INSPIRATION GAL: Break That Bad Habit!

By Inspiration Gal | April 8, 2013 | Diva Mom, Entertainment, Relationships

Inspiration Gal brings you her monthly words of inspiration!

Do you have any bad habits that you would like to change? I am sure we all have some habit we would like to change. This month, I want you to focus on changing or reversing a bad (or not so good) habit.

Of course, that is easier said than done. If it was easy to change a bad habit no one would smoke cigarettes and no one would overeat! Well, Inspiration Gal would not ask you to do something and not give you a few tips to make it happen!

1. Visualize it. I love free anything, free food especially. If a co-worker has brought in some food to share, IΓÇÖm all about enjoying it. I donΓÇÖt know about your co-workers, but mine bring cookies, bagels, cakes, fatty casseroles and cupcakes to work. Delicious but not always nutritious, and healthy eating means healthy life! Every night before I go to bed I visualize myself eating healthy food during the day. I see myself walking past the cakes and cookies and having a healthy snack instead!

2. Create some consistency. I used to always misplace my keys. I would think, “I need to keep better track of my keys,” but never realized how. Then it dawned on me: if I put them in the same place every day, I would always know where they were! Now I hang them on a hook near the door and have developed a habit of hanging my keys up as opposed to losing them all the time.

3. Put your money where your mouth is. So you want to get in shape and every new year itΓÇÖs your resolution. You join a gym, go for a few weeks in January, and then stop going by February 15. It’s time to up the ant: hire a personal trainer! Can’t keep your house clean? Hire a housekeeper. If money is an issue, “hire” a friend or relative to keep you on track. Tell your best friend that if you miss a day at the gym you have to give her $10. If your friend likes money–and who doesnΓÇÖt!–they will help you keep that promise.

4. Reward yourself and celebrate milestones. If you are trying to stop smoking, reward yourself with a massage after a week of not smoking, or visit your favorite ice cream place. If you are trying to lose weight, reward yourself by buying a new outfit every time you lose ten pounds, or by having a small, healthy treat.

5. Allow yourself to falter. Changing or eliminating a bad habit is not easy. You will get uncomfortable and it will be hard. It takes time and patience, and you may fall off the wagon a time or two. Accept that you got off course and get back on course. DonΓÇÖt beat yourself up.

The truth of bad habits is that they are easy to develop, but hard to live by. And the inverse is true: good habits are hard to develop, but easy to live with! Remember that saying and the tips above and start breaking those bad habits!

photo credit: Iamnee/FDP.net