“Stop smoking honey. You know it’s bad for you.” Your loved one tells you. “Yeah, I know! I’ll quit someday.” You say. And you never do. Sounds familiar? Someday, someday. That day never comes. Not unless you do something about it!
The Step-by-Step Guide
You have learned to identify your weaknesses. Get rid of them then! Here are five steps that work well for me.
Step 1: Pick ONE weakness you want to change.
Humans don’t do well when they try to cramp too many things at one go. Unless you bear the letter ‘S’ on your chest, you’re better off focusing on one at a time.
Step 2: Pick out the roots.
Weeds grow back easily unless they are removed together with the roots. Same principle here. Find the root cause for your weakness(es). Here’s a table to illustrate my point.
| Behaviour | Root Cause |
| You like to bite your nails. | You feel insecure. |
| You micro-manage your staff. | You think no one else does it better than you. |
| You are a terrible presenter. | You lack confidence when speaking to an audience. |
Usually, there may be more than one root cause. You might be biting your nails often because you don’t have a nail-clipper at home! Sounds retarded? Yes. But it happens.
Step 3: Find the need for the change.
List down your reasons for changing. Some questions to consider while brainstorming are as follows:
| - | How is your weakness stopping you from achieving your goals? |
| – | Does it cause you embarrassment? |
| – | Are you bothered by it? |
| - | Does it cause inconvenience to others? |
If you know one reason doesn’t make you feel strongly about it, come out with five! Ten! Or even twenty! Stop when you understand that it hurts to do nothing.
Step 4: Find the solution for each root cause. Then take massive, focused action for 30 days.
This is where we get creative. And there’s a whole bunch of stuff to elaborate on. I’ll be doing it in a separate post.
Step 5: Monitor yourself periodically.
Checking on your progress makes sense doesn’t it? Do it in an incremental fashion. From once a week, to fortnightly, then to monthly, bi-monthly etc. Do that until you finally get rid of it.
Take Action Now!
Don’t wait. Apply these steps now! Tried them and it works for you? Leave a comment. Tell me about it. Think this is all bullshit and I’m wasting your time? Leave me a comment too and teach me how!
P.S. Check out “Tips for Breaking Bad Habits and Developing Good Habits” for other interesting ways to kick your bad habits.
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