We all have bad habits – just ask your local politician. The good news is you can break your bad habits with a little effort and intention. The trick is, you have to want to break the bad habit. If you say you really want to quit smoking, but the truth is you really, really enjoy smoking – you don’t really want to break the habit do you?

Habits and Your Health
The healthier you are, the less bad habits you’ll slip into. A healthy body craves healthy stimuli. Have you ever noticed after a few weeks of eating healthy the idea of pounding a super-sized fries repulses you? Get enough sleep, exercise, sunshine, fresh air, and whole foods.

Replace Bad Habits One-For-One
One of the easiest methods for permanently giving up on a vice is to replace it with another, healthier behavior. I like to eat corn chips late at night. When I consciously fix a cup of tea or other low cal drink instead, that helps to replace my automatic reach for the noisy cellophane bag! 30 days and the new habit is yours for keeps.

Practice Makes Perfect
Okay, we’re not supposed to say perfect because perfection is impossible and all that. But what I mean by perfect is peaceful. The more you practice your good habits, the better you’ll feel. Even when you mess up, your track record will give you the confidence to get right back to your new and improved behavior. Try using a rubber bracelet. Make a goal of not doing whatever behavior you want to change for 30 days. Every time you slip into the old habit, change wrists.

Mess Up!
If you’re not failing, you’re not practicing! Every time you fall off the wagon, acknowledge that you are making the effort to change. Accept your transgression and move on, fully intent on breaking those bad habits once and for all.

Pace Yourself
There’s nothing worse than attempting to change your entire life all at once. Instead of overwhelming yourself, discard bad habits one at a time.