1. You have a greater will to stop than to continue.
2. Stop cold turkey.
3. Be accountable first to yourself. If you are doing this for the benefit of others, you are destined for failure.
4. Find a higher stake reason – by focusing on an end goal with a BIGGER purpose, the habit becomes an obstacle to achieve the new goal. For example – smoking and being healthier.
5. Start a new habit that the old habit cannot co-exist with – put your energies into something you truly enjoy doing that the old habit cannot be involved in.
6. Get outside help. If someone around you is affected by your habit and they are important to you – enlist them to empower you (not be a nag) and be your other conscious self.
7. Reward yourself over time. Set rewards for yourself over a 6 month period that lead to an ultimate reward so much more exciting that the dirty ole’habit.
8. Isolate yourself from other people with the same habit.
9. Keep the company of others who do not share this habit which will make it easier for you to stop missing it.