How to Break Bad Habits

There are hundreds of bad habits and hundreds of ways to break them. if you need help, there are books, support groups, and counselors to help you. Mostly you can take a common sense approach and get the job done.

If bragging is one of your bad habits, you could either be insecure or overly proud. It usually makes the other person feel bad, or they resent you. You can get a handle on this bad habit if you stop for a few seconds before you talk. Give yourself time to think about others and how this will sound to them. Think about whether you are telling it to them, or to yourself.

Another one of these bad habits is name dropping. Again, you may be insecure. Most people will not take it in a friendly way. Try to tell your same stories but without the names to stop yourself from doing this. You might say, "My friend Brad" instead of "my friend Brad Pitt," or something like that.

Cursing is one of those bad habits that can start at an early age. You may curse so much that you are unaware that you are doing it much of the time. The first thing to do is to pay attention. Whenever you say inappropriate words, put money in a jar. Even if it is your coffee money, put it in there. Also, you might want to think about anger management classes if your cursing is done in a hostile way.

If you have the bad habit of chewing with your mouth open, there may be a physical cause. It is disgusting at the dinner table and might make you look bad at a dinner meeting. Perhaps all you need is a nasal decongestant. Maybe if you can breathe through your nose, you will close your mouth.

You may be a whiner. This is one of those bad habits that annoy people from the time you are a child until you are old or until you quit it. It comes out in the sound of your voice and the expression on your face. However, it is rooted in a negative, doom and gloom attitude. Look on the positive side of things, and you will find yourself whining less.

Gossips are notorious for starting trouble in any group to which they belong. These people often find their lives so boring that they cannot find anything else to talk about. Their only topic of discussion is other people's business. These people can break this bad habit by finding new interests to think and therefore talk about.

Nail biting is a bad habit for people of all ages. It damages the fingertips and nails. It is not a very sanitary practice. People do it out of nervousness, and most of them would like to quit. In past times, people would wear gloves, but people do not wear them much anymore. You can buy nail polish that tastes bad, though. That seems to help at times.

You can find a way to overcome any addiction or bad habit. Some of them are trivial in the scheme of things. Others are deadly serious. If you find the right help for your situation, you can stop your bad habits.

How Good Habits Can Turn into Bad Habits

It is not uncommon for good habits to morph into bad habits. This often happens when good habits are taken to an extreme. This is why people should be aware of their behavior, even when it might seem positive.

People who want things to be the very best can seem to be very upbeat people. At least that is true until they go too far. When their leadership becomes nit-picking perfectionism, their good habits have turned into bad habits. Once it has reached such a point, it is hard to salvage the situation.

Sometimes people make their neatness into bad habits. They start out nice enough. They just want to keep things tidy and clean. They are perfectly willing to do some work to keep it that way. Then, they go overboard. They begin stressing over every tiny smudge or speck of dust. Besides this, they expect you to be as obsessive as they are.

There are two of these situations that are fairly similar. People turn good savings practices into bad habits. The first is when a person starts saving money for emergencies or for the future. They start a savings account, or an investment account. Then they begin to put money into it.

If they develop bad habits, they can get carried away with their savings and become a miser. They can be that person who will not buy their children new school clothes because the money has to go into savings. They can be the one who will drive a car that breaks down every week. They cannot bear spending money that could go to savings.

A similar situation happens when people start buying in bulk. At first they tell themselves they are just stocking up. However, the stocking up may not stop at a reasonable level. If it has become a bad habit, their entire basement, garage, attic, and all their closets may be filled with extra food and cleaning supplies. They have so much that it will go bad before they can possibly eat it all.

You may wonder how being concerned about others can possibly lead to bad habits. A person who is this thoughtful is generous in spirit and cares only for the well-being of those around her. The bad habit may come in when the person puts others' needs too far above her own. This can lead to all sorts of psychological problems for her.

