5 Steps to Stop Unhealthy Habits
Before we can fill our lives with healthy habits that support our goals and where we’re trying to go in life, we have to first declutter the unhealthy habits that are taking up space in our lives.
But first we have to define what an unhealthy habit is so we know what we’re up against - what we’re working through. Let’s start with defining a habit: an action performed regularly.
So this can go one of 2 ways then - habits that support how you want to show up for your life or habits that keep you from how you want to show up for your life.
We can want to be something or show up in a certain way all day long but until our actions reflect that, we’re not going to move in that direction. Habits are the stepping stones that take you from where you are to where you want to be.
That’s why it’s so important to identify your habits and assess whether they’re pushing you toward where you want to go or keeping you from it.
Today I’m sharing a 5-step process for you to follow that’s going to help you stop unhealthy habits in their tracks!
01. Identify the unhealthy habit.
You gotta own your ish and call it out if you want to do something about it so the first step is identifying the habit as unhealthy. There’s no way to stop something if you don’t make yourself aware of it first.
How can you do this? Do a habit audit! I have all of the babes in the Hustle Sanely Program track their time for an entire week (sounds tedious and it is BUT MAN talk about eye-opening info and data on your own life) so they can see exactly how they are spending their energy. For each habit they discover, I have them view it through the lens of whether or not this habit is aligned with their vision or not.
A lot of them are blown away (and not in a good way, lol) by how much time they spend scrolling purposelessly on their phones. They don’t realize how much time they spend doing this because it’s become a habit - they don’t think about it, they’re just used to picking up their phone and opening Instagram or Facebook when they’re not doing anything with their hands.
02. Determine the root of the unhealthy habit.
Why is this unhealthy thing you’re doing part of your regular life? Let’s stick with the too much scrolling on Instagram example from before.
We identified it as an unhealthy habit. What makes it unhealthy? You’re not getting important things done each day because you’re spending too much time mindlessly scrolling on Instagram and you usually wind up struggling with some sort of comparison mindset. So you’re not taking care of your priorities and you’re wrecking your mental health. Gonna go out on a limb and say that these things don’t align with anyone’s life vision.
Okay so to find the root of this habit, we have to ask ourselves WHY. Why do I spend so much time scrolling Instagram? Now obviously, only you can answer this.
Maybe you’re scrolling Instagram because you’re avoiding something else like cleaning your house, working out, or having a hard conversation with a loved one.
So the root cause would be you’re using it to numb your mind so you don’t have to think about what you need to be doing and you can avoid it.
Yikes...kind of scary when you think about it like that, right?
When I identify unhealthy habits in my life, journaling through the process always helps me uncover the root. I go down what I call a “why rabbit trail” - when I’m trying to uncover something, I keep asking myself why because eventually, you peel back enough layers to really be vulnerable with yourself and come face to face with where you’re at.
03. Interrupt the cycle.
You’ve heard this before I’m sure but nothing changes if nothing changes so you’ve got to make a change to create change by interrupting the cycle that is the unhealthy habit.
K cool so how do you do that? Determine a replacement habit that supports your goals.
Here’s what I’ve learned to be true - it’s REALLY hard to stop doing something if I don’t have a plan in place. Scrolling social media too much example again. You can say, “Okay I recognize that this is an unhealthy habit of mine because it’s causing me to not steward my time and mental health well.” But then when you’re just sitting there you’re going to be tempted to grab your phone and scroll because it’s what you’re used to doing - but if you have a replacement habit in place, you probably won’t be as tempted, right?
So some examples of what a replacement habit might look like in this case - when you’re about to start mindlessly scrolling, instead,
Pray
Text a friend encouraging words
Step outside for fresh air
When choosing replacement habits, choose intentional things that make sense for your life and align with your vision.
Having a healthy replacement habit in place gives you an opportunity to focus on something positive that you’re doing for your life rather than what you “can’t” do anymore - like scrolling your phone mindlessly.
04. Create a trigger for the replacement habit.
When you're implementing a new habit, it can sometimes feel clunky - like you forget a lot, you don’t have what you need to do the new habit, etc.
