strengthen that muscle, which will in turn eventually become stronger than our want to indulge in that sugary snack, sleep in until noon, or drink that 4th glass of wine after work.
When we try to break a bad habit, try to follow these steps:
1. Find your why.
This is the first step to everything we do when it comes to taking steps to make a change. In order to create the motivation you need to keep going, we have to think about why we really want to do this and what positive results will come from it. So, grab a sheet of paper and write down the habit you want to break. Next, write down why that habit affects your life in a negative way. Then, write down what positive results will come from breaking that habit. BE SPECIFIC. You will be also be adding in your game plan as to what you need to do to reach that goal and hopefully by the end of this conversation, you will have some tips and tricks to get started. Once you have that sheet filled out, put it somewhere that you will see EVERY DAY.
2. Don’t stop, replace.
In my job, I often try to help people reach their full potential professionally and financially by coaching them on ways to speak to their customers to make the biggest impact on their experience.
I have learned that one of the biggest mistakes leaders make when coaching their team is telling them to STOP saying something that isn’t working. It makes sense to tell someone NOT to do something that isn't working, but we have to REPLACE what they are saying with something else or they won't know how to move forward. For example, if I heard someone say, “Do you want your receipt" to a customer, and we have a survey at the bottom of that receipt that we are trying to encourage. I would want to coach them to stop asking that question. Why? Because NO ONE wants a receipt these days. Most customers see it as another piece of trash sitting at the bottom of their floor board in their vehicle, because that's typically where it ends up. It's good to explain that to the person I'm coaching, but the most important step is telling them what they SHOULD say instead. The reason they asked the question to begin with is because that’s the only thing they could think to say to start the conversation. What I need to do to set them up for success is to replace that question with an encouraging statement to explain why we want the customer to take the receipt. This is just like any habit. If I say I don’t want to eat a bunch of sugary snacks anymore, I can’t make a plan to just stop eating snacks altogether. That will make breaking that habit incredibly difficult and all you think about is, “man, I wish I could have an oatmeal cream pie cookie right now.” The better way to break this habit would be to replace your sugary snacks with a healthier option. If you typically crave your snack at 2:00, keep consistent with that routine so we’re not stopping the action, we’re replacing the bad habit with a better one.
3. Find an accountability partner
We have talked about this before. Just like when we’re trying to reach goals, breaking habits is not easy when we’re going it alone. Chances are someone else in your life wants to break a bad habit too. So, make a pact to do it together. It’s better if you’re working towards breaking the same habit, but it’s still useful even if that’s not the case. Just having someone to talk to and discuss your journey & successes with, can keep your motivation towards breaking that habit active. Remember, when we keep things to ourselves, it’s really easy to convince ourselves why reaching that goal isn’t important anymore just simply because we don’t want to put in the work. You also want to consider, at least for a while, until you strengthen that willpower muscle in your brain, to avoid people, places, & things that could actually be a trigger towards breaking your current progress. Meaning, if you’re trying to stop smoking, you should probably avoid hanging out with other smokers for a while. If you’re trying to avoid drinking sodas, don’t even walk down that aisle at the grocery store. If someone in your house want to continue drinking sodas, you might consider asking them to pour them into a cup first, vs. drinking it out of the can so you don’t see that logo and instantly think, "ooooh, a coke, that sounds delicious right now."
4. Celebrate every success
Listen, even if it’s just one day of avoiding that bad habit, it’s a WIN. Celebrate that. Try creating some kind of a tracking method to watch that success grow from one day to one week to one
month. ..But guess what guys, it’s very possible you may indulge in that bad habit again even after you’ve made progress.. and that’s ok. Give yourself grace, don’t give up and remember the progress you’ve already made. You can do it again and you will break that habit in time, as long as you keep looking at those end results you want and follow through with your plan.
We can’t break every bad habit, but I believe that we can break the ones that make the biggest negative impacts on our lives if we follow these steps. Just remember, to make it happen, like all of our goals, we have to do it with passion and purpose.
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