Struggling with #bad habits?
It’s time to STOP IT!
“Bad habits are demons that often push us into isolation because they know that in our loneliness they stand little chance of being overcome.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich
Girish, a young IT guy stood puffing his cigarette as quickly as possible before the cops came his way. He started smoking in 2019 and then because of the pandemic he had to work from home. His family had no idea he smoked and he couldn’t smoke at home, not even in the bathroom!
The apartment where he lived did not allow smoking in public spaces so the only option was for him to go to the small corner shop near the main road and join the few other desperate smokers in their last paradise. Problem was removing the masks. Virus or smoke – he had choose both because of his bad habit.
He tried to stop but he kept going back to it.
One day his uncle visiting from another city caught him. Instead of putting him down, he decided to talk with him. He listened patiently and said,
“A rich man once asked an old, wise man to help his son change his bad habits. The wise man asked the son to take a walk with him through the garden. After taking a few steps, the wise man stopped and asked the young man to pluck a small plant out of the ground.
The young man grabbed the plant with his fingers and easily plucked it out. The wise man nodded and they resumed walking.
A few seconds later, they stopped again and the wise man pointed towards another plant, a bit larger than the last. The young man grabbed it with his hand and plucked it out of the ground with a bit of effort. “Now pluck out that one” the wise man said pointing towards a bush. The young man grabbed the bush with both of his hands and using all of his strength, barely managed to pluck it out of the ground.
“Now you see that small tree, there? Try and pluck that one.” The young man grabbed the trunk with both hands, pulled as hard as he could but he couldn’t even move it.
“It’s impossible master. I can’t do it.”
“You see my boy, it’s the same with our habits. If we let them grow and take root it becomes harder and harder for us to stop them.”
Girish agreed but explained how his attempt to stop it has derailed again and again.
So his uncle continued, “I understand. I was a chain smoker and I struggled to stop it too. Until I used a combination process to help me help myself”
Here’s the process to stop bad habits:
S – #Scrutinise the habit loop – trigger, behavior, reward
T – #Trap the emotional lies
O – Create #Obstacles
P – #Practice mindfulness & affirmations
I – #Inject good behaviors into the habit loop
T – #Tell yourself & others your victories daily
He continued, “Using this, you can stop it immediately, or progressively but do remember that you must have the intent to escape from it first”
Girish is on the “Stop It” journey. I pray he quits the bad habit soon.
What about you?
#storypreso #ashleyvinil #leadership #sensemaking
