Are You a Quitter?

According to Merriam Webster, "to Quit is. . to Give Up; to depart from; to leave the company of; to set free. . .  The act of quitting is not positive or negative on its own. What defines whether quitting is good or bad is WHY we’re stopping. The reasons behind our quitting are what really matter. There are more than a few habits that we all have that are not productive or of value to our life.  YES. . . we should Quit doing them!  It is totally OK to quit. Truly. You can stop, and for whatever reason you decide. Just calmly, politely leave a situation that’s not working for you anymore or actively making your life awful. We're not talking about the hard stuff that can make you a criminal. We are talking about "soft" habits like - - obsessions with social media platforms, over-exercising, over-eating, over-drinking, over-spending, over-critical of yourself, bad friendships, yada. . yada. . yah.  Regardless of what kind of habit you want to break, You Can Quit.  I pride myself in not being a Quitter. But, there are a few habits in my life that I want Need to quit.  Ooh.kay!  Now that I got that outta the way, here are a few reasons why quitting may be difficult at this time of your life:

• You never simply quit something, you do something else instead. Your bad habit takes time. When you stop, you’ll have some free time & you make space for something new and exciting.

• The forbidden fruit is always very attractive. Remember the days you used to sneak around behind your parents? Hiding your purchases from your spouse or children is the same thing. 

• Accept the Habit. While you may be in denial about biting your nails constantly or get defensive when someone notices an unwelcome habit, one of the first steps in breaking the habit is to acknowledge it. Then you can start to determine the triggers of the behavior and work towards ending it.  

• Quitting something is difficult when you always think about it. When your habit change strategy is driven by the idea of quitting – quitting cigarettes for example – you’ll often think about the very thing you want to forget. 

• Our unconscious mind doesn’t understand negation. As Freud said, and as every hypnotherapist knows, "there’s a part of our brain which simply doesn’t understand negation". And there’s more to it. An hypnotherapist would avoid telling you to “Quit smoking”, because your unconscious mind might drop the word “Quit” and produce an urge for “smoking” instead.

Quitting something can be the right answer or it can be the easy way out. Most often, when we’re considering quitting something in our lives, we’re doing it to become free from something. For example. . . We start a business and then quit to free ourselves from the challenges and stress of being an entrepreneur. We leave marriages to get free of the challenges that come with relationships. Some experts say that breaking a habit can take up to 28-days or more depending on your demeanor and willingness to change, but you must be prepared to focus on the act of quitting. Therefore, it does take time.

When you ask yourself if quitting is opening the door to future regrets, if your answer is a firm, “No.” That’s a good sign. So often in life, we quit too early. We quit quickly when things get tough, when they’re painful, or simply to get out from under the weight of our challenges. In the short term, this can feel good and seem like the best option. Even though certain reflections may prompt you to ask. . .“What if I had just kept going?”  Negative or positive, whenever we make the decision to quit, it’s usually tied to our desire to break a chain or be free of something. Being able to get specific & pinpoint what we’re trying to be free Of is essential before we become a Quitter.

** Thanks for Visiting!  This post is F Y E.  I'm not a Physician/Psychologist/Counselor, and NOT giving any advice here!  I'm just a woman on this life Journey.  If you like this post, please comment & Email it to others. Don’t forget to follow me on Bloglovin for new post updates, and on Pinterest. **