The 12 Days of Bad Habits to Break Right Now!

Happy holidays everyone!  To get into the holiday spirit, we wanted to write a little parody of the beloved holiday classic. Our hope is that by reading it, it prepares you for all of those New Year’s resolutions that most of you will stick with for only a few days!

BUT remember, it doesn’t have to be that way, IF you have read our previous posts on how to create new habits and how to break habits, you will know that creating new habits and breaking bad habits is possible if you follow the proper steps.

Since we have already covered those 2 topics, today we are going to simply give you some ideas on bad habits to break via a Prime Your Pump Original…the 12 Days of Bad Habits to Break Right Now!

(1)  On the first day of bad habits to break, Prime Your Pump gave some self-improvement advice to me…

To stop staying in your comfort zone! In order to grow, transition, and transform yourself it is necessary to step out of your comfort zone from time to time.

Instead: Challenge yourself to get to the next level of whatever it is you want to do. But too much can increase anxiety and cause a negative result – which will just reinforce the idea that challenging yourself is not a good idea. To read more about 6 ways to step out of your comfort zone, check out our previous post.

(2)  On the second day of bad habits to break, Prime Your Pump gave some self-improvement advice to me…

To stop making excuses and just get after it!

Instead: If you are someone who has a habit of telling yourself, “I’ll start working out tomorrow” or “I’ll start eating better tomorrow” – STOP!  We can justify anything to ourselves, stop justifying and start doing. Don’t think, just do.

(3)  On the third day of bad habits to break, Prime Your Pump gave some self-improvement advice to me…

To stop wasting time watching TV, surfing the internet like a mindless drone and spending hours on social media. It’s fine in moderation to relax or unwind but it can be a huge time waster.

Instead:  Read a book, meditate, learning something or just take some time to think.

(4)  On the fourth day of bad habits to break, Prime Your Pump gave some self-improvement advice to me…

To stop eating sugar! Sugar is evil and really bad for you. From being bad for your teeth to being a big contributor to obesity and all kinds of health issues – it’s just bad!

Instead:  Replace sugary foods and beverages with more nutritious foods and watch your energy levels and health improve drastically.

(5)  On the fifth day of bad habits to break, Prime Your Pump gave some self-improvement advice to me…

To stop saying yes to things you don’t want to do or things that add no value to your life!  You only have so much time to do the things that add value to your life.

Instead: Get good at saying no to things!  One of the Warren Buffett quotes we shared in a previous post was: “You’ve gotta keep control of your time, and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life.”

(6)  On the sixth day of bad habits to break, Prime Your Pump gave some self-improvement advice to me…

To stop hitting snooze! The problem with hitting snooze is that it doesn’t allow you to complete a full sleep cycle, which means you may wake up groggier as we discussed in a previous post.

Instead: Move your alarm to a different room so you physically have to get up to turn it off. Or go to bed earlier so you get enough sleep!

(7)  On the seventh day of bad habits to break, Prime Your Pump gave some self-improvement advice to me…

To stop running around like a mad person doing a million different things.

Instead: Take some time every day to just sit and think and reflect.

(8)  On the eighth day of bad habits to break, Prime Your Pump gave some self-improvement advice to me…

To stop being so hard on yourself!

Instead: Cut yourself a little slack when you mess up. Instead of replaying mistakes that you have made over and over, reflect on them, learn from them, and move on!

(9)  On the ninth day of bad habits to break, Prime Your Pump gave some self-improvement advice to me…

To stop using bad body language and to stop walking around with your head down.

Instead: Get that head up, get those shoulders back, walk tall, and look people in the eye! If you want more body language tips, check out our previous post on body language.

(10)  On the tenth day of bad habits to break, Prime Your Pump gave some self-improvement advice to me…

To stop being a slave to your job and working too much! The number one regret of the dying is “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard”.

Instead:  Look, we are not telling you to slack off at work! Stop being a slave to your job and spend some time with your family and friends. In terms of productivity, research out of Stanford shows that productivity tails off sharply after 50 hours worked and to almost nothing after 55 hours.

(11)  On the eleventh day of bad habits to break, Prime Your Pump gave some self-improvement advice to me…

To stop task switching! Many people refer to it as multi-tasking, but we prefer the term task switching since it is impossible for the brain to focus on two tasks at once.

 Instead: Focus on one task at a time and complete it before going on to something else.

That’s it for our parody on the 12 days of bad habits to break right now! What do you think?

“But That Was Only 11…”

…you say. “and I just checked my cell phone and each day is supposed to have a corresponding number of gifts?”

Listen it is my parody and I will write it as I please. But, seeing as how you just had to check your cell phone to call me out on my song – I will oblige you with your twelfth day…

(12)  On the twelfth day of bad habits to break, Prime Your Pump gave some self-improvement advice to me…

To stop checking your cell phone 12 times an hour!!!

According to this research, 80% of people check their cell phone within 15 minutes of waking up! And some studies have shown that millennials check their phones 150 times per day!

Are you one of these people who checks their phone within 15 minutes of getting up? The problem with checking your phone and sending email first thing is that it puts you in reactive mode to start the day.

Instead: Avoid checking your phone and do something proactive such as meditation, reading or journaling – it’s a much better way to start the day.

Well, that’s it for today…Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Festivus For The Rest Of Us, and Happy Holidays!!

Until next time, keep finding bad habits to break, then break ‘em and as always…PYMFP!
–Rick

Use It or Lose It:

The 12 Days of Bad Habits to Break include:

(1)  Stop checking your phone so much.
(2)  Stop making excuses.
(3)  Stop wasting time watching TV, surfing the internet, and spending hours on social media.
(4)  Stop eating sugar.
(5)  Stop saying ‘yes’ to the wrong things.
(6)  Stop hitting snooze.
(7)  Stop running around like a mad person doing a million different things.
(8)  Stop being so hard on yourself!
(9)  Stop using bad body language.
(10)  Stop being a slave to your job.
(11)  Stop task switching.
(12)  Stop staying in your comfort zone.

When to Use It:

If you are affected by any of these bad habits to break!

What Do You Think?

Are you affected by any of these bad habits? Can you think of any others that you would add to the list? Please share in the comments below!

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