The best way to make a permanent change is to focus on daily, incremental improvements. Your aim is to wean yourself from the habit by setting target goals that consistently decrease the amount of time you spend on it.
It all starts with a baseline metric. This metric can vary according to the specific habit you’re trying to change:
• A daily “yes” or “no” for eating fast food
• The number of cigarettes smoked every day
• The number of times each day you bite your fingernails
• How much you currently weigh
• The number of calories you consume on a daily basis
• How many drinks you consume while “going out”
• The amount of time spent on Facebook or surfing the Internet
• The amount of time spent watching television
Knowledge is power. The more information you have about a habit, the easier it is to completely eliminate it.
CASE STUDY
The metric for the cellphone sabbatical was a simple “yes” or “no” question. Either I put my cellphone away for the day or I didn’t. As you can see, some habits don’t need a large amount of tracking.