Question: Why is it so hard to break a habit, whether mental or physical?

Answer: Habits were created when you thought and/or performed an action repetitively. Imagine it as if you’re forming a groove in your psyche. Afterwards, you don’t have to think about that particular area. The mind does this to help you, believe it or not. When you have habits, it frees your mind to focus on other things. If, every morning, you had to think through every detail of how you dressed, it would take you hours to get ready for the day. Habits allow you to do things automatically so that you can contemplate more important things, like what are you going to have for breakfast.

When you try to change a habit, the subconscious objects. It figures that the original one was created for a purpose, so why
mess with success. If there’s emotion attached to the habit, such as eating dessert because it represents nurturing to you, then the subconscious feels that changing it would be harmful to you, and makes eliminating desserts difficult. The subconscious operates much of the time on outdated information.

The way to change a habit is to make the new habit more desirable than the old one. You have to let the subconscious know that you mean business, and be committed to your desire. Attach a really good emotion to the new habit, such as wanting to feel healthy, so it impresses the inner mind. When the new habit, and its associate emotion, is stronger than the old one, the subconscious will accept it. You are simply giving the inner mind new information.

self improvement, self help, personal growth, personal development