Bad Habits: What Gives Us the Motivation to Stop?
Almost everyone in the world has a bad habit or two. Finding the motivation to stop these nasty habits, whether
they are health risks or just simple annoyances, can be next to impossible for some people. The motivation each
person needs to stop a bad habit comes from a range of different influences in their lives.
There are a variety of reasons to end destructive habits. Life changing events, health scares, and painful effects
can encourage a person to break a bad habit. However, the real motivation to stop must come from within yourself.
No matter how much a person wants to stop smoking, drinking, or overeating, among other habits, doing so for
someone else very rarely works. One must make a conscious decision to stop because they want to, in order to
succeed.
Life Changing Events
Many times when a person experiences a life changing event it can increase the motivation to stop a bad habit. Many
people find that the impending birth of a baby is incentive enough for them to stop smoking or drinking. An
upcoming marriage causes many women to change bad eating habits in order to look their best at their wedding. These
and many other events can cause our ways of thinking to change about what is important to us.
Our own personal growth never ends and many times with this growth we find the strength within ourselves to gain
the motivation to stop our worst habits. Finding that motivation as a result of a change in our lives can result in
a successful attempt to end a bad habit. Many times we feel as if this event turns over a new leaf and allows us a
fresh start. If we can find a way to make that start without our prior vices, it is possible to kick our habits for
good.
Health Scares
Many times we are told the dangers of our bad habits, but that alone is not motivation to stop. Sometimes we must
experience for ourselves firsthand, or through a very close loved one, the actual ill effects of our choices to
really see that the risks are real. Watching a loved one suffer with a smoking related illness, such as cancer or
emphysema can cause a person to really think twice about picking up another cigarette.
Until our own health is jeopardized and our mortality is threatened, sometimes we do not realize the seriousness of
our habits. With the fear that goes along with these ill effects usually comes the motivation to stop the habit
that is causing the problem. However in some people, the desire to carry on with their habits is so strong that
they will suffer even more just to not go through the struggle of giving up their vice.
Painful Effects
One of the biggest motivators in life is pain, and if a bad habit is causing us physical or emotional pain that can
be what triggers the motivation to stop. Physical pain can take many forms, depending on the habits we have. Almost
every bad habit can have some physical effects on our bodies, drinking causes hangovers, smoking brings on a cough,
or becoming overweight can cause back and joint pain. These factors alone, if painful enough can give us what it
takes to let the habit go.
The emotional pain that our habits inflict are even greater, giving us even more motivation to stop. How many
people with drug and alcohol dependencies have we seen lose their loved ones because of their addiction? This
emotional pain can be enough to encourage even the most addictive personality to give up the vice they love the
most. No matter the initial factor that triggers the motivation, stopping a bad habit can be one of the most
difficult things to overcome.
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