on’t beat yourself up when things don’t go exactly as you had planned, instead, use your failures as cues to what needs to be different next time. Keep a journal and write in it daily. Outline what works, what doesn’t, and why. Be flexible and change your goals as time moves on. Plan ways to avoid future setbacks.

Finally, successfully breaking a habit means that you have to start thinking of yourself in a new way. Rather than labeling yourself or defining yourself in terms of your pr

Do you have a bad habit you’d like to kick? Whether it’s overeating, interrupting conversations or quitting before you reach your goal, bad habits are learned and they can be unlearned. In this article I will outline a plan for success with seven daily steps to get started and help you stay on track.

One way to motivate yourself is to focus on who you want to be and why. Why do you want to stop your bad habit? Why do you want to change your behavior? How will you benefit? Focusing on what’s positive about change will help you hang in there during tough times. You may also want to think about who you DON’T want to be and why. Perhaps your self-defeating behavior is incongruent with your inner self-image. Think of the legacy you want to leave behind or what type of person you want to be when you’re 30, 50 or 70. Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years? The actions you take today will determine who you become tomorrow.

If you’ve made it far enough in life to learn to read and use a computer, you’ve probably had a few successes along the way. Reflect back on previous successes and ask yourself what made success possible? What motivated you? Consider the losses or gains you will experience by making current or future changes. Use this information to motivate you toward future successes.

Your current habits have probably been reinforced over many years. Your old behaviors likely have built in rewards that keep you stuck. You can develop new habits by setting small, manageable goals and designing built-in rewards each time you achieve them. An example of a reward is saving money in a jar each day you achieve your goal then buying yourself a treat with the savings. It can also include doing something you enjoy after each successful day or week. If your new behaviors don’t have built-in rewards you’ll probably get frustrated and give up.

As you work on your new goals and develop new habits, be prepared for setbacks and resistance. Don’t beat yourself up when things don’t go exactly as you had planned, instead, use your failures as cues to what needs to be different next time. Keep a journal and write in it daily. Outline what works, what doesn’t, and why. Be flexible and change your goals as time moves on. Plan ways to avoid future setbacks.

Finally, successfully breaking a habit means that you have to start thinking of yourself in a new way. Rather than labeling yourself or defining yourself in terms of your pro

what’s positive about change will help you hang in there during tough times. You may also want to think about who you DON’T want to be and why. Perhaps your self-defeating behavior is incongruent with your inner self-image. Think of the legacy you want to leave behind or what type of person you want to be when you’re 30, 50 or 70. Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years? The actions you take today will determine who you become tomorrow.

If you’ve made it far enough in life to learn to read and use a computer, you’ve probably had a few successes along the way. Reflect back on previous successes and ask yourself what made success possible? What motivated you? Consider the losses or gains you will experience by making current or future changes. Use this information to motivate you toward future successes.

Your current habits have probably been reinforced over many years. Your old behaviors likely have built in rewards that keep you stuck. You can develop new habits by setting small, manageable goals and designing built-in rewards each time you achieve them. An example of a reward is saving money in a jar each day you achieve your goal then buying yourself a treat with the savings. It can also include doing something you enjoy after each successful day or week. If your new behaviors don’t have built-in rewards you’ll probably get frustrated and give up.

As you work on your new goals and develop new habits, be prepared for setbacks and resistance. Don’t beat yourself up when things don’t go exactly as you had planned, instead, use your failures as cues to what needs to be different next time. Keep a journal and write in it daily. Outline what works, what doesn’t, and why. Be flexible and change your goals as time moves on. Plan ways to avoid future setbacks.

Finally, successfully breaking a habit means that you have to start thinking of yourself in a new way. Rather than labeling yourself or defining yourself in terms of your pr

read and use a computer, you’ve probably had a few successes along the way. Reflect back on previous successes and ask yourself what made success possible? What motivated you? Consider the losses or gains you will experience by making current or future changes. Use this information to motivate you toward future successes.

Your current habits have probably been reinforced over many years. Your old behaviors likely have built in rewards that keep you stuck. You can develop new habits by setting small, manageable goals and designing built-in rewards each time you achieve them. An example of a reward is saving money in a jar each day you achieve your goal then buying yourself a treat with the savings. It can also include doing something you enjoy after each successful day or week. If your new behaviors don’t have built-in rewards you’ll probably get frustrated and give up.

As you work on your new goals and develop new habits, be prepared for setbacks and resistance. Don’t beat yourself up when things don’t go exactly as you had planned, instead, use your failures as cues to what needs to be different next time. Keep a journal and write in it daily. Outline what works, what doesn’t, and why. Be flexible and change your goals as time moves on. Plan ways to avoid future setbacks.

Finally, successfully breaking a habit means that you have to start thinking of yourself in a new way. Rather than labeling yourself or defining yourself in terms of your pr

setting small, manageable goals and designing built-in rewards each time you achieve them. An example of a reward is saving money in a jar each day you achieve your goal then buying yourself a treat with the savings. It can also include doing something you enjoy after each successful day or week. If your new behaviors don’t have built-in rewards you’ll probably get frustrated and give up.

As you work on your new goals and develop new habits, be prepared for setbacks and resistance. Don’t beat yourself up when things don’t go exactly as you had planned, instead, use your failures as cues to what needs to be different next time. Keep a journal and write in it daily. Outline what works, what doesn’t, and why. Be flexible and change your goals as time moves on. Plan ways to avoid future setbacks.

Finally, successfully breaking a habit means that you have to start thinking of yourself in a new way. Rather than labeling yourself or defining yourself in terms of your pr

on’t beat yourself up when things don’t go exactly as you had planned, instead, use your failures as cues to what needs to be different next time. Keep a journal and write in it daily. Outline what works, what doesn’t, and why. Be flexible and change your goals as time moves on. Plan ways to avoid future setbacks.

Finally, successfully breaking a habit means that you have to start thinking of yourself in a new way. Rather than labeling yourself or defining yourself in terms of your problem, you need to begin seeing yourself as a success. One tool to use is positive affirmations. Positive affirmations help you to keep your focus on what you want, not what you don’t.

One of the important things to remember when using affirmations is the power of repetition. You should say your affirmations to yourself at least 50-100 times a day. Some people say, “I tried that positive self-talk and it doesn’t work.” It’s true, you cannot say your affirmations 5-10 times a day and expect them to work. The repetition is what works. Here are some ways to keep focused and honest about your affirmations.

1. Use an affirmation journal. Write the date at the top of a page and then write out each of your affirmations and number them as you go, this way you can really keep track of how many you actually did.

2. Make your own affirmation tapes. Write out a list of affirmations then speak them into a tape recorder. To make them even more effective, use background music or sing them. Make them catchy and hard to get out of your mind. The most effective tapes are endless loop tapes available at Get an empty jar and add a coin or bean to it each time you say an affirmation. Or fill a jar with 50-100 coins or beans and transfer them to another empty jar as you say your affirmations. This way you will see progress and keep an accurate count of how many affirmations you’ve actually said.

3. You can also write your affirmations on index cards and post them in various parts of your home or office to keep you reminded of your new self-statements. Another way to change your self-image is through visualization. The more often you can see yourself engaging in your desired behavior the less likely you will be to sabotage yourself when changes occur. Visualization helps you to become mentally comfortable with success so that when true success happens, you are prepared. Take time each day to see yourself as the type of person you want to become. I