Perhaps you have heard that there is never a dumb question. People are generally encouraged to ask questions at school and at work. However, it becomes a bad habit when people ask questions aimlessly to no purpose. They will sometimes ask so many questions that no work can be accomplished at all. Sometimes it is better to try to figure something out on your own.

This just goes to show that extremes are usually bad habits waiting to happen. Be a considerate person, yes, but do not do it at the expense of your own well-being. Indeed, you should maintain a savings account. Just make sure your family has what it needs. Do not let your good habits turn into bad habits and make your life difficult.

Financial Bad Habits

It is easy to get into bad habits with financial matters. Few people have enough money to simply buy what they want without a thought. Most people have to plan their purchases and stay vigilant to keep themselves solvent.

Many people have bad habits of getting too far in debt with credit cards. The cards are easy to get. You can get a handful of Visas and Master Cards, an American Express Card, a Discovery Card, and several cards from retail stores without much effort. You do not have to have much income to get this many cards, either.

None of the card companies seem to consider that you might have to pay payments to the other cards. You may think you have all these cards just for emergencies. However, if you get into bad habits with them, you can end up spending them to their limits. You may reach a point where you cannot even make the minimum monthly payments.

You might be tempted to borrow money from relatives at a time like this, but that would be just another of type of bad habits. Relatives may want to help you for a time. They may allow you to get into the bad habit of going to them each time you need money. Yet, there will come a day when the money will run out, or the situation will get old. The relative will not only discontinue the loans. They might stop speaking to you as well.

When it comes to friends, both borrowing and lending money are bad habits. It puts a strain on the relationship that many friends cannot handle. One friend might forget how much was borrowed. Yet, there may be animosity if a written contract is suggested. You can rarely win when you get into this bad habit.

Many people get into trouble financially because the have the bad habit of not sitting down to make a budget. They have a general idea of where the money should go. They may think they have it all in their brains. It never quite comes together, though, unless you put it on paper (or on a spreadsheet on a computer). Only then will you know you have everything included.

Most utility companies have a certain grace period before they will cut off service. Some people count on this grace period and get into bad habits when it comes to paying their utility bills. If you do this you put yourself in jeopardy of losing your lights or water. You also destroy your credit rating.

Some financial bad habits have to do with the way people manage their checking accounts. One thing people often do is to throw away paperwork they get when making transactions. Of course, there is a time to throw it away. Yet, until it is recorded into your account, you need to keep deposit, ATM, and debit slips to verify that the correct amount was taken out.

Some people even have the bad habits of not reconciling their checking accounts. If they want to do internet banking with a software program like Microsoft Money or Quicken, they can make it very easy on themselves. It is important to be sure that your account has in it what you think it should. For one thing, there is no better way to catch fraud. Taking charge of your money habits can make your life less stressful and more productive.

Dangerous Bad Habits

Some bad habits are just annoying, but others are actually dangerous. It is these dangerous bad habits that can really get you in trouble. Some people like to take risks. Others do not think about how their bad habits could affect them.

Bad habits can be nothing more than not paying attention to your physical condition. If you are taking sedating drugs, it would be a bad habit if you continually worked in this condition. If you work two jobs, it can be a dangerous habit to work when you are sleepy. You would need to find a safe way to get enough sleep to work.

Many people have bad habits around electricity. They may use frayed extension cords without thinking. This is a bad habit that can lead to electrocution or fire. Using ladders, especially metal ladders, around power lines is another bad habit that is dangerous.

Some people have dangerous bad habits that are just unnecessary by any stretch of the imagination. People, often younger people, like to stand on moving cars and "surf." This is reckless behavior at the least. At the most, it can be deadly.

Many bad habits have to do with driving a car. People often forget how potentially dangerous driving can be if it is not done with caution. They drive so often that they become accustomed to taking the wheel without thinking. This leads to a number of dangerous situations.

Some people have bad habits of grooming themselves when driving. Women might put on make-up while driving. They believe that they can apply mascara and watch the road at the same time. It may work out for a long time, and then eventually there comes that time when they are not concentrating on the road enough and an accident happens.

