Hey there, pretty people! 🌞

I bet there isn’t a single soul among us who doesn’t have at least one pesky bad habit. You know what I’m talking about - those little things we do that we know we shouldn’t. Maybe it’s something we do to our bodies, how we act or how we treat the people around us that deep down, we wish we could change.

The Myth of “This is Who I Am”

Now, I’ve heard it all before. “This is who I am. I’m not gonna change. I get angry because this is who I am. I’m a hothead. I talk loud because this is who I am. I say what I mean. I’m not an exercise person. I don’t want to have huge muscles like that.” Sound familiar?

Well, let me tell you something - that’s a bunch of baloney! 🌭 Everyone changes, every single day. We grow, we learn, and we become different versions of ourselves over and over. So, the idea that we can’t change who we are is just incorrect. A lazy excuse if you will. You change every single day, you learn, you grow and you adapt and hopefully those changes bring more positive benefits to you and those around you. Hopefully you embrace change instead of rejecting it and strive to be a better person.

The Power of Change

I’ve learned over the years that I can work towards anything I want. I can change not only my bad habits but who I am in general. As I’ve grown from a child to a friend, a high school student, an Air Force mechanic, a college graduate, an engineer, a programmer, a husband, and a father (three times over!), I’ve realized that for some things change doesn’t always just magically happen you have to be able to scrutinize yourself and your actions and move beyond your ego to allow true change. And once you can do that you can harness the power of change. Once you realize that your identity is not tied to any specific behavior but is an accumulation of the actions you take and the lives you touch over your lifetime.

But you have to be flexible. You have to be willing to listen, to change, and to understand your behaviors. Sometimes, change is healthier. It can make you live a better life, feel better, and even improve the lives of those around you.

Trading Bad Habits for Good

I am a strong proponent of realizing your bad habits and replacing them with good habits. If you know you can change then that means you have the power to trade your bad habits for good and healthy ones. So, how do we do that? How do we trade our bad habits for good ones? Well, I’ve had my fair share of bad habits - smoking, drinking, being a “know it all” adolescent, not listening to people, eating too much, not exercising. But guess what? I’ve taken steps to fix, resolve, or minimize every single one of them. Are they all complete? Am I a perfect person? Absolutely not that’s not what this is about but it is about moving forward direction and being happy with doing that.

You don’t have to go it alone. With phones, the internet and personal wear devices you now have the ability to get instant help or create support systems all around you. We will dive deeper into this in future posts or take a look at my quest where I used technology to quit nicotine.

The Secret to Breaking Bad Habits

Discovering the secret to breaking bad habits is surely different for each and every person. But I can tell you what I’ve learned: you can’t simply abandon habits. They cling to us, fueled by our body’s intricate chemistry and the tantalizing release of dopamine. But fear not! There’s another powerful solution that can also work to make those connections that release dopamine in your brain: replace a bad habit with a good one.

Picture this: I’m in my twenties, a new parent alongside my wife, and we’re on a mission to quit smoking. We tried every trick in the book for several years—gum, lozenges, you name it—but somehow, we kept circling back to square one.

Then, a revelation struck. Instead of battling nicotine head-on, I decided to swap it out for a healthier ritual: walking. I made it my daily mission, setting ambitious goals—8000 steps or 2 miles a day. And if I felt any slight urge to chew or smoke I would throw my sneakers and headphones on and walk it out. And guess what? Over time, this strategy worked wonders! The nicotine-induced dopamine gradually surrendered to the joy of exercise. It was like rewiring my brain, forging new connections. Sure, my walking is an addiction, I’m hooked on walking. It’s my daily dose of well-being, a habit that fuels both body and soul and I think I will keep this habit.

The Journey Continues

This for me was just the beginning. With a little dedication and work I applied this pattern to several other aspects of my life with a very similar successful outcome for each. Although not perfect, for me at least, this replacement therapy is doing wonders into helping me change on a daily basis and become whatever I want to become.

So, my friend, are you ready to embark on this transformative journey? Let’s trade those old vices for fresh, invigorating habits. 🚀