How to quit a bad habit

We spend around 70% of our lives running on autopilot—doing, saying, and reacting from patterns we’ve built over time. When you think about that, it’s pretty wild. So much of what we call “choice” is actually habit. And yet, we often only notice the bad ones—the late-night scrolling, the endless snacking, the weekend blowouts, or that voice that says “just one more”.

If you’ve ever wondered how to beat bad habits, you’re not alone. I’ve been there too. For years, my weekend drinking routine was my escape from the stress of corporate life. I’d work hard all week, then play even harder. But eventually, it caught up with me, my health, my leadership, my confidence. When I finally stopped, I realised that changing habits isn’t about willpower. It’s about awareness, accountability, and the science of reward.

Understanding Why Habits Stick

Before we get into the five ways to beat bad habits, it helps to understand why they stick in the first place. It comes down to one key player: dopamine.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter linked to motivation and reward. When you anticipate pleasure, let's say, a drink after work or a scroll through social mediadopamine spikes. That hit of satisfaction reinforces the behaviour. The brain learns: “Do this again. It feels good.”

The tricky part? The brain doesn’t care whether the habit helps or hurts you. It just remembers the reward. So if you want to change, you’ve got to interrupt that loop and replace the old reward with something better.

1. Understand Your Triggers

If you don’t know what triggers your bad habit, you’ll keep falling into it. For me, alcohol wasn’t really the problem - it was my reaction to stress, pressure, and being lost. Friday would hit, and my body would go, “Right, time to let loose.”

Start by asking yourself:

• When does the habit usually happen?

• What are you feeling just before it? (Tired, bored, anxious, lonely?)

• Who are you with, or where are you?

  
  

Once you spot the pattern, you can create space. That’s the window where you can choose differently.

2. Avoid Temptation (At Least for a While)

Now, I’m not saying you have to become a hermit. But early on, changing your environment helps massively.

When I first quit drinking, I avoided pubs for a bit. Not forever, just long enough to build confidence in the new me. In that time, I focused on understanding why I’d been drinking in the first place. It was less about the booze and more about wanting to belong, to let go of stress, to connect. Once I filled those needs in healthier ways, I didn’t miss the drink as much.

Temptation also shows up in smaller, sneakier ways like the phone sitting next to you on the sofa. If it’s there, you’ll grab it. I still catch myself doing it! So sometimes the best way to beat bad habits is simply to make them inconvenient. Put the phone in another room. Leave the snacks off the counter. Remove the cue and you break the chain.

3. Play the Tape Forward

This one’s powerful. Before you fall into the habit, play the tape forward.

Let’s say you’re about to pour a drink, scroll Instagram for “five minutes”, or raid the fridge. Ask yourself: how will I feel afterwards?

We often think in the short term, "I just need relief right now" but rarely in the long term - "how will this affect me tomorrow?"

When I was still drinking, I started asking myself this question. I knew exactly how I’d feel the next day in detail: sluggish, moody, regretful. It wasn’t worth it anymore. That simple reflection helped enough sometimes to choose differently in the moment of temptation.

You can even visualise it. See yourself waking up proud instead of hungover, calm instead of anxious. That future version of you becomes the new reward your brain starts chasing.

Enjoying another hangover free breakfast

4. Stay Accountable

We don’t quit a bad habit in isolation. Tell someone you trust what you’re trying to change whether it’s reducing alcohol, phone time, or anything else.

When I told my close friends I was giving up drinking, a few were surprised (and some a bit sceptical), but most were supportive. And that support made a difference. It’s not about shame or pressure; it’s about being witnessed. You’re less likely to fall back when someone knows the journey you’re on.

You can even track progress in a journal or app. Write down each day you stay on track, or reflect on what triggered any slips. Over time, those notes become proof of how far you’ve come.

5. Celebrate Your Wins

This one’s underrated but vital. When you resist the urge, even once - celebrate it. That moment of pride is dopamine too, but in a healthy way.

After I quit alcohol, I made it a ritual to acknowledge small wins. A clear-headed Saturday morning? I’d go for a sunrise walk or go out for a good breakfast and just appreciate it. That self-recognition reinforces the new habit, teaching your brain that the reward is feeling good, so the brain wants more.

And if you do slip? Don’t beat yourself up. That’s part of being human. In fact, after a setback, do a good habit straight away. Go for a walk, journal, stretch, call a friend. You’re teaching your brain to associate the old cue with a new, positive behaviour. Over time, the old pattern weakens naturally.

Final Thoughts on How to quit a bad habit

When you’re learning how to beat bad habits, the secret is to focus on today. Don’t worry about forever. Just this moment, this choice.

Some days will be easier than others. Some will test you. But if you keep coming back to awareness, accountability, and compassion, the wins stack up.

And here’s the thing most people don’t tell you: when you drop the habits that drain you, you make space for the ones that fuel you. That’s what happened for me. Once I stopped numbing myself on weekends, I found time to train, read, and reflect. I discovered coaching, breathwork, my purpose.

Beating bad habits isn’t about losing something, it's about gaining something. The freedom to choose who you want to be and how you want to spend your time.

I appreciate the battle one goes through to quit something problematic. So that's why I include focus on this topic in my programs. 1:1 attention to work on your mindset to overcome that which is getting in the way of your life. Click the link below to find out more

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