I had an insight about myself. Things that require me to actively do something to achieve a desirable result are easier. Things that require me to quit are hard

I had an insight about myself. Things that require me to actively do something to achieve a desirable result are easier. Things that require me to quit are harder. Working out is easier for me than quitting smoking. I was able to achieve both, but the latter felt exponentially more difficult. This repeats to other things I want to change, big and small. Stopping a behavior is more difficult than starting one. Recently, I thought about how to come out ahead of this. I am now trying to rephrase "stopping" as "starting the inverse." It's a mind trick, but I am hopeful it will work. Instead of "don't eat as much", I am reframing it as "start having good-diet days" or "build a habit of intermittent fasting". Could this work for reducing or eliminating drinking? Instead of "quit drinking" maybe it could be framed as "start abstaining." Materially it's exactly the same, but mentally it may be more actionable and sustainable.