How do you quit bad habits such as drinking pop? There are a lot of layers to the answer, but one of the big insights that helped me is this: In any struggle between the intellectual part of your brain and the emotional part of your brain, the emotional part wins most of the time.
If the intellectual brain were more powerful than the emotional brain, there would be about seven people left on the planet still smoking cigarettes. Sure a few people smoke because they want to, but most smoke because they get an emotional reward from smoking, even while they intellectually wish they would stop.
This news isn't as discouraging as it seems on the surface. The trick is to use emotions to your benefit by adding an emotional element to your intellectual ideas. I recommend creating a negative emotional connection with unhealthy habits.
For example, associate your favorite drink to a pot belly or thunder thighs. Picture your belly or thighs (or butt) actually growing bigger as you drink the stuff. When you do that, you associate negative feelings with drinking pop. If the emotional distress of getting and staying fat is associated with drinking pop, and especially if that distress is more powerful emotionally than the fleeting desire for some sugar, resisting temptation will be much easier.
Intellect is weak in the battle against pleasurable bad habits, so use emotional leverage to reinforce your intellectual ideas, and they’ll have a fighting chance against temptation.
If the intellectual brain were more powerful than the emotional brain, there would be about seven people left on the planet still smoking cigarettes. Sure a few people smoke because they want to, but most smoke because they get an emotional reward from smoking, even while they intellectually wish they would stop.
This news isn't as discouraging as it seems on the surface. The trick is to use emotions to your benefit by adding an emotional element to your intellectual ideas. I recommend creating a negative emotional connection with unhealthy habits.
For example, associate your favorite drink to a pot belly or thunder thighs. Picture your belly or thighs (or butt) actually growing bigger as you drink the stuff. When you do that, you associate negative feelings with drinking pop. If the emotional distress of getting and staying fat is associated with drinking pop, and especially if that distress is more powerful emotionally than the fleeting desire for some sugar, resisting temptation will be much easier.
Intellect is weak in the battle against pleasurable bad habits, so use emotional leverage to reinforce your intellectual ideas, and they’ll have a fighting chance against temptation.
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