Breaking free from addiction to negative habits

Have you ever thought about how much time we spend addicted to our mobile phones?

My beautiful Irish man called me out the other day on how much I check my phone. He said you check it then seconds later you check it again! Wooah, yeap, you caught me, I’m addicted to my phone. Addicted to the adrenaline hit of another WhatsApp message, email, DM and more.

The morning after that conversation I was reflecting on the other things we are addicted to in life. In particular our addiction to old patterns of behaviour and negative thoughts that we play on repeat.?

In this week’s blog, I’ll be touching on how we learn our habitual habits and how we transform them. What to do if you’re stuck in a repeated pattern of self-sabotage and negative self-talk. And lastly, how to shift out of patterns of behaviour which aren’t serving you and how to lean into better feeling thoughts.

Are you ready to dive in?

Transforming habitual habits?

We all have habits, both good and bad. From making the bed in the morning to checking our phone too much and spending little time in the present moment. But other forms of addiction can be habitual habits that we’ve created as a result of negative and self-limiting beliefs.

It could be as simple as having a habit of deflecting a compliment when someone gives us one. Instead of being open to receiving the compliment with a polite thank you. Over time this kind of self-deprecating habit can have a toll on your feelings of worthiness. Affecting in turn your confidence and self-belief in your abilities and sense of self-worth.

To transform these habitual habits, you must first become aware of them. Take an inventory and notice how your beliefs are creating negative habits. Ask yourself, what are the negative consequences of you changing these habits? Take a look at past related memories around receiving praise (in this example). What was role modelled to you about receiving compliments?

Obviously, adapt the above to each habit you’re focusing on and wish to transform.

Breaking the cycle

Self-sabotage and negative self-talk are related and together they form habitual habits. These habits become ones we’re often not aware of, as they play out on a subconscious level. So we have to bring the subconscious into the conscious mind in order to create change and transformation.

Some ways to do this is becoming aware of your patterns. Sometimes it’s hard to see these so you can ask a friend or loved ones for their honest opinion. They will see you under a different lens and will see what you don’t see. Because we all have blind spots. Be open to receiving honest and constructive feedback.?

Hold back any judgement and take the time to journal and reflect on what you learn. How long have you been playing out these patterns? How have they been protecting you? What would be the negative consequences of letting them go?

Transforming your thoughts

My favourite mindset trip for transforming your thoughts is ‘flip the switch’. For 48 - 72 hours write down any negative or limiting beliefs that you notice. What did you learn from this exercise? Is there anything that often triggers or activates you? It may be a person, situation or circumstance. Is there one thought that keeps creeping up over and over again? What about your actions - did you avoid the exercise and if so, why?

How would your life and business change if you started to think about possibility NOT limits? Take some time to reflect on this one and journal out your thoughts.

When you flip the switch on your negative thoughts this in turn impacts your behaviours. Because what you think affects how you feel. How you feel affects how you act and how you act affects the outcomes and reality in your life and business.

The Next Step

Would you like more support with addressing your self-sabotage and negative self-talk? Ready to ditch the self-doubt , increase your confidence, double your impact and make more money in your coaching business? Book a free connection call and let’s chat about how I might be able to support you.