If you’re struggling in your business, whatever the struggle is, most times you can pin it down to the bad habits you have.

A few examples:

• You can never finish your to-do list? Then you either have the bad habit of procrastinating, checking your social media accounts or e-mails too much, or you have the bad habit of not prioritizing and losing too much time on things that don’t really keep the needle moving in your business.

• You’re overwhelmed all the time? Then maybe you have the bad habit of taking on too many projects even though you’re already extremely busy (the shiny object syndrome is real, guys)

• You’re so tired of clients disturbing you when you finally take a few minutes to yourself? Then you have the bad habit of not setting and maintaining your boundaries with your clients.

Think about it. What is your biggest struggle or pain point in your business? What’s frustrating you the most?

And what bad habits are causing this struggle?

I know it can be difficult to admit that you’re ultimately responsible for creating these struggles in your business yourself. It’s obviously easier to think that it’s the fault of your disrespectful clients that don’t understand that you have a family too or these stupid emails that keep coming in at all times.

However, admitting to yourself that you are responsible, also creates this sense of powerfulness and control, because that means that you have the power to change and remove these struggles too.

So break the habit and you will transform your business tremendously.

And I know, I know, breaking a habit isn’t simple at all, on the contrary, it can be quite hard since it is a process that is basically programmed in your brain and repeats itself over and over again.

In this blog post, I will dive deep into 10 genius ways you can break your bad business habits and thrive in your business like never before.

Ready? Let’s crush this!

Other Reads:

• How To Organize Your Whole Business In One Single Notebook
• Overcoming Perfectionism: 7 Steps to Silence Your Inner Perfectionist
• 12 mistakes you are probably making that are killing your productivity
• Losing Motivation? 7 Bullet-Proof Ways To Regain Your Passion And Stay Motivated In Your Business
• How To Set Healthy Boundaries As A Solopreneur
• How I Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed As A Solopreneur: 3 Simple Steps

 

#1. Start off small

The most important step is to start off small and only focus on one habit at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself by listing out ten things you drastically need to change in your business right now. You won’t be able to break them all at once.

I know that once you realize that your struggles are ultimately caused by your own bad habits, it might be hard for you to take it slow, but multitasking has been found to be less productive since your focus is constantly being pulled from task to task.

Why set yourself up for failure from the get-go? Just focus on only one bad business habit at a time.

 #2. Replacing the trigger

In the book “The Power of Habit“, the author explains that a habit consists of 3 things: a trigger, an activity, and a Reward.

In the morning, for example, every time you read 15 minutes before starting your day, and you created this habit by seeing your book lying on your nightstand first thing when you wake up. And after reading those 15 minutes, you get up and drink your coffee. And this sequence: waking up – reading – coffee is repeated every day.

So, the trigger is seeing your book on the nightstand, which triggers you to do the habit (which is reading) and your reward is a cup of coffee. Now, if you would remove the trigger and the reward, then most likely, you would take your phone instead of getting up and searching for your book.

The same you can do with bad habits.

Think about what it is that triggers you into doing this bad habit. And what is your reward?

The most efficient way to break a bad habit is to replace it with a good one.

Keep the reward, but replace the trigger of the bad habit with another one that will trigger a good one.

So, instead of seeing your phone on the nightstand first thing when you wake up, put a book, your workout clothes, your yoga mat, or whatever good habit you want to trigger, so that it is the first thing you see when you wake up.

 #3. Figure out your why

It will always be easier to change a bad habit when you have a reason to. You need to feel emotionally connected to it, if you don’t actually care about the habit, then there will be nothing driving you to fix it!

Take a couple of minutes to figure out exactly what bad business habits you want to break and why.

What would your life and business look like, having overcome this bad habit? What are the benefits of breaking this bad habit?

Get crystal clear on your why and write it down. Not only will writing these down, help you with formulating your thoughts, but it will also give you a physical reminder later on.

Whenever you feel doubt or you feel like giving up, grab your list of reasons and remind yourself why you should persevere.

 #4. Set yourself up for success by having a plan

Since habits are programmed into our brains, changing this behavior can be quite challenging. So in order to avoid this bad habit, it’s absolutely essential to have a plan and know exactly what you will be doing instead.

Because without having a plan, you will tend to fall back on ‘default’ mode, which will be likely your bad habit.

For example, if you have the bad habit of losing lots of time on social media while working, have a plan on what you will be working on during your workday and during which time frames you can and can’t use social media.

 #5. Make it inconvenient to do the bad habits

Arrange the situation in a way that is inconvenient for you to do the bad business habit.

Check your email too much? Turn off your email notifications.

Checking your social media too much? Delete all social media apps on your phone and log yourself out everywhere.

Working after office hours? Have a separate work phone that you leave in another room until the next workday.

Creating this barrier for you to actually engage in doing this bad habit, can really make a big difference so that it becomes no longer your ‘default mode’.

 #6. Community & Accountability

The easiest way to see something through to the end is by telling people about it. Verbalizing your goals and intentions solidifies your purpose and holds you accountable. It doesn’t matter whether you find someone to join you in your challenge or just to talk about it with.

Sharing your life and struggles with a friend will inspire you to continue on your journey even when you feel like giving up. They can be a great form of motivation.

Don’t be afraid to open up and be honest about your bad habits! Everyone has habits that they might not like and are trying to improve on!

 #7. Bad habits tracking

Another way to keep you accountable is bad habit tracking. You can do this either in a notebook, on an app on your phone, or anywhere you want. It just has to be easily accessible.

Every day that you don’t do the bad habit, you can check a box and this will create a chain, the goal is to not break the chain and make it as long as possible. And eventually, it will become natural not to do this bad habit anymore 🙂.

 

#8. Be kind to yourself and don’t give up

Breaking bad habits can be really hard. Don’t feel discouraged when you slip up. It can be overwhelming and stressful, so you shouldn’t add to that anxiety by beating yourself up for making a mistake. So forgive yourself for any slip-ups, but don’t give up, get right back on track.

One of the hardest things to do is quit something cold turkey–you need time to build up your willpower and develop the strength to continue pushing forward.

Don’t ever think of yourself as lazy or weak just because it’s taking you a while to fix your habits. You can’t be a master before you are a beginner, so learn to give it time and take it slowly.

Give yourself some credit and be proud of your accomplishments! It is so important to celebrate every step of your progress, even if it is slow-going and feels minuscule.

Other Reads:

• How To Organize Your Whole Business In One Single Notebook
• Overcoming Perfectionism: 7 Steps to Silence Your Inner Perfectionist
• 12 mistakes you are probably making that are killing your productivity
• Losing Motivation? 7 Bullet-Proof Ways To Regain Your Passion And Stay Motivated In Your Business
• How To Set Healthy Boundaries As A Solopreneur
• How I Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed As A Solopreneur: 3 Simple Steps

Let’s Chat!

What are some creative ways you’ve tried when breaking bad habits? Comment below any that you’re trying to break now and the methods that you like best. Let’s all help keep each other accountable and encouraged~