This is where triggers come into play.
Now, not all of your habits are going to need triggers so don’t go wild thinking you need to have 100 new habits and 100 triggers all over the place. Start slow and start small.
For the example we’ve been using - let’s say part of your vision for your life is to beef up your prayer life - to spend more time talking to Jesus in your day to day life. Cool so it makes sense to use prayer as your replacement habit for scrolling on Instagram, right?
But maybe you pick up your phone to scroll and you forget about your new habit.
ENTER, a trigger.
This could look like setting your lock screen on your phone to be a photo that says: PRAY BEFORE YOU SCROLL or to get really crazy you could even put a sticky note on the back of your phone for a few days that says “Reminder: We’re choosing to pray instead of mindlessly scroll.”
I use triggers allll the time in my day to day life when I’m adopting new habits. I just started using a new app to track my cycle since I recently got off birth control and I have to take my temperature every morning right when I get up to log in the app. Well I kept forgetting because it wasn’t a habit yet. So what did I do?
I put my thermometer on top of my phone when I plug in my phone at night. I use my phone as my alarm so I’ll 100% see the thermometer and remember to take my temperature.
Another example that I’ve shared before, I wanted to start incorporating ice rolling my face into my skincare routine but I kept forgetting because I keep my ice roller in the freezer. So I decided that my trigger for this new habit was when I made my coffee.
So when I make my coffee, I ice roll my face.
I kept a sticky note on my coffee pot for like a month that said “Ice roll” so I’d remember. Now, my brain associates making my morning coffee with grabbing my ice roller and it’s a habit. I no longer need the sticky note.
Triggers are just setting your future self up for success.
05. Establish checkpoints and celebrations.
When we’re starting to work on a new goal, it can feel SUPER big and overwhelming once the honeymoon phase wears off. You start to focus on how much you still have left to do and you let that gap between where you are now and where you want to be paralyze you from continuing forward.
This is where checkpoints and celebrations come in.
I truly believe that chunking our goals, like integrating a new habit into our lives, instead of barreling in with an all or nothing mentality is how we create lasting and sustainable change. It’s how we change our lifestyle to reflect our vision.
So when you’re incorporating new healthy habits into your life, set checkpoints so that you can sustain them.
Back to the phone example:
Create checkpoints that act as action steps so your desire to pray more instead of mindlessly scrolling instagram for 3 hours a day actually happens instead of just being a “oh that sounds good” thought that you never act on.
When creating checkpoints, start small and use stacking. Stacking is just building off of each step.
Here are some potential checkpoints for the scrolling Instagram example:
Give yourself specific time boundaries to be on social media - this will help you not feel like you’re missing out, use social media more intentionally, AND nix unhealthy habits while integrating new healthy ones.
One week: Set aside 30 minutes every morning, every afternoon, and every evening to scroll social media. Anytime you grab your phone to scroll outside of these time frames, pray instead, using your trigger (the note on your phone) to remind you.
Once you reach the end of week one, your checkpoint, assess how you’re doing. Are you sticking to what you outlined? Why or why not? How do you feel about that? Are there any tweaks you can make to better support yourself?
Use your answers to create your next checkpoint that supports you.
Part 2 of this one is to celebrate the checkpoints!
So when you plan your checkpoints, plan your celebrations too! This gives you something to look forward to and motivates you to stick to it. A celebration for this example could be, buying the new phone case you’ve been wanting. Or treating yourself to Starbucks. It doesn’t have to be anything wild - just a little,”Good job me! We’re making progress!” reminder.
When we celebrate, it’s adding fuel to our fire to continue onward!
So one more time to recap, the 5 steps to stopping unhealthy habits:
01. Identify the unhealthy habit.
02. Determine the root of the unhealthy habit.
03. Interrupt the cycle.
04. Create a trigger for the replacement habit.
05. Establish checkpoints and celebrations.
If you enjoyed this post, tune into episode 073 of The Hustle Sanely Podcast to listen into this topic:
