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The greatest advice I have gotten regarding breaking bad habits comes from "The Easy Way to Quite Smoking" book. I think it applies to much more than smoking.
by Jonovono 10y ago
The greatest advice I have gotten regarding breaking bad habits comes from "The Easy Way to Quite Smoking" book. I think it applies to much more than smoking.
Basically what it argues is you can't quite smoking (or change a bad habit/addiction) using will power. Trying to use will power is just admitting that that habit gave you something and you have to 'give it up'. Instead it's realizing that you are actually gaining something by not having that habit in your life anymore. You are not 'giving' anything up. You are gaining.
- nibs 10y agoI think that you are adding cognitive dissonance, not removing will power, from the equation. Will power means following through on an intention. Unless you accidentally stop smoking because you all of sudden realize that it does not in fact makes you feel good and makes you feel worse, you are ultimately following through on an intention that is hard and many smart people fail at or relapse.
- Jonovono 10y agoI found it didn't require will power to quit at all after I changed how I viewed it. I just didn't want to anymore. I didn't have to try to not anymore. I think what he discusses resonated with me because the times I tried to quit using will power there was cognitive dissonance. I was trying so hard to give something up which created this idea in my mind that I was giving something up that provided me something positive otherwise why did I have to try so hard to give it up. If it actually was so bad and had no benefit it should be easy to just stop, right? So it must be giving me something good! So it was easy to fall back into it and justify it etc. I don't know if that makes sense, but I feel like it summarizes what I went through - although it was a while back now :p