Everyone has habits they regret but can't break. Changing these long-standing patterns is hard, but not impossible. You may have made many attempts to break the chain and failed. Even weeks or hours after you think you've overcome it, you may do it again. How do we interrupt this cycle? How long does it take to break a habit?
Many of our goals are like this. Some of you forget that making these lists is not to pressure ourselves or feel awful, but to make us more conscious of the change we want. Seeing the list expand every year can make you despondent. Instead of trying to fix everything without placing too much strain on yourself, focus on one or two. In time, you will realise this: If you want to live a healthier life, changing one or two habits will give you the power and determination to change the rest.
After listing habits you want to modify, figure out why. You realise you eat while anxious. Instead of eating when worried, try something healthy instead. Do you spend a lot of time on social media when bored or lonely? Do other things to feel wonderful in such occasions. Understanding your habits' causes will make changing them easier. It may be easy to comprehend your behaviours and routines, yet you may be unable to break these cycles for unknown reasons. Understand why you can't quit your habits?
Learning the cause of your habits can make them easier to break. Let's clarify the instances above. You can try to avoid unhealthy things you can't resist when you're anxious or depressed. If you can't stop using social media and check your phone first thing in the morning, consider leaving it outside the room or away from your bed. You can stop doing this. You can limit yourself until you break the loop. Don't view these constraints as "punishment". If so, every meal and social media session will be a "reward". This triggers the reward-punishment process and increases habit addiction. Consider that these constraints are meant to make you healthier and happier.
Daily patterns become automatic, making them hard to break. Take little actions like taking your phone off your bedside table and putting it someplace else before bed, chewing gum instead of smoking, or eating fruit instead of junk food to disrupt the loop of these "automatic" behaviours.
No one or nothing changed overnight. Don't anticipate overnight self-change either. Be kind to yourself. Making mistakes is normal. After making a mistake, saying "I'll never be able to do this anyway" is worse than beginning over.
Habits are hard to break. Habits take time to form and break. Developing new habits takes time and patience. Change might take weeks for habits. Continue without giving up to form new habits. This approach can be assisted by a mental health expert.