Trick Yourself Into Breaking A Bad Habit

A recent study conducted by Harvard Business Review (HBR) revealed that if you want to remove the career-limiting habits standing between you and your success, the best thing to do is to "take control of the things that control [you]."

In this article,"Trick Yourself Into Breaking A Bad Habit," HBR points out that the people who take control of the tempting factors influencing their bad habits, are much more likely to eliminate their bad habits altogether.

For example, if you want to eat less junk food, keep junk food out of the house. By manipulating the distance between you and the source of your bad habit, you will inevitably change your behavior.

If you want to develop a more positive attitude about significant changes in your company, spend more time with those "leading the charge" and less time with those "forming the opposition." By surrounding yourself with people who support a good behavior and distancing yourself from those who reinforce a bad one, you are more likely to cultivate the mindset you desire.

If you know you need to run through a speech or presentation before your big moment, schedule practice time into your calendar as you would any other mandatory work commitment. By making practice time a default plan, you will eliminate the choice standing between you and the better prepared version of yourself.

Lastly, we tend to think of our ineffective behavior as the result of not trying to change our ways, rather than the result of not knowing how to change our ways. This is problematic thinking because we are less inclined to change our behavior when we feel less competent at doing so. HBR points out that you can't simply "psyche yourself into changing; rather, coach yourself into it." Schedule incremental, structured practice sessions so that you can improve your competence and eventually become more authentically motivated. The better you become at the behavior you are trying to change, the more engaged you will become with that transformation. And this makes sense because the more clearly you can see the vista ahead as you're climbing up a mountain, the more likely you are to keep climbing so that you can see the full view.

At SpeechSkills, we agree wholeheartedly with these strategies for shedding bad habits and acquiring new skills. By removing tempting distractions, surrounding yourself with positive people, scheduling in default practice time, and seeing your road to change as a process of "systematic skill acquisition," you are much more likely to stay motivated in your quest to become the most effective version of yourself.