Habits are not "bad". Habits are either helpful or harmful. They help us perform daily tasks without the need to Cousciously think about something we do 6m a regular basis. Take for instance Betting out of bed, getting ready for work land then driving to the office. All these etivities are "habits. You don't "think" bout how to get out of bed, eat your Dreakfast or take a shower. You don't plan how you are going to drive your car. You don't plan ahead as to when you will use Your turn signal. These are things that You just do “automatically’. Without “habits” you would have to "relearn" these Gveryday activities every time that you Performed them. Habits free your Conscious mind to think about and focus @n other things while you are doing inanual or repetitive tasks. Habits are either helpful or they are destructive to you or someone around you. Since habits are "normal" what we Should want to do is eliminate Mdestructive" habits. It is important to lMuderstand that you can not "break" a babit but you can replace a destructive habit with one that is not harmful to you or to another person. When changing hebavior, these insights are very important to keep in mind. Thinking that habits are "bad" will put you into a BE Aect thot call mate it -pahletion may be reproduced withon! written permission These three words describe what happens in your brain when you exchange an old habit for a series of new behaviors. You see, your brain searches to find the quickest way of doing what needs to be done and it forms "routes" from one brain cell to another. These routes become habits. It's kind of like having little "roads" from one cell to the next that your brian follows. When you shift to a series of new behaviors, the brain will signal you that a new route is being followed and that the old route is not being used. This results in cognitive emotive dissonance and you will experience a "funny’ or "weird" sensation. This feeling may make you anxious or uneasy. It is the brain's attempt to get you to drop the new way of doing things and return to the old habit, This is why changing behavior is difficult, because change is uncomfortable. difficult or impossible to change your behavior. Also, you can not change behaviors if you think that you can "break" a habit with ‘will power". (continued on page 2)People often make the mistake that they can just use their will power and somehow "beat" or "break" an addiction or unwanted behavior. Put simply, will power doesn't work. You end up depriving yourself of the behavior and its rewards until you break under the pressure. What you need to do is to become "comfortable" with the new behaviors. This will take some time and effort on your part. It involves avoiding the old behaviors and the people, places, and things that are associated with them. You may be thinking that this sounds like It takes 28-33 days of new behaviors and thinking to form a new habit. The key to It also means that you stop "beating yourself up" for what you consider as a failure on your part to control your actions. Your thinking controls your actions and if you "think negatively" your actions will also be "negative". If you intend to change, you must turn your thoughts to a positive nature. If you "think" positively, your actions will follow and they will also be positive. After you clean up your thinking, the next step is to replace the old habit with new behaviors. What this means “hat if the habit rred after work you aeed to fill that with some other forming new and positive will power and you are right; but this is where will power ends. Most people don't understand the rest of the treatment habits is to consistently rehearse the new behaviors and avoid people, places, and things that trigger a desire iy. Don't just sit (using your will so resist or avoid the old habit. Fill that time slot with newer to return to the old habit. and so they fail to change their behaviors successfully and permanently. After using your will power to avoid the old hehaviors, people, places, and things that are associated with them, you must change the way that you think and replace the old habit with new behaviors. You must monitor your thoughts and you must replace the old habit with the new behaviors. Changing the way you think involves staying in a positive mindset. This is why you must not think about habits as being "good" or "bad", Instead, view them as destructive or constructive. Something that you want to keep or get rid of. and positive behaviors. The old habit had it's "rewards’ for you. ‘You may hate whatever it is that you "d concerning the habit, but the fact remains that you "do it" because there is some reward in "doing it’. What you need to do is to become involved in the new behaviors that have their own rewards. That's really all there is to it! A very simple plan that allows you to change your actions by changing your thinking. So remember: 1) Avoid old behaviors, people, places, and things. 2) Monitor your thoughts and ehange negative thonghts to positive ones. 3) Replace the old habit with new behaviors.