How to Break a Bad Habit (And Actually Make It Stick)

We all have bad habits.

Maybe you bite your nails. Maybe you spend too much time scrolling through social media. Maybe you hit the snooze button five times every morning.

Whatever your bad habit is, you've probably tried to break it before. Did you succeed? Or did you fail?

Breaking a bad habit is hard. But it's not impossible.

Here's how to break a bad habit, and actually make the results stick.

Understand Why You Have the Habit

Every habit serves a purpose. Even the bad ones.

Your habit gives you something. Maybe it relieves stress. Maybe it fills time. Maybe it gives you a reward.

Before you can break a bad habit, you need to understand why you have it. Ask yourself: What does this habit do for me? What need does it fill?

Once you know why you have the habit, you can find another way to meet that need.

Identify Your Triggers

Habits don't happen in a vacuum. Something triggers them.

A trigger can be a time of day, a location, an emotion, or another person.

Pay attention to when your bad habit happens. What were you doing right before? Where were you? How were you feeling?

Write down your triggers. Once you know what sets off your bad habit, you can prepare for those triggers, or avoid them altogether.

Replace the Habit, Don't Just Stop It

Here's a secret: You can't just stop a bad habit. You have to replace it.

Nature abhors a vacuum. If you leave a hole where your bad habit used to be, something will fill it. And it might be another bad habit.

Instead, replace your bad habit with a good one.

If you bite your nails when you're stressed, replace it with deep breathing or squeezing a stress ball.

If you scroll social media when you’re bored, replace it with reading a book or going for a walk.

Give yourself a better option. Make it easier to do the new habit instead of the old one.

Start Small

You don't have to quit cold turkey. In fact, the thought of stopping a habit immediately, without doing anything in between, may make you break out into a cold sweat. Some people can stop a habit cold turkey. Others of us? Not so much.

Why is this the case?

Big changes are hard to maintain. Small changes are easier.

If you want to stop drinking soda, start by replacing one soda a day with water. If you want to stop staying up too late, move your bedtime up by 15-minute increments.

Small changes add up. They're also easier to stick with.

Once the small change becomes automatic, make another small change.

Make It Harder to Do the Bad Habit

Want to stop eating junk food? Don't buy it. If it's not in your house, you can't eat it.

Want to stop wasting time on your phone? Delete the apps that suck up your time. Or put your phone in another room.

Want to stop hitting the snooze button? Put your alarm clock across the room. You'll have to get out of bed to turn it off. Get smart plugs or smart lights that automatically turn on and flood your room with light.

Add friction to your bad habit. Make it inconvenient. Make it harder to do.

The harder it is to do, the less likely you are to do it.

Track Your Progress

What gets measured gets managed.

Track your progress. Use a calendar, a journal, an app, or a simple check mark on a piece of paper.

Every day you don't do the bad habit, mark it down. Watch your streak grow. Seeing your progress motivates you to keep going.

And if you do slip up, don’t beat yourself up. Start a new streak.

Be Patient With Yourself

Breaking a bad habit takes time. You didn't develop the habit overnight. You won't break it overnight either.

It may take you anywhere from 18 days to 254 days to form a new habit. That's days, weeks, and months of consistent effort before your new habit becomes automatic.

Be patient. Be persistent. Don't give up if you slip up.

Every day is a new chance to make a better choice.

Get Support

Tell someone about your goal. Ask them to hold you accountable, and check in with them regularly.

Find a group of people working on the same goal as you. Join them. Share your struggles and your wins.

Having support makes the journey easier. You’re more likely to keep going when everyone is cheering you on.

Make It Stick

Breaking a bad habit is hard work. And you can do hard things.

Understand your triggers. Replace the habit with something better. Start small. Track your progress. Be patient.

One day at a time, one choice at a time, you can break your bad habit.

And this time, make it stick.