The same can happen when men shave while driving. Or, it can happen when men or women groom their hair. Other bad habits include the way people use their cell phones when they drive. Sometimes people are so keyed in on their cell phones that they do not see the car in front of them.

Driving through high flood waters can be a very bad habit. People think they can get through the water and make it to the other side. If it happens often enough, they may get braver and braver. However, if they go too far, their vehicle could be swept away. It could lead to a very dangerous situation.

Drinking and driving is the ultimate in bad habits. If you do this, you are not only putting yourself at risk. You do not even know who else you might be endangering. It could be an infant, an elderly person, or a single parent. It could be someone just like you. You could kill them or make their lives a lasting misery. This is not a bad habit that you can let stand.

If you engage in dangerous bad habits, you have to ask yourself why you do it. There must be something you can do to curb your desire to put yourself and others at risk. Find out what that is, and do it.

Emotional Bad Habits

The question of whether moods constitute bad habits is an interesting one. Many mood disorders have been identified. These and other psychological problems are seen by some as strictly bad habits.

In fact, it has been shown that continuing to dwell in your present mood perpetuates it. When you decide to pretend you are happy, studies show that you may actually improve your mood in time. This is not a hard and fast rule, but there is some indication that people do have some control over their moods.

Moodiness, for example, may be more than bad habits for many. It may be bipolar disorder or some other psychiatric problem. However, for some it may just be that they are giving in to every feeling that comes along. They have the bad habits of not trying to have any control over their whims.

Being pessimistic is one of the bad habits that can also be seen as a symptom of depression. Yet, for many, it is just a habit of thought. They may tell themselves that pessimism is a win-win way of thinking.

If things go right, you win. If things go wrong, you were correct, so you win. These people can improve their moodiness by looking at the positive side of things in the beginning.

Being in a worrying mood is similar to being pessimistic. The difference between the two bad habits is that when you worry, you become obsessed and dread upcoming events. If you have the bad habit of worrying, you can slowly train yourself out of it, especially if you have the right kind of help.

Codependency is not exactly a mood, but it is an emotional state. It is a set of bad habits that encourages a loved one to do harmful behavior. You do not want your son to be an alcoholic, for example.

However, you constantly make excuses for his behavior to others. If you want him to get better, you have to stand up and decide to stop with your bad habits. You have to hold him accountable for his actions.

If you have hypochondria, you have an emotionally painful bad habit. Certainly, a person with hypochondria needs psychological help. However, the treatment that person will receive will probably center on helping them change their bad habits of thought. They will learn new ways to think about illness and their own bodies. This will give them some control over their emotions.

If you do a lot of attention seeking, you have bad habits that you can learn to abandon. This could relate back to something in your past. Perhaps, you were ignored as a child because there was some other needier person in the home. You learned bad habits of getting attention by annoying means. Taming this bad habit requires acknowledgement of it, and possibly professional help.

Bad habits that relate to emotional states are often hard to break. Sometimes you need help to overcome them if you cannot do it on your own. The sooner you stop doing your emotional bad habits, the happier your life will be.

Bad Study Habits

If you are in high school or college, you know that you will not get the best grades if you have bad study habits. Unless you are a naturally gifted student, it takes some effort to get the grade point average you need to continue in your academic career. Even if you are gifted, bad habits can hurt your scores.

Of course, the worst of the bad habits of studying is not studying at all. Some people plan to go through school without cracking open a book. It is rare for this to be an adequate response to academia. Most people need to study.

Some people do not go to class. This is another bad habit. The teacher or professor may give you information that if not in any of the literature. To get it, it is best to go to class. You might be able to get it second hand from someone who did go to class, but there is nothing like hearing it for yourself.

Sometimes students go to class, but they go unprepared. Some do not buy the proper literature or lab materials. They try to get by with sharing or looking on others' work. This is a bad habit, as they will not get the personal experience that they would with their own literature and materials.

