Bad habits are the chains that are often too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.

When you read the title of this article, what were the bad habit(s) that immediately came to your mind?

Was it sleeping past your alarm every morning? How about drinking more coffee (or Diet Coke) than water every day? Or what about doom-scrolling on social media instead of reading that book on your bedside table?

Whatever bad habit came to mind, I bet I know why you’ve tried and failed to break it in the past.

It’s because bad habits are not breakable, they’re only replaceable.

Bad habits are often used as a crutch to get us through the hardships of life.

They’re just a way to pass the time, numb any tough feelings you have, or distract your mind from the unhappiness you feel with your life.

The ‘why’ behind our bad habits and how heavily we rely on them makes it incredibly hard to break them. Or even if we do, it’s only temporary.

The bottom line is that habits aren’t meant to be broken, they’re meant to be sustained, whether good or bad.

Just like every good habit has a goal behind it, every bad habit has a goal behind it, too, whether or not you care to admit it.

And more often than not, our actions, routines, and mindsets only serve to enable the bad habits we have.

The most prevalent bad habit I have gotten myself into recently is snoozing my alarm. No, not once…I wish. I snooze my alarm several times before actually getting out of bed.

And believe it or not, that bad habit has a goal- the goal to sleep a little longer. The goal is to be in that half-awake, half-asleep, lethargic dream state, which is my favorite to be in.

Logically, I have the desire to break this habit because I want to be the type of person who wakes up at the first alarm.

But deep down…I’m actually very content with snoozing my alarm several times every morning.

There’s no motivation behind breaking this bad habit, so I likely never will. Unless…

…I change my mindset and focus instead on replacing a bad habit with a good one.

Getting up at the first alarm every morning and instead reading my book of the month or watching a YouTube video to start my day are two enticing alternatives that may just get me motivated enough to wake up at the first alarm.

But bad habits are like beds, they’re easy to get into and hard to get out of.

That’s why if you truly want to break a bad habit, you have to find a passion or (positive) obsession to replace it.

The good has to be so good that it’s better than the alternative bad.

It’s a mindset shift that focuses on building the good rather than destroying the bad.

Real Talk

When you realize that bad habits are more about replacing them with good ones and less about breaking them, you begin to transform your life.

It’s really hard to break something that’s not great for you, especially when you like doing it.

That’s why it’s important to find something that’s better for you, that you like doing even more than the bad habit.

Let this be an opportunity to reframe the bad habits you have and the ways you’ve been trying to break them.

Brainstorm a few alternatives that would make you feel equally (or more) excited than the bad habit.

Because at the end of the day, all bad habits serve to comfort us in some sort of way or bring us pleasure.

So what good thing can you be doing that will bring you that same comfort or pleasure?

Think about it and watch your bad habits transform right in front of your eyes.