Personal growth

Why are we so disciplined with our bad habits?

Valon Asani · · 2 min read

Valon Asani

Unlearning bad habits was the starting point of this experiment with what I drank. Instead of adding one more routine, I first wanted to say no to an old one. That is one way I think about habits and identity.

Have you ever realized how most people are very consistent and disciplined when it comes to:

– being late (guilty!)
– not eating healthy
– using the phone 100x daily
– scrolling on social media
– practising bad habits that make us feel bad

Changing behaviour is indeed a struggle.

So, instead of trying to learn a new behaviour – or a new habit, why not try first to unlearn a bad one?

Something simple as what you drink.

Exactly one month ago I decided to unlearn drinking unhealthy drinks (for me it was mostly Tonic water, …).

So, I decided to just not drink anything else than water (and sometimes a black coffee without sugar).

Important for me was to remove sugar from my life.

But to keep it just with water and nothing else, that wasn’t that easy.
Because we get many ‘opportunities’ and weak moments.

Learning to say “No” is more important than trying to learn new habits, while we are struggling with old ones.

Saying NO to unhealthy habits is a first step in the right direction.

Next challenges:
Saying NO to unnecessary coffee meetings
Saying NO to my smartphone outside the office

Keep exploring.

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