Five Resolutions to Overcome Bad Habits and Addictions
You know an ordinary habit (such as sweeping your kitchen floor each night) has turned into a bad one when it starts to have a negative impact on your life, your feelings about yourself, your health or your relationships. For instance, if you’ve transitioned from sweeping your kitchen floor each night to doing a total, top-to-bottom daily cleaning that is leaving you feeling exhausted and time-challenged, this is a habit that’s gone wrong.
Like habits, addictions have a way of sneaking up on you and taking hold before you realize what’s happened. Perhaps your glass of wine with dinner has turned into several, or your love of food has turned into an obsession causing you to gain weight and lose self-confidence. Though they may not always be obvious, addictions and bad habits are widespread:
- Nearly 14 million American adults are alcohol abusers or alcoholics, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
- 22 million Americans are addicted to illegal and/or prescription drugs, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
- An estimated one in three dieters develops compulsive dieting attitudes and behaviors. (Anne Collins, Eating Disorders Statistics on Anorexia, Bulimia and Binge Eating Disorder)
- The average TV set runs for eight hours and 14 minutes a day in U.S. homes, according to Nielsen Media Research.
- A British study found that 12 percent of 7,000 video gamers polled met the addictive behavior criteria established by the World Health Organization.
- 40 percent of American families spend more than they earn each year.
All these bad habits and addictions take their toll -- on your health, your mental well-being, your leisure time, your financial security and your very ability to be happy.
Now that the New Year is upon us, what will YOU do differently to overcome YOUR bad habits? The five resolutions that follow show you how to overcome your addictions and turn your bad habits into good ones.
You are not an addict, you've simply had an addiction,” points out Hale Dwoskin, CEO and director of training at Sedona Training Associates. Recognizing this is the first step to your freedom.
All bad habits are compensations for unresolved emotions that motivate us to do, say or be something that we later regret,” Dwoskin says. For instance, your tendency to overspend may be to compensate for an emotional bond you’re missing, and your bad habit of interrupting people may be due to your underlying feelings that you’re not being heard.
This is an important step because you must identify the motivating feelings in order to ultimately be free of them. You needn’t work hard at this, simply focus on whatever emotions come to mind. For instance, if you bite your nails when you’re nervous, focus on your nervousness. If you put other people’s desire ahead of your own because you feel they’re more important, focus on your feelings of inadequacy.
“The most important thing to do to free yourself from an addictive tendency is to release whatever feelings are motivating you to act addictively.,” Dwoskin says. “As you let the feelings go, the addictive voice quiets and you more easily take back control of your actions and attitudes.”
The Sedona Method, a simple, scientifically proven system, has been helping people successfully change bad habits using the releasing principle since 1973.
The Method shows you how to tap your natural ability to let go of any negative thought or feeling on the spot -- including the motivators for all forms of bad habits. Once you let the negative feelings go you will no longer feel the desire to engage in the bad habit.
Best of all, the more you release, the more you will find yourself easily uncovering your true, positive self that lies beyond your debilitating habits.
Fore more information on the life-changing, easy to learn Sedona method, visit our web site at www.sedona.com
Print
Email