You can buy the right literature and lab materials, but if you do not have the right equipment and supplies. You will suffer if you do not have the right supplies to go along with it. If you make it a habit to show up without paper, pen, pencil, or even a laptop computer if needed, you will not be able to do your work.

There are certain physical bad habits that make studying harder. Studying without eating is like trying to drive a car without fuel-it does not work very well. Studying without sleep is unproductive. Studying with a hangover is very distracting.

Many students will go to class to be entertained. This seems almost reasonable because many professors have great senses of humor. However serious learning should be taking place as well. If you find yourself not taking notes, you will know you are slipping into bad habits. If you get to class and you have not read the assignment, you will be ill prepared.

Cramming for tests is a time honored tradition. Yet, if you want to retain the material beyond the end of the semester, it is a bad habit to start. Doing daily work will help you to understand the material that is being put into your brain. It will help you assimilate it in a way that will help you to remember it in the long haul.

If you are a motivated student, your bad habits may be just as unproductive, in the short run at least. You may find yourself straying in your research. You find your subjects fascinating, but you find other information interesting as well. Before you know it, you have spent hours on the internet researching something you do not need for your school work at all. It may increase your knowledge overall, but it will not help today.

You can rid yourself of your bad habits when you are studying or preparing to study. Some people choose not to. However, you might find it beneficial.

Bad Habits Related to Health

Bad habits can often damage your health. They can make you feel unwell. They can have long-term affects on your physical condition. If you want to live a long life and healthy life, there may be some bad habits you need to overcome.

Many of the bad habits that make you feel poorly are related to eating. A growing number of people in the US are obese. This is mainly due to the fact that they have developed the bad habit of overeating.

This can lead to numerous conditions and diseases. Heart disease, diabetes, bone and joint distress, and many other physical conditions can result. Even some forms of cancer occur more often in obese people. What is more, very obese people are often bedridden and cannot care for themselves.

Some people do not have the habit of overeating in general. They just eat the wrong things when they do eat. They may eat fast food at every meal. This can literally make you sick. The high quantities of fats, sugars, and starches in fast foods make them very unhealthy.

Other foods can be bad habits to eat as well. Other fried foods cause health problems. Foods that are low in fiber lack a substance the body needs to function well. It is a bad habit to avoid this. Foods high in sugar are bad habits, if not addictions. They affect the metabolism in drastic ways, causing an imbalance in energy and insulin.

People have trouble knowing what kinds of electrolytes they need. Some people have bad habits when it comes to salt. They will salt all the food on their plate as soon as they sit down. They will not taste any of it first. Too much salt can lead to hypertension.

Even if you eat right, you will be weak if you do not exercise. Living a sedentary lifestyle is a bad habit. You may not have much choice about how much movement is allowed at your job. That does not mean that you cannot get out and get your heart beating before or after work.

In fact, if you do not have time to exercise outside of work, you probably have another bad habit in the health area. Overworking is a cause for several illnesses. High blood pressure, heart disease, and others can plague you if you do not stop and take time to relax at home.

A discussion of bad health habits would not be complete without reference to smoking, drinking, and drugs. Each of these has dire health risks that are known by most people. If you smoke, you might get lung cancer. You might also get COPD, another breathing disorder. If you drink, you might have liver failure. Drugs can do all kinds of damage, including damage to your brain.

Others care about your health, as you should care, too. It may be difficult, but kicking your bad habits and making yourself healthy again is a worthy goal to aspire to. Why not start today?

Bad Habits in the Workplace

Everyone suffers when someone on the job has bad habits in the workplace. Bad habits can make for an environment that is unfriendly, unproductive, or even unsafe. You can only correct your bad habits in the workplace if you recognize them.

One of the most noticeable bad habits in the workplace is tardiness. Some people just have a habit of being late to everything. They are late to arrive, late back from break, and late back from lunch. This not only puts them in jeopardy of losing their jobs. It can affect the productivity of the whole crew or office.

Absenteeism is another bad habit that people can fall into easily. A new trend is to make all accumulated days off the same. Sick days, personal days, and vacation days are lumped together. You just have a set number of days off and it is up to you how you take them.

The trouble with this system is that too many people have bad habits about using the days off. They get used to taking off whenever they feel like it. Before they know it, all their days off are gone. Then, when they really have an emergency or illness, they have to miss work without pay. In the meantime, their workload is being handled by someone else.

People often have bad habits in the workplace when it comes to paperwork. They do not do proper accounting on their expense reports. They do not keep the receipts that are needed by their company. They fail to keep mileage records on their company cars accurately. This makes the company's accounting department have to work harder.

Many workers have an aversion to doing paperwork at all. They have bad habits of not filling out jobsite reports as needed. If they do special business reports as requested, they may have bad habits about not turning them in on time.

Clean work spaces can help people get more work done. However, many people have bad habits when it comes to keeping their desks and offices neat. They may have a certain kind of organization if they have stacks of papers on their desks. Yet, if their desk is full of half empty pop cans and crumpled up fast food bags, it cannot help anything.

People often get into the bad habit of losing things. They may lose important paperwork. The paperwork may be critical contracts for a major deal the company is involved with. If your bad habits take over, you can cost the company everything.

People in other kinds of jobs can get into the habit of losing tools. They do not pay enough attention when they lay down their tools. When they get ready to clean up for the day, they have no recollection of where they put a particular tool, if they remember using it at all. This is a bad habit that amounts to laziness in thinking.

If you want to make an impression at work, get a grip on your bad habits. The way you work will be a result of the habits you bring to the table. It is the good habits that make you succeed.

Bad Habits in Sports

Sports are fun to watch and to play, as long as you curb your bad habits. To be successful at any sport, you need to develop the behavior patterns that will lead to winning. A part of this is avoiding certain bad habits.

Taking care of the body should be of utmost importance to anyone who wants to play sports seriously. Smoking and drinking are bad habits that do not mix well with sports. Smoking cuts a person's breathing capabilities. It makes the person gasp for air after a short practice run.

Drinking alcohol is another bad habit for athletes. It dehydrates the body and slows coordination. However, drinking other fluids is necessary. Some sports players have the bad habits of not keeping themselves hydrated. This should not happen, since there are usually plenty of water and electrolyte-rich drinks available at the event.

Sports players are often entrenched in their bad habits of not getting enough sleep. They are wound up after practices or games and do not feel like going to bed early. They get up to start their training on an early schedule. If they push themselves too hard, they will find that these bad habits will end up taking them out of the game.

An athlete should never start to play without some sort of stretching or warm-up exercises. Yet, bad habits often prevail. People begin doing their sport without the slightest thought to getting ready. This is important even for a professional athlete. It often happens, though, that an amateur athlete will be more careless about. They do not make it their business to do everything right.

Sometimes people who play sports occasionally think they can be athletes without much practice. They have the bad habit of doing nothing for weeks or months on end. Then, they jump in and do strenuous sports activities. They believe that they do not need to keep practiced and in shape. This can result in injury and exhaustion.

Not using proper safety equipment is a bad habit in sports. In professional sports, this equipment is required. If an NFL football player were to make it onto the field without his protective gear, he would be fined heavily.

In amateur games, people are not so careful about using safety equipment. They may play golf in slick dress shoes instead of golf shoes. This may cause them an injury if they slip and fall. A bicyclist may have the bad habit of not using a helmet if she is an amateur. This can be a dangerous mistake.

One bad habit people have in sports is not being team players. If a person tries to take all the glory, the team comes to resent him and will not back him up the way they should. If the person works with the team, the team will be a cohesive unit that can accomplish great things.

Sports can be fun activities or a great way to make a living. Either way, the way you conduct yourself will make all the difference in how you enjoy the game. So, suit up and leave your bad habits on the